Title 24 reports for Santa Ana permits.
Santa Ana reviews a pre-approved-plan ADU the same day it comes in — through a counter window open Monday to Thursday, 8:00 to 2:30, which is why the packet has to be complete the first time.
Same-day review, inside a narrow daily window
Santa Ana’s Building Safety Division, in the Planning and Building Agency, runs a PBx over-the-counter track that reviews plans the same day the application is submitted. The eligible residential list is specific and generous: an ADU using the city’s pre-approved plans, garage-to-ADU conversions, and one-story room additions up to 500 sq. ft. The catch is scheduling, not eligibility — associate and senior plan check engineers staff that counter Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and projects in FEMA Flood Zone A/AE or on historic properties are excluded outright.
There is no second bite the same day, so the packet decides it. Santa Ana’s Initial Submittal Requirements name the energy documents directly — applicable documentation including structural calculations and Title 24 energy calculations, two sets of each — and the city’s own energy page states it requires all residential and commercial construction to comply with the Energy Code in effect. Everything moved to the Accela Citizen Access portal on July 1, 2026, with the last paper day on June 26. Smaller work skips plan check entirely through PBx same-day express permits: mini-splits, fan coils, furnaces, like-for-like changeouts, window retrofits and water heaters. Santa Ana is climate zone 8, on the 2025 code since January 1, 2026, with no local energy reach code beyond the state code.
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.
Your first report with me
One per client, homes under 3,000 square feet. Full energy model, CF1R and CHEERS registration. It’s a test run — send one job and see how it goes.
Every model after the first
The standard rate once you’re a client — the second building, ADU plus main house, the next project that walks in. Back in 3 business days.
Over 3,000 square feet
Quoted from the plans before any work starts, same day.
24×36 plan-sheet set
Your CF1R laid out full size, matched to your drawing set. Comes back as a PDF you drop straight in.
Revisions
Two revisions included, plus questions any time. Past two I quote first, before I touch it.
Commercial / tenant improvement
Send the plans and you’ll have a flat quote back the same day. No deposit, no minimum.
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.
Santa Ana plan-check questions
If yours isn’t here, see the full FAQ or call and ask.
Which Santa Ana projects get same-day plan check?
How many sets of energy calculations does Santa Ana want?
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.
Plan check came back with an energy comment. Now what?
Forward it to me. If it’s a job I did, the first two revisions are free and I answer the comment directly — you don’t have to translate between your plan checker and me.
If someone else did the original report, I’ll still take it. Send the comment and the existing CF1R and you’ll get a flat quote back the same day.
Send your Santa Ana plans.
The CF1R comes back in time for a counter appointment, in the set count the city's submittal list asks for.