Does a pergola need a Title 24 report?

An open pergola has no conditioned space, so the envelope and heating and cooling rules do not apply. Lights attached to the house or to a building on the lot must meet Section 150.0(k). Permits are a Building Code and local matter.

Does adding a screened or glassed enclosure change that?

It can. If the enclosed space is heated or cooled it is an addition. If it stays unconditioned, only its lighting must comply, though the building official may require conditioning if it looks habitable.

Does a Patio Cover, Pergola or Carport Need Title 24?

Usually not beyond its lighting. Part 6 attaches the envelope and heating and cooling rules to conditioned space, and an open patio cover, pergola or carport has none. Four things can change that: lights fixed to a building, enclosing and conditioning the space, an enclosed room left unconditioned, and a new home whose carport roof counts toward solar.

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Part 6 does not name these structures

The terms patio cover and pergola appear nowhere in the Standards or the single-family compliance manual. Whether a structure is a patio cover for structural or planning purposes is a Building Code and local zoning question. Ask the building department about permits.

Lights on the structure

Outdoor lighting permanently mounted to a residential building, or to other buildings on the lot, must meet Section 150.0(k), and the compliance manual includes patio lighting. Lighting not permanently attached to a building, such as decorative landscape lighting, is not regulated. Controls and fixtures are on outdoor lighting for homes. Whether a free-standing pergola counts as a building for this purpose is the department's reading.

Enclosing and conditioning it

The compliance manual lists enclosing and conditioning an existing patio area as an addition, so the room addition rules apply.

Enclosed, but not conditioned

A space with no heating or cooling, closed off from the house by weatherstripped doors and windows, stays unconditioned, and only its lighting must comply. A building official may require conditioning if the space looks habitable. See sunrooms and unconditioned space.

Carports on a new home

For the solar requirement in Section 150.1(c)14, the solar access roof area includes roof space on covered parking, carports and other newly built structures that can support panels, so a carport can add to that area. Sheds and garages are covered in accessory structures.

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