What Happens After I Receive My Report?

Delivery is the middle of the process, not the end. The report gets you the permit; the Title 24 inspection stage, during and after construction, is where the building is checked against it.

At plan check

Include the compliance documentation in your permit submittal. The plans examiner checks that the energy features on the certificate match the drawings. If the plan checker returns a comment on the energy documentation, send us the correction letter. Responding is covered, and revisions are unlimited until you comply.

The Title 24 inspection, stage by stage

There is no single Title 24 inspection. The energy features are checked by up to three parties at different times: the installers, who certify their own work; a certified tester, who verifies what cannot be confirmed by looking; and the building inspector, who visits in stages and signs off at final. The CF1R lists the features that need testing, so the tester can be booked from the start.

1. Installers complete CF2Rs

Each contractor who installs a regulated feature (windows, insulation, ducts and HVAC equipment, ventilation fans, water heating, lighting) completes and signs a CF2R Certificate of Installation confirming the work matches the approved plans and the CF1R. A copy is posted at the site for the inspector. Where field verification is required, the installer also carries out the first test and registers the CF2R with the ECC registry.

2. ECC field verification on residential projects

An ECC-Rater, certified by a CEC-approved ECC-Provider and independent of the builder, tests the listed measures on site. ECC-Raters were called HERS raters until 1 January 2026. Every new home with central HVAC needs its duct leakage, airflow, fan watt draw and exhaust fans verified; refrigerant charge and quality insulation installation are other examples. The rater checks that the CF2R matches the CF1R and reports pass or fail to the registry. A pass produces a registered CF3R Certificate of Verification, posted at the site. A fail is recorded, any printed copy is watermarked as a failure, and the work is corrected and retested. More on what an ECC-Rater does.

3. Acceptance testing on commercial projects

Lighting controls and mechanical systems are tested by an acceptance test technician certified through a CEC-approved provider, and the results go on the NRCA Certificate of Acceptance, watermarked by that provider. Unlike an ECC-Rater, the technician need not be independent and is often the installer. The NRCAs go to the building department at the final inspection stage, before the certificate of occupancy. See Title 24 acceptance testing.

4. What the building inspector checks

Sequences vary by jurisdiction, but on a new home the energy items typically fall like this:

• Foundation: slab edge insulation and any hot water piping in the slab.
• Rough frame: window U-factor and SHGC, duct sealing and insulation, exhaust fan housings, and a cool roof or radiant barrier where required. Leave the temporary labels on new windows: the code says they may not be removed before the inspection.
• Insulation, before drywall: R-values that match the CF1R, installed without gaps, voids or compression.
• Final: heating, cooling and water heating efficiencies, fan noise ratings, filters, exterior lighting controls and weatherstripping, and that every required CF2R and CF3R is complete, signed and registered.

The department may not issue a final certificate of occupancy until the installed work is verified as matching the approved plans and complying, and for a house (Occupancy Group R-3) the final inspection is not complete until it is. If a feature will be covered up before the inspector sees it, the department can ask for its CF2R first.

If the design changes

Tell us. A field change that takes the building out of compliance needs revised plans and revised energy documentation approved by the building department, and a report describing a building you did not build will be caught at verification. Revisions are unlimited until the project complies, so there is no reason to sit on a change.

Keep the documents

At occupancy the builder must leave the CF1R, the CF2Rs and any CF3Rs in the building for the owner, with a manual on operating and maintaining its energy features. Registered documents also stay on record with the registry. The whole sequence, from classifying the project to final, is set out in Title 24 compliance in California.

Explore Title 24 Reports

1. Title 24 Report
2. Remodeling the House and Adding an ADU: How Many Title 24 Reports Do You Need?
3. Two Permits, One Project: Does Each Permit Need Its Own Title 24 Report?
4. How to Find a Copy of Your Title 24 Report
5. Title 24 Report Example

View all Title 24 Reports guides → · Reports and Calculations · Title 24 guide