Title 24 reports for Saratoga permits.
Saratoga codified a heat-pump requirement for air-conditioner changeouts and, in the same article, a clause suspending it until the California Energy Commission approval process is completed.
A heat-pump rule with its own off switch
Saratoga carries two codified local reach codes, both arriving with the 2025 code family in Ordinance No. 414 (November 5, 2025). §16-49.030, the Two-way Air Conditioning Reach Code, says an air conditioner installed or replaced on an existing single-family home takes either a heat pump as primary heating per §150.0(h)5 or a verified efficiency package: duct leakage at 10%, 300 CFM per ton at the return grilles, fan efficacy at 0.45 W/CFM, refrigerant charge verification, a vented attic at R-49 and ceiling-plane air sealing. Most of that list is HERS-verified, changing what an HVAC change-out costs to document. Then §16-49.010(b) switches it off: it is codified but expressly suspended until the California Energy Commission approval process is completed.
The second, §16-51.020 Electric Readiness, adds §150.0(w): range pre-wiring where kitchen circuits are altered, dryer pre-wiring within 3 feet of a gas dryer, and a reserved heat-pump-water-heater space where framing near a gas water heater is opened up, with seven exceptions including one for an ADU or JADU built inside existing space. It carries no suspension clause of its own, but it is codified in Article 16-51 and not on the CEC’s approved list for the 2025 code — ask the Building Official before pricing it in. Both Saratoga ZIPs are Climate Zone 4, so on a complete duct replacement the R-49 attic requirement lands with no existing-insulation escape — that R-19 exception runs only in zones 1, 3 and 6. Saratoga publishes no plan-check turnaround at all; what it publishes is format, unchanged by the 2025 code cycle.
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.
Saratoga plan-check questions
If yours isn’t here, see the full FAQ or call and ask.
Is Saratoga’s AC-to-heat-pump rule in force on my changeout?
How does Saratoga want the energy forms, and how are revisions filed?
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.
How fast do I get it back?
24 to 48 hours on your first job, three business days for everything after that — a date you can put on the schedule, not an estimate. If your permit deadline is tighter than that, say so in the notes; I’ll tell you honestly whether I can hit it before you commit.
Send your Saratoga plans.
The CF1R comes back sized to print or sticky-back onto the construction plans, with R-values and appliance efficiencies labeled where the city’s checklist wants them.