Title 24 reports for Poway permits.
Poway hands plan check to an outside firm and publishes a review clock that runs the same length on the first submittal and every one after it — then tells designers in four words to affix Title 24 forms to plans.
Contracted plan check, on a clock that repeats
Poway does not do its own plan check — the city contracts with EsGil Corporation to provide these services. The clock it publishes never shortens: up to 14 calendar days for building reviews and 28 for planning and engineering, with the FAQ applying the same 14 days to each review cycle. Submittal is electronic only, the whole plan set in a single PDF. Energy Compliance is a named line item on the must-include intake list, and the requirement sheet reduces the rest to four words: affix Title 24 forms to plans. City Hall runs a 9/80 and the Building Division closes daily from 11:30 to 12:30, though inspections run Monday through Friday regardless.
Poway is Climate Zone 10 in the Energy Commission’s ZIP data; the city publishes no zone of its own. On re-roofs, PMC 15.04.050 amends the building code so every construction type requires a Class A roof covering — while the energy form the city serves for that scope, a CF1R-ALT-05-E, is a 2016-cycle document created in 2017, and the 2019 re-roof application beside it never mentions the energy code. The Pre-Approved ADU Policy took effect 03/04/25 promising 30-day expedited review, says in its own text that the city has not yet received any application for pre-approval, and still lists Title 24 calculations are required. Three cliffs to design around: 1,200 sf for sprinklers, 750 sf for impact fees, 500 sf for school fees. No local amendment to the Energy Code — PMC 15.18.010 adopts the 2025 Part 6 by reference and stops there.
One thing that doesn’t change by city: my price and turnaround are flat statewide — $99 first report, $150 flat after, 24–48 hours on your first job. What differs city to city is what happens on the plan-check side before and after the CF1R lands in your permit set, which is what this page covers.
Prices
Flat fees, in writing before I start. No hourly, no bid package, no change-order games — the number on the quote is the number on the invoice.
One honest note
I’m not a licensed engineer or architect, and I don’t stamp drawings. On the CF1R I’m the documentation author — you stay the responsible designer. Nothing about your role on the job changes.
That’s on purpose. I’m not after your scope or your clients. I do one piece of the permit set — the piece that usually holds it up — and I do it fast.
Poway plan-check questions
If yours isn’t here, see the full FAQ or call and ask.
Does Poway’s review get faster after the first correction round?
Is there a pre-approved ADU plan I can pull in Poway?
Does my ADU or addition actually need one?
Almost certainly. New conditioned floor area — ADUs, JADUs, garage conversions, additions — triggers Title 24. So do alterations that touch the envelope, the ductwork, or the HVAC equipment, including a straight change-out. A remodel that only moves non-structural interior partitions usually doesn’t.
Send it either way. If it doesn’t need a report I’ll say so and there’s no charge for the look.
What do you need from me to start?
A PDF of the architecturals and the project address. Floor plans, elevations and a window schedule is plenty.
You don’t need the HVAC or water heater picked. If the plans don’t call them out, I model what I’d normally specify for that job — and I list every assumption in the email so nothing is buried. Swap any of it and I rerun; that doesn’t count against your free revisions.
The design doesn’t have to be finished either. Early is often better, because that’s when a compliance problem is still cheap to fix.
Send your Poway plans.
The CF1R comes back ready to affix to the plans the way the city’s requirement sheet asks, and sized to drop into the single-PDF set EsGil reviews.