Does replacing a tenant's water heater need a Title 24 report?

The replacement is an alteration, so the Energy Code applies. Because a water heater replacement usually needs no field verification, the building department may waive the certificate of compliance or accept a simplified form, but the heater itself must still meet the rules: gas or propane, a qualifying heat pump water heater, or an electric heater where the old one was electric resistance.

How do I get the ECC-Rater into an occupied unit?

California's entry rules, summarised by the Department of Real Estate, allow a landlord to enter for agreed or necessary alterations and to admit contractors or workers doing work on the unit, with reasonable advance written notice of the date, approximate time and purpose. Twenty-four hours is presumed reasonable in most situations. Allow for a retest visit.

Is a duplex rental multifamily under Title 24?

No. A Group R-3 building with two or fewer dwelling units is a single-family building under Part 6, so a duplex is altered under Section 150.2(b) and documented on CF1R forms. See does a duplex need Title 24.

Do HVAC replacements in a high-rise apartment need an ECC-Rater?

Not for the dwelling-unit systems. In multifamily buildings of four or more habitable stories, the field verification and registry steps do not apply to those alterations; the installer certifies that the diagnostic testing was done.

A Landlord's Guide to Title 24 Upgrades

An upgrade in a rental is an alteration like any other: a house or duplex follows the single-family rules in Section 150.2(b), a unit in an apartment building follows the multifamily rules in Section 180.2, and any ECC test has to happen inside the tenant's home before the permit can close.

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Rental owners usually meet Title 24 when something wears out: a furnace that will not start in January, a leaking water heater, single-pane windows a tenant keeps mentioning. The replacement is done to the current Energy Code under a permit, and may bring a rater into an occupied home. This guide covers what differs for a landlord: which rules apply, the upgrades that come up between tenancies, who signs, and how to get tests done with a tenant in place.

House, duplex or apartment building

The Energy Code asks what the building is, not who lives there. Part 6 defines a single-family building to include a Group R-3 building with two or fewer dwelling units, and a townhouse, so a rented house, duplex or townhouse row is altered under Section 150.2(b), on CF1R forms. A Group R-2 building is multifamily, and alterations to its components follow Section 180.2. Where the line falls once a building has three or more units is covered in triplexes and fourplexes.

In multifamily buildings, height matters as well. Up to three habitable stories, the low-rise multifamily (LMCC) certificates are used; at four or more habitable stories, nonresidential (NRCC) ones. See low-rise or high-rise.

Upgrades between tenancies

The component rules are the same as for any owner. For houses and duplexes they are set out scope by scope in Title 24 for flippers and investors; for apartment units, in remodeling a condo. Four points matter most to landlords.

Wall heaters. Where a unit heats with electric resistance, a replacement may not use electric resistance as its primary heat source, but exceptions apply where the existing heating already is electric resistance, such as one non-ducted heater replacing another. Multifamily buildings in climate zones 6, 7, 8 and 15 may replace any electric resistance system in kind; for houses that list is zones 7 and 15.
Taller buildings. In multifamily buildings of four or more habitable stories, dwelling-unit HVAC alterations skip the ECC-Rater and registry steps; the installer certifies the diagnostic testing instead.
Water heaters and windows. Where an alteration needs no field verification, as with water heater and window replacements, the department may waive the certificate of compliance or accept a simplified form. A heater serving one unit may still be gas or propane, a qualifying heat pump model, or, replacing electric resistance, a consumer electric heater.
Lighting. Only fixtures you change must comply; the rest can stay, and recessed cans may keep screw-base sockets if JA8-compliant trims or lamps go in.

Who signs, and who hires

Three kinds of signatory cover an upgrade, and none has to be you. The certificate of compliance carries its author's signature and that of the person eligible under the Business and Professions Code to take responsibility for the design. Each certificate of installation is signed by whoever is in charge of that installation, or an authorised representative under a written agreement held by the ECC-Provider. The ECC-Rater who tested signs the certificate of verification.

Your role is hiring. The Energy Commission expects ECC-Raters to be hired by the builder or the building owner; an installing contractor may hire one for an HVAC changeout only with the owner's authorisation. Raters must be independent of the installer, with no financial interest in the work they test.

Getting the rater into an occupied home

Field verification happens at the equipment, so it happens inside your tenant's home, after installation: the installer registers the CF2R, then the rater tests and registers the CF3R. A failed duct or refrigerant test means a correction and another visit, so plan two entries, not one.

California's entry rules, as set out in the Department of Real Estate's tenant guide, let a landlord enter to make necessary or agreed alterations or improvements, and to admit contractors or workers who are to perform work on the unit. Entry needs reasonable advance written notice of the date, approximate time and purpose, during normal business hours unless the tenant agrees otherwise. Twenty-four hours is presumed reasonable in most situations, or six days when the notice is mailed. Mention the test visit in your notice as well as the installation. Written notice can be skipped where landlord and tenant have agreed orally on repairs or services and on entry at a set date and approximate time within one week, and the access right may never be used to harass (Civ. Code, § 1954).

Duties that fall on owners

Where ventilation systems are not individually owned and operated by the occupants, Part 1 requires the owner or a representative to give occupants a copy of the ventilation system information at the beginning of their occupancy. Where systems are centrally operated, the operating and maintenance information left at final goes to whoever runs and maintains them. And at final inspection the builder leaves copies of the certificates for you as owner, while registered certificates stay available through the data registry. File them by unit and date: they record which systems were tested and when, for the next inspector or a buyer. If a set goes missing, see how to find a copy of your Title 24 report.