What Is Title 24?

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What the name actually refers to

California’s regulations are organised into numbered titles. Title 24 is the California Building Standards Code, and it is divided into parts covering different aspects of construction — structural, plumbing, electrical, fire and so on. Part 6 covers energy efficiency, and it is the part that generates the paperwork most projects are asked for at permit.

So a building department asking for “your Title 24” is asking for documentation showing the project meets the Part 6 energy standards. Part 11, the California Green Building Standards Code (CALGreen), is a separate part of the same code and is not the same requirement.

Why the standards change

The Energy Commission updates the standards on a three-year cycle. Each edition takes effect on a stated date, and projects are generally evaluated against the edition in force when the permit application is submitted — not when the work is finished. This matters on projects that sit between cycles, because a set of calculations prepared under one edition may not satisfy the next.

When a project needs a report

Requirements attach to the work being done rather than to the building type alone. New construction is covered. So are many additions and alterations, including work that changes the building envelope, replaces windows, or installs or alters heating, cooling or water-heating equipment. Some cosmetic work is not covered at all.

Because the trigger is the scope of work, two projects on identical houses can reach different answers. The reliable way to know is to check the specific scope against the current standards, which is what a compliance report does.

What the report contains

A residential report is normally a Certificate of Compliance in the CF1R family, produced in software the Energy Commission has approved for the current code cycle. It records the building geometry, envelope assemblies, glazing, and mechanical and water-heating systems, then demonstrates that the design complies — either by meeting each prescriptive requirement, or by showing through modelling that the whole building performs at least as well as a reference design.

Nonresidential projects use a different form family. Some measures also require third-party field verification, which is registered through an approved data registry rather than being certified on paper alone.