Title 24 Reports in San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo sits in climate zone 5, the smallest of California's sixteen: the Energy Commission assigns it 42 ZIP codes, where zone 12 has 375. Over the Cuesta Grade, Santa Margarita is already zone 4.
- Choose your report
- Upload your plans
- Pay securely
- Permit-ready report by email
A small zone with close edges
Zone 5 covers one stretch of the Central Coast and nowhere else. San Luis Obispo, whose two delivery ZIP codes 93401 and 93405 both carry it, shares the zone with Morro Bay, Los Osos, Pismo Beach and Arroyo Grande, and across the county line with Santa Maria and Lompoc. Its edges are close in every direction. Climb the Cuesta Grade and Santa Margarita, Atascadero, Templeton and Paso Robles are zone 4; follow the coast south and Santa Barbara is zone 6.
The size is what makes it worth knowing. With so few ZIP codes in zone 5, a plan set that reaches San Luis Obispo may well have been modelled somewhere else first, for a house in Paso Robles or a project in Santa Barbara. Those calculations were run against a different set of targets and do not transfer. The report for a San Luis Obispo address is run on zone 5 from the start.
The all-electric rule is paused, not gone
The City Council adopted Ordinance 1717 in July 2022, requiring new buildings to be all-electric from 1 January 2023. After the Ninth Circuit ruled against Berkeley's gas ordinance in 2023, the City paused enforcement and said it would not deny a building permit because a project includes natural gas while the pause lasts. It still encourages all-electric construction.
So the fuel choice can still be open when a San Luis Obispo project reaches the report stage. Close it before the report is modelled. A mixed-fuel house and an all-electric one are documented differently, and switching after the calculations are done means doing them again.
Historic districts and a bigger fire map
The city has five historic districts: Downtown, Chinatown, Mill Street, Old Town and Railroad. Its Cultural Heritage Committee works on identifying and protecting historic buildings. Where a replacement window has to suit a historic house, the energy model takes that window's rated performance as it will be installed, so the window is chosen first and modelled second.
On 17 June 2025 the City adopted the State's updated Fire Hazard Severity Zone maps, which took effect on 17 July 2025; the area in the Very High zone grew by 234 per cent against the 2011 maps. New buildings there take ignition-resistant construction, which for applications from 2026 sits in the California Wildland-Urban Interface Code, Title 24 Part 7, rather than in Chapter 7A of the Building Code. It reaches exterior glazing and vents, both of which the energy report describes too.
Applying through Info SLO
Building permit applications are made online through Info SLO, the City's permit portal, which also handles inspection requests, invoices and permit records. The Building & Safety Division of the Community Development Department reviews the energy documents with the drawings. A parcel outside the city limits is permitted by San Luis Obispo County instead.
Common Title 24 Questions in San Luis Obispo
- Why is Atascadero in climate zone 4 when San Luis Obispo is zone 5?
- Will a Paso Robles report work in San Luis Obispo?
- Does an all-electric San Luis Obispo ADU need an energy report?
- Does a window replacement in a San Luis Obispo historic district need Title 24?
- Does the city or San Luis Obispo County issue my permit?
- Do San Luis Obispo tenant improvements need the nonresidential forms?
- How long does a San Luis Obispo Title 24 report take?
San Luis Obispo projects fall in California climate zone 5. The zone drives the envelope and equipment requirements a report has to meet, and a single city can span more than one, so it is confirmed per address.
Other locations we cover
Title 24 reports across California by city and county