Do I Need Title 24 for an EV Charger?

02“Title 24” is broader than an energy report

Title 24 includes several parts. Part 6 is the California Energy Code; CALGreen is Part 11, and electrical installation requirements are a separate discipline. An applicant told to address “Title 24 EV readiness” should ask which code part, scope and document the comment actually identifies.

California HCD’s 2025 residential CALGreen mandatory-measures summary identifies EV charging provisions for applicable new construction and certain parking-related additions/alterations. It also states that EVSE must comply with the California Electrical Code. Those provisions should not be relabeled as a universal Part 6 modeling requirement.

A standalone charging installation may primarily involve electrical permitting and related review. A new dwelling or larger commercial project can independently require energy compliance documentation. Neither an electrical permit nor an energy certificate is a substitute for the other applicable disciplines.

HCD 2025 CALGreen residential mandatory measures

03EV-capable, EV-ready and installed equipment are different

At a high level, capability/readiness describes provisions for charging infrastructure, while installed EVSE describes equipment actually supplied. The applicable code language, building type and project determine what evidence is needed. Do not assume a reserved space on a drawing means a complete installed charging station.

Ask the electrical designer to identify the actual system and applicable provisions. Raceway, capacity, circuits, receptacles, equipment and load management are not interchangeable descriptions. This guide does not specify conductor sizes, parking percentages or a compliant electrical design.

The HCD source is a residential CALGreen summary, not a universal commercial checklist. Commercial and multifamily projects need their own classification and applicable review. Do not transfer a house example to a workplace parking facility or assume one EV label determines every building’s obligations.

04EV permit decision checklist

Give the project team enough context to separate the requested tasks.

• +Describe the permit: charger-only installation, new dwelling, parking alteration, larger commercial TI or another combined project. Identify every related application rather than merging their requirements.
• +Identify the property/building: single-family, multifamily, commercial or mixed use; existing versus new parking; the areas and occupants served. Confirm classification with the responsible team.
• +Identify electrical work: equipment specification, proposed location and designer-provided panel/circuit information, service changes and any load-management or other connected systems.
• +Identify Part 6 work separately: new conditioned building, altered lighting/HVAC/envelope or another regulated component. Ask which energy forms, if any, are requested for that work.
• +Record the AHJ and application date. Obtain the full comment naming the missing code provision, checklist or certificate instead of forwarding only “needs Title 24.”

05When an energy-document package fits—and when it may not

For a new conditioned dwelling, Part 6 documentation usually exists independently of whether an EV charger is installed. Coordinate the energy preparer’s scope with the electrical and CALGreen work instead of asking an energy model to certify every electrical feature.

Where single-family energy forms apply, CF1R records design compliance; applicable CF2R and CF3R have separate installer/verification responsibilities. A charger data sheet does not replace those records when the larger building project needs them. Equally, do not request a CF1R merely to create paperwork for a scope that the AHJ has not identified as requiring one.

For commercial work with regulated building-system alterations, define the applicable NRCC scope. Adding workplace EVSE does not automatically mean the whole existing office must be remodeled in energy software. Ask whether the request concerns electrical installation, CALGreen, an actual Part 6 alteration or several separate tasks.

Commercial energy-documentation serviceNonresidential form-family guide

06What to send before buying analysis

Start with the written scope, reviewing agency, application record and full request for documentation. For an EVSE-only question, the charger specification, electrical sheets and responsible electrical designer are more informative than an unsupported whole-house insulation assumption.

If a building-energy package is also required, send the controlling architectural/system plans, conditioned or scoped area, occupancy, dwelling count and affected-component schedules. Identify any PV/storage work and its responsible design package. Keep unknowns explicit; do not invent a roof or HVAC input just to fill a report intake field.

Explain whether you are seeking a preliminary scope review, a permit package or a response to a specific correction. The published residential/commercial menu describes report preparation, not an EV installation price. Electrical design, installation, utility review and CALGreen preparation should not be inferred from an energy-report quote.

07Worked example: a house charger versus a new-building package

ILLUSTRATIVE ONLY: an owner wants one charger at an existing house and sends an equipment brochure with the question “Do I need Title 24?” The next step is to identify the actual permit scope and the AHJ’s requested electrical/CALGreen evidence, not automatically commission a whole-house energy model.

A different applicant is submitting a new conditioned dwelling with planned charging infrastructure. That building has its own Part 6 compliance task. The energy preparer and electrical/design team coordinate their respective records, but an accepted CF1R is not represented as approval of the EV installation.

At a workplace, adding charging equipment alongside a lighting TI creates another combined-scope question: separate the parking/electrical work from the lighting compliance record. This example assigns no universal exemption, parking-space quota, required model or local approval outcome.

Lighting-only TI decision guide

08Date, verification terminology and honest boundaries

The 2025 Energy Code applies to permit applications on or after January 1, 2026. Confirm the AHJ-recorded date for each relevant application and ask about amendments or new filings. A vehicle purchase date or charger order is not the controlling building-permit application record.

ECC is current residential energy field-verification terminology, with HERS relevant to older-cycle documents. Do not treat a charger installation inspection as automatically being an ECC test, or assume a report preparer performs field verification. The participants and certificates follow the actual regulated measures.

No rebate amount, utility interconnection approval or charging-performance guarantee is supplied here. Report scope excludes field testing, acceptance testing, registry fees, CALGreen and AHJ fees. A useful quote defines the requested documentation instead of treating every question containing “Title 24” as the same sale.

09Six EV charger questions

10Choose the next documentation step

Use the published residential/commercial square-footage menu to understand report pricing, then send a scoped request rather than assuming a full model is necessary. Field testing, acceptance testing, registry fees, CALGreen and AHJ permit fees are separate. Intake is not payment, production acceptance or permit approval. This is educational information, not legal advice; confirm the applicable requirements and documentation with the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ).

Start with the Title 24 decision hubDo I need Title 24 for commercial?Do I need Title 24 for new construction?Do I need Title 24 for solar?Confirm the application’s code editionWhat to send for an energy reviewCF1R versus installation/verification recordsSee published PricingGet a Quote / upload plans