Title 24 for HVAC Contractors
Swapping a condenser or an air handler is a regulated alteration under the Energy Code. Here is what that puts on your side of the job.
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A residential changeout runs on three certificates: the CF1R says what the altered system has to achieve, your CF2Rs certify what you installed and tested, and an ECC-Rater's CF3R confirms it. We prepare and register the CF1R, so the certificates you sign have something correct to match.
What matters for your projects
What sets off the tests
Replacing the air handler, the outdoor unit of a split system or a coil brings the connected ducts into a leakage test (Section 150.2(b)1E), unless the system has less than 40 feet of duct, was sealed and verified before, or has asbestos ducts. Replacing refrigerant-containing parts adds a setback thermostat, and air-cooled air conditioners in climate zones 2 and 8 to 15, like air-source heat pumps in every zone, also need verified airflow and refrigerant charge (Section 150.2(b)1F). Details: duct leakage testing and refrigerant charge verification.
You test first
You charge to the manufacturer's specification; then either you and the rater both run the standard charge verification, or you weigh in the charge and the rater verifies it, with a separate procedure available below 55°F. Airflow has to reach 300 cfm per ton, or 250 on small duct high velocity systems. A factory-charged packaged unit skips the charge test, but you certify on the installation certificate that it was pre-charged and not altered (Section 150.2(b)1Fii).
The certificates with your name on them
The single-family form set gives a changeout a CF2R-MCH-01b-E for the equipment and one certificate per verified test: CF2R-MCH-20-H for duct leakage, CF2R-MCH-23-H for airflow, CF2R-MCH-25-H for refrigerant charge, each matched by a CF3R the rater completes. Once any measure needs verification, every CF2R is registered with an ECC registry, posted on site and copied to the rater and the homeowner. Office staff may sign for you only as an authorised representative under a written agreement held by the ECC-Provider (Section 10-103(a)3A).
The registered CF1R can wait until final
The compliance manual makes the changeout certificate, the CF1R-ALT-02-E, the one exception to submitting a registered CF1R at plan check. Where the building department agrees, you can apply on an unregistered CF1R-ALT-03-E or CF1R-ALT-04-E, depending on climate zone, and present the registered CF1R-ALT-02-E at final.
Booking the rater
The owner normally hires the ECC-Rater; an installing contractor may do so for a changeout only with the homeowner's authorisation. Alterations cannot be sampled, so each altered system is verified on its own, and the building department cannot approve the alteration until it has the CF2R and the CF3R (Reference Appendix RA2.8).
Whole-system replacements
New equipment with an entirely new duct system needs load calculations under Section 150.0(h), which the compliance manual lets the installing mechanical contractor prepare, and ducts that test at 5 per cent (Section 150.2(b)1C). Replacement heating may not use electric resistance as its primary source unless it replaces electric resistance under an exception in Section 150.2(b)1G.
Every project includes
- Permit-ready documentation for your scope
- Registration where your project requires it
- Unlimited revisions until you comply
- Direct contact with the analyst on your file
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Section 150.2(b)1E names replacement of the outdoor unit of a split system as an alteration that brings the connected ducts into the test, and replacing refrigerant-containing parts brings in the charge and airflow checks.
For an HVAC changeout, yes, if the homeowner authorises it. Otherwise the owner hires the rater.
The address, the existing and new equipment, roughly how many feet of duct you are replacing, and whether the ducts were tested on an earlier permit. Duct length decides whether the job is a changeout test, a duct extension or a new duct system.