What is a Title 24 report and what documents does it include?

A Title 24 report is the energy-compliance package that proves your ADU's design meets California's Building Energy Efficiency Standards (Title 24, Part 6). At its core is the registered CF1R (Certificate of Compliance) — the design-stage document your plan checker reviews alongside your architectural and MEP sheets — and it is later backed by installation and verification certificates produced during construction.

What the CF1R covers

The CF1R is prepared during design and demonstrates that your ADU meets minimum requirements across every regulated system:

• Building envelope — insulation R-values for walls, floors, and ceilings, plus window U-factor and Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) limits.
• Space conditioning (HVAC) — minimum heating and cooling efficiency, with heat pumps as the current prescriptive baseline.
• Water heating — a heat-pump water heater (HPWH) baseline for most new dwelling units.
• Lighting — high-efficacy (LED) sources and required controls.
• Solar PV and storage-ready provisions — with several ADU-specific exceptions.

The three certificates in the Title 24 family

People often say "Title 24 report" to mean the CF1R, but the full compliance lifecycle uses three documents:

How compliance is reached

The CF1R records which of two paths your design uses:

• Prescriptive — every component individually meets a fixed minimum (R-value, U-factor, HVAC efficiency). Simple, but no trade-off flexibility.
• Performance — approved energy-modeling software shows your whole-building design performs as well as or better than a code-compliant baseline, letting you trade a weaker spot in one area for a stronger one elsewhere.

One detail trips people up: the report must be registered with an approved data registry, not just printed from the compliance software. An unregistered PDF printout is frequently rejected at intake even when the numbers are correct.

Because the CF1R fixes minimum HVAC efficiency, water-heater type, and lighting requirements, those choices flow directly into your mechanical, electrical, and plumbing sheets. The applicable code cycle and local amendments vary — confirm with your local building department. We prepare the registered CF1R as a +$240 Title 24 add-on alongside your MEP plans so the energy report and construction sheets are coordinated from the start. See Title 24 Reports or the full ADU Title 24 guide.