Repair or Alteration? The Line That Decides Whether Title 24 Applies to Your Remodel Job
A repair is renewal for maintenance that does not replace a regulated component and does not raise the part's energy use. Replacing any component the Standards regulate is an alteration, and alterations carry Title 24 requirements. Adding conditioned floor area and volume is a third category, an addition.
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The three definitions, in the code's own terms
- Repair: reconstruction or renewal of a component, system or equipment of an existing building for maintenance. It must not increase the preexisting energy consumption of the repaired part (Section 100.1(b)).
- Alteration: any change to the water-heating, space-conditioning, lighting, electrical power distribution or envelope that is not an addition.
- Addition: a change that increases conditioned floor area and conditioned volume.
The sentence that settles most disputes sits inside the repair definition: replacing any component for which the Standards have requirements is an alteration, not a repair.
Five worked classifications
- Cracked pane in a sound window. Glass replaced in an existing sash and frame, or sashes in an existing frame, are repairs if the replacement performs at least as well as the original (Section 150.2(b)1B Note).
- A new window unit. Alteration, with the replacement fenestration rules of Section 150.2(b)1B. See replacing one window.
- A new roof surface. The compliance manual's own example of an alteration is reroofing.
- A new water heater or hardwired light fixtures. Both appear in the manual's list of alterations. A plug-in lamp is outside the code.
- Paint, flooring or cabinets. None of the five systems in the alteration definition, so they are not building systems under it.
What follows once it is an alteration
The altered component, and any new equipment serving it, must meet the applicable requirements (Section 150.2(b)1). If an existing component must be replaced, the standard design treats it as altered (Note 1 to Section 150.2(b)2). Where field verification is not required, the building department may waive or simplify the certificate paperwork (Section 10-103(a)1C and 3D).
If the job sits on the line
Ask the building department how it classifies the work before you buy materials, and photograph the existing part. The department decides whether a permit is needed. For fix-it questions in particular, does fixing it trigger Title 24 goes deeper. The wider picture is in remodel Title 24 and Title 24 exemptions, and our residential reports cover the alteration route.
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
Only when you replace glass in an existing sash and frame, or sashes in an existing frame, with something at least equivalent in performance. A new window unit is an alteration.
The building department. The definitions come from the Standards, but permits and classification are decided locally.
Explore Who Needs Title 24?
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- How to Choose a Title 24 Consultant
- Builders: Title 24 for a Tract That Spans Two Climate Zones
- What Every California Homeowner Should Know About Title 24
View all Who Needs Title 24? guides → · Title 24 Guide · Title 24 guide