Can You Get a Variance or Exemption From the Energy Code?
There is no general variance or hardship exemption. The Energy Commission offers two narrow routes: an exceptional design that approved software cannot model, and an exemption for a project that spent substantial funds on design before a provision was adopted. Both are slow, and the applicant carries the burden of proof.
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What is exempt without applying
Section 100.0(a) lists three exceptions to the code's scope: qualified historic buildings, temporary buildings or disaster-response structures at the department's discretion, and occupancy groups I-3 and I-4. Hardship is not among them. The exemptions page explains those classes.
Exceptional design
Under Section 10-104 a permit applicant using the performance approach can ask the Commission to accept an alternative evaluation when approved software cannot model the design. The Commission must find that the design cannot be modeled, that the alternative technique shows compliance, and that the department has found the design meets every other legal requirement. The package includes the plans, an explanation, written statements from the department, and a detailed evaluation that others could replicate.
Exemption
Section 10-108 lets the Commission exempt a building from a Part 6 provision only if substantial funds were spent in good faith on planning or design before the provision was adopted, and compliance would be impossible without both substantial delay and costs above the reasonable cost of the required measures. The application brings four signed copies with contracts, internal financial reports, dated design schedules and a progress report.
How long it takes
- The Executive Director has 75 days to decide the application is complete.
- Public comment then runs 15 to 60 days.
- A written recommendation follows within 90 days of completeness, longer if more information is requested, and goes to the next business meeting.
A fee may be charged. A house permit rarely waits on this, so most owners change the design; the page on what to change and why designs fail start there. Local governments may add stricter rules only after a public cost-effectiveness finding and a Commission finding, as the reach code page explains. For the service side, see residential reports.
Common Title 24 Questions
- What is Title 24?
- Do I need a Title 24 report?
- How much does a Title 24 report cost?
- How long does a Title 24 report take?
- What is included in a Title 24 report?
- What plans do I need to upload?
Frequently Asked Questions
The building department enforces Part 6 but the relief procedures in Part 1 run through the Energy Commission, not the counter.
Not as a blanket rule. Some provisions have size-based exceptions, such as the roofing rule for additions of 300 square feet or less, and small alterations may need simpler paperwork, but the rest still applies.
Explore Failed Compliance
- What Can and Cannot Be Traded Off in the Performance Method?
- What Does a Compliance Margin Shortfall Mean on a CF1R?
- What Happens If You Have No Title 24 Report?
- My Design Does Not Comply: Which Changes Bring It Back?
- Why Does a Title 24 Design Not Comply?
View all Failed Compliance guides → · Permits and Compliance · Title 24 guide