Does a Title 24 report have to be prepared by a licensed engineer?

No. There is no state licence requirement to prepare compliance documentation. The certificate must also be signed by the responsible person, who must be eligible to accept responsibility for the design. For wood-framed single-family homes of no more than two stories, the Business and Professions Code allows unlicensed designers, and the builder may sign where no licensed designer is required.

Can the ECC-Rater sign my CF1R?

Not as the responsible person. The compliance manual states that an ECC-Rater may not certify the information on a CF1R as the responsible person. The rater's own document is the CF3R, completed after field verification.

Should I simply choose the lowest quote?

Compare what each quote includes first: code edition, registration, revisions and plan check responses, turnaround, and who answers questions. Two quotes that look different may cover different work.

How to Choose a Title 24 Consultant

Q: How do I check whether a consultant is a CEA?

CABEC, which administers the credential, publishes a directory of Certified Energy Analysts with residential and nonresidential listings. A CEA or ECC certification number may also appear in the documentation author's declaration on the CF1R.

What separates a good Title 24 consultant from a risky one, the questions that bring it out, the warning signs in a quote, and a factual account of the CEA credential.

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Energy compliance documentation is a small part of a building project, but a poor report can cost weeks at plan check. Choosing who prepares it is mostly about fit: experience with your kind of project, clear answers about what is included, and someone reachable when corrections come back. This guide covers what to look for, the questions to ask and the warning signs in a quote. If you are looking for a provider rather than criteria, see Title 24 consultant near me.

What a Title 24 consultant actually does

The consultant is usually the documentation author. They model the design, produce the certificate of compliance, and sign a declaration that it is accurate and complete. They do not take responsibility for the design itself: that sits with the designer, or the builder where no licensed designer is required, who signs as the responsible person. A consultant may recommend energy features, but the designer decides whether to adopt them and puts them in the drawings.

Credentials, stated plainly

California does not regulate energy consultants, and there is no state licence required to prepare Title 24 compliance documentation. The recognised professional credential is the Certified Energy Analyst (CEA). It is administered by CABEC, the California Association of Building Energy Consultants, and is recognised by the California Energy Commission. Candidates pass a two-part exam with multiple choice and ACM modelling components, and keep the credential with at least nine hours of continuing education a year. CABEC publishes a directory of CEAs, with residential and nonresidential listings.

A CEA is a useful signal, not a legal requirement. Its absence does not make a preparer unqualified, and its presence does not guarantee a good fit for your project. Who can prepare a Title 24 report? covers the credential in more detail.

What to look for

Experience with your project type. A lighting tenant improvement, a garage conversion and a new house use different forms and raise different questions. Ask what they prepare most often.
Approved software for the current code. Performance compliance has to be produced in software the Energy Commission has approved for the 2025 code. The CEC publishes the list, and its own public-domain program, CBECC, is on it.
Registration handled. On projects with field verification, the certificate has to be registered before plan check. Ask who registers it, who signs it, and whether it is in the price.
A clear revision policy. Plans change and plan checkers comment. Find out what is included, and what would count as new work.
Realistic turnaround. Ask when the clock starts, and whether faster delivery is available and at what price.
Who answers questions. When a correction letter arrives, you want someone who can open the model, not a general inbox.
Honest scoping. A good consultant will tell you when a project does not need a report, or needs a different one from the one you asked for.

Questions to ask

Which code edition will you prepare this to, and how do you confirm it from my permit application date?
Which approved software do you use?
Will you use the prescriptive or the performance approach, and why?
Is registration included, and who signs as documentation author and as responsible person?
Which ECC field verification items do you expect, so I can plan for the rater?
What happens when plans change or the plan checker comments, and is that in the price?
What do you need from me, and what will you assume if I do not have it?
How long will it take once you have everything, and is a rush available?
Who do I contact if corrections come back?
Are you a CEA, or does a CEA review your work?

Red flags in a quote

No code edition named, or a report offered under an earlier edition for a new application.
Registration not mentioned on a project that will plainly need it, such as a new home with ducted heating and cooling.
Silence on revisions. A quote that does not say what happens when plan check comments arrive leaves a common extra cost undefined.
A promise to pass before anyone has seen the drawings. Compliance depends on the design.
Vague scope, with no statement of which forms, buildings or systems are covered.
Inputs better than the drawings. Entering windows or insulation better than specified to make a design pass only moves the problem to inspection or the ECC-Rater's visit.
An offer to sign as the responsible person from someone who is not responsible for the design. That signature belongs to a person eligible to accept responsibility for the design, and an ECC-Rater may not sign a CF1R in that role.
Out-of-date vocabulary. HERS raters were renamed ECC-Raters on 1 January 2026, and CalCERTS stopped operating as a provider and registry in August 2024. A quote still built around either has not kept up.

Comparing two quotes

Line the quotes up on the same points before comparing totals: the code edition, the forms and buildings covered, whether registration is included, what happens with revisions and plan check comments, the turnaround and when it starts, and who you will be dealing with. Then check what neither quote covers. Field testing by the ECC-Rater, the CF2Rs that installers complete, and permit fees are normally separate from the report, so a quote that seems to include them deserves a question about who does that work. The 12 things to know before ordering covers the decisions on your side.

Local or remote

Title 24 is a statewide code, and the work is done from drawings, so a consultant does not need to be near your site. Local knowledge helps when a building department has its own submittal preferences, or has adopted a reach code, an ordinance that goes beyond the state Energy Code and needs Energy Commission approval. Ask the department about both, whoever you hire.

Title24.Pro prepares reports 100% online; revisions are unlimited until the project complies, and CHEERS registration is included where required. Hold us to the same questions as anyone else.