Is a condo multifamily under Title 24?

It depends on the building, not the ownership. A unit in a Group R-2 building is multifamily, and its alterations follow Section 180.2. A townhouse-style condo, or a unit in a two-unit building, is single-family under Part 6.

Do I need an ECC-Rater to replace my condo's air conditioner?

In a building of three or fewer habitable stories, usually: replacing the air handler, outdoor unit or coil brings duct sealing with field verification, and climate zones 2 and 8 to 15 add refrigerant charge and airflow checks. In four or more habitable stories, the installer certifies the tests instead.

Does HOA approval replace the building permit?

No. The Energy Code makes no provision for association approval; the building department enforces it through the permit, plan check and inspection. Treat the association's approval as a separate step.

If I replace one window, does the whole unit have to comply?

No. Section 180.2 applies to the altered components and any new equipment serving them. The replacement window must meet the limits; the windows you keep do not change.

Remodeling a Condo: Title 24 for Unit Owners

Owning a condominium does not change the energy rules; the building does. A unit in an apartment-style building is altered under the multifamily rules in Section 180.2, a townhouse-style condo or half of a two-unit building uses the single-family rules, and either way only the components you change have to comply.

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A condo remodel sits between two worlds: you own the unit, but the building it is in decides how the Energy Code treats your work. The questions owners ask are practical. Does a new heat pump need a rater? Do replacement windows have to meet a standard? Does the association's approval cover the permit? This guide answers them for work inside one unit; it does not cover projects on the building as a whole.

Ownership is not a building type

Part 6 classifies buildings by occupancy group and number of dwelling units, never by form of ownership. The word condominium appears in it only in the column headings of one load calculation table, Table 150.2-C. HCD, for its part, lists condominiums among the residential occupancies its building standards cover, alongside apartment houses and dwellings. So the first step is to identify the building:

Stacked flats in a Group R-2 building are in a multifamily building, and alterations follow Section 180.2. See multifamily remodels.
A townhouse-style condo, one of three or more attached homes that each run from foundation to roof with open space on at least two sides, is a townhouse, which Part 6 treats as single-family; the CEC manual's one exception is a four-story townhouse classed Group R-2 with all four stories habitable (SFCM Example 1-3). Alterations follow Section 150.2(b). See townhomes.
One half of a two-unit building is single-family as well, because Part 6 counts a Group R-3 building with two or fewer dwelling units as single-family. See duplexes.

The rest of this guide covers the first case, the one that differs from a house.

What counts as altering your unit

Section 180.2(b) reaches what you alter and any new equipment serving it, nothing more. In a typical unit remodel that means:

Heating and cooling. Under § 180.2(b)2Aiii, a new air handler, condenser or coil means the connected ducts are sealed and tested to 15 percent total leakage, 10 percent to outside, or a smoke test, unless they total under 40 feet or another exception applies. Refrigerant-side work (§ 180.2(b)2Aiv) means setback thermostats and, in climate zones 2 and 8 to 15 only, charge and airflow verification for heat pumps and air conditioners alike. See multifamily HVAC.
Water heating. A water heater serving only your unit may be replaced with gas or propane, with a heat pump water heater meeting set conditions, or, where the existing heater is electric resistance, with a consumer electric water heater. The rule is written for heaters serving individual dwelling units, so a central system serving the building is a different case.
Windows and glass doors. Replacements meet the U-factor, RSHGC and VT limits of Table 180.2-B, or area-weighted values from Table 170.2-A; where 150 square feet or less of the whole building's vertical glazing is replaced, only the U-factor applies. New glass in an existing sash and frame, performing at least as well, is a repair. See multifamily window replacement.
Walls, floors and ceilings. Where you alter an exterior wall, raised floor or ceiling that separates the unit from outdoors or unconditioned space, the altered part must meet minimum insulation, such as R-11 between wood framing members in a wall.
Lighting. Altered and new lighting in the unit must meet the residential lighting rules; fixtures you keep do not. See multifamily lighting.

Shared attics, roofs and corridors

A top-floor unit may have an attic over it. The attic insulation and air sealing requirements apply when the ceiling above a conditioned space is altered or an entirely new duct system goes into the vented attic. Where the attic is shared with other units and the work does not trigger those requirements for them, Section 180.2 exempts the altered unit as well. The roof reflectance and insulation rules of § 180.2(b)1A apply once more than half of the roof area, or more than 2,000 square feet, whichever is less, is altered. Halls, laundry rooms and other common use areas must comply with the nonresidential requirements rather than the dwelling-unit rules.

Low-rise or high-rise changes the paperwork

In a building of three or fewer habitable stories, a unit alteration is documented on low-rise multifamily certificates. An HVAC alteration uses the prescriptive LMCC-MCH-02-E, registered with an ECC-Provider when the work needs field verification, and ECC-Raters test the unit's systems much as they would in a house. Installation certificates (LMCI) and certificates of verification (LMCV) follow. In a building of four or more habitable stories, the NRCC forms are used and are not registered with an ECC-Provider, and for dwelling-unit HVAC alterations the field verification and registry steps do not apply: the installer certifies that the diagnostic testing was done. See LMCC certificates.

In a low-rise building, § 10-103(a)1C lets a department waive the certificate, or simplify it, for work needing no field verification, such as a water heater or windows. Where a certificate is required, § 10-103(a)1A ii applies: project name and location must match the permit drawings, so give the unit number exactly as the application does.

Where the association fits

Nothing in the Energy Code requires an association's approval, and nothing in it replaces one. Part 6 sets requirements for the building work, and Part 1 makes the building department responsible for checking them at plan check and inspection. Whatever approval your association's governing documents call for is a separate track running alongside the permit. It is worth starting first, because a change the association asks for, a different window frame for instance, can change the energy documents as well: a swap that may affect compliance goes back for re-approval (§ 10-103(a)2B).

A unit alteration, start to finish

Identify the building: its habitable stories, and whether it is townhouses or stacked flats.
List the components you will change, and settle the products.
Get the association's sign-off on anything it controls.
Apply for the permit with the certificate the department asks for.
Install, complete the installation certificates, and arrange ECC testing where the building is low-rise and the work needs it.
Pass final inspection, and keep the certificates with your unit records.