Does an attached garage count toward the report size?

Not while it is unconditioned. If it is heated or cooled, or converted to living space, its area is added.

Why does the CF1R show a smaller area than my plans?

The plans often show total area under roof. The CF1R uses conditioned floor area only, so state both figures on the sheet.

Which Square Footage Counts for a Title 24 Report and Its Price?

Conditioned floor area counts: enclosed space that is heated or cooled, on every floor, measured to the outside face of the exterior walls. An attached garage, porch or unfinished attic is left out until it is conditioned. A converted garage is added, which is why the report's figure can differ from the plans.

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The definition that decides it

Part 6 defines conditioned floor area as the floor area of enclosed conditioned space on all floors, measured at the floor level of the exterior surfaces of the exterior walls. Conditioned space is directly conditioned (heating over 10 Btu/hr-ft2, cooling over 5 Btu/hr-ft2, or wood heat) or indirectly conditioned (tied more closely to conditioned rooms than to the outdoors with no fixed vents outside, or crossed by air from conditioned rooms at over three air changes per hour). Everything else is unconditioned, however finished it looks.

A worked example

The plans show 3,800 square feet under one roof, including a 400 square foot garage. The garage is unconditioned, so the report is run on 3,400. Our residential price includes 3,500 square feet and adds a $49 step for each further 500, so this house stays in the base price where the plan total would have added a step. Convert the garage later and it becomes newly conditioned space that must comply as an addition; see garage conversions. The pricing page, what a Title 24 report costs, names conditioned floor area as the size that moves the price.

Where the figure shows up

The standard design keeps the same conditioned floor area and volume as your house, so the area sets the budget.
The prescriptive glass limit is 20 percent of conditioned floor area, and the standard design stops there too.
The solar size is built from it: kWPV = (CFA x A)/1000 + (NDU x B), shown in solar system size for a new home.

Fixing a mismatch at plan check

The certificate must carry the same project identification as the plans, and the examiner compares the two. Put one line on the plans giving conditioned floor area, with the garage and porch marked unconditioned, and use that figure on the CF1R. When the plan checker says the report does not match covers the next step, and unconditioned space explains the classification. Orders start on the residential report page.

Common Title 24 Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

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