What to Send for a Title 24 Quote: Plans & Intake Checklist

01A useful intake answers three questions before modeling starts

What are you building, which drawings control, and what remains undecided? Answer those questions before uploading files for a Title 24 energy report. A coordinated intake helps Title 24 Lab assess the scope, ask targeted questions and provide an accurate quote without repeatedly sorting conflicting sheets. It can reduce avoidable modeling rework and plan-check inconsistencies; it does not guarantee a delivery date or permit approval.

Architects usually identify the controlling drawings and assemblies. Homeowners can supply the permit record and explain decisions still being priced. General contractors can document retained equipment and construction changes. Nominate one person to collect answers so the energy preparer does not receive three incompatible instructions.

This is an educational preparation guide, not legal advice or a universal AHJ submittal checklist. Current guidance uses the 2025 California Energy Code, Title 24 Part 6, for permit applications on or after January 1, 2026. Earlier active permits need their own edition confirmation. A quote can begin with clearly labeled unknowns; final compliance output needs resolved, supportable inputs.

Get a Quote and upload your project plansWhich Energy Code applies to your application date?CEC: 2025 Energy Code, manuals and approved software

02First choose the intake lane: CF1R, NRCC or correction

Describe the building and affected work before choosing a certificate. These are practical starting points, not permission to use one form family for every occupancy. Mixed-use and multifamily projects need classification-specific review.

• +Residential CF1R: for applicable single-family work, send architectural plans, envelope schedules, equipment intentions and existing-versus-proposed information. Identify new construction, addition, alteration or ADU scope. Ask which design compliance documents apply; a CF1R is not the installer’s CF2R or the ECC-Rater’s CF3R.
• +Commercial NRCC: identify the occupancy, tenant/shell boundary and affected envelope, lighting, mechanical and plumbing systems. Include relevant discipline sheets and any prior shell compliance package. A lighting-only tenant improvement and a whole-building performance study need different inputs.
• +Revision or correction: include the previous report, controlling plans, full correction letter or comment list, and a concise change summary. Distinguish our modeling/report error, client/architect design changes and a major redesign requiring a rebuilt model. Do not submit an unexplained new drawing set as though the original scope were unchanged.

Project-specific CF1R preparation and CF2R/CF3R handoffsCommercial energy compliance and NRCC scopePlan-check corrections and revision-scope decisionsCEC: single-family compliance documentsCEC: nonresidential compliance documents

03Master file checklist: send one coordinated plan set

Use readable PDF sheets as the review baseline. The upload flow accepts PDF, DWG and ZIP; CAD files can supplement drawings but should not replace a plotted, dimensioned set that everyone can read. Mark preliminary documents honestly. Do not pay to redraw an entire project simply because one intake item is missing: identify the gap first.

• +Site plan and dimensioned floor plans: show north/orientation, room uses, conditioned boundaries, existing/proposed areas and the relationship between attached spaces.
• +Elevations and sections: show opening locations, ceiling heights, roof geometry and relevant floor-to-roof assembly relationships. Include details needed to interpret unusual conditions.
• +Window, glazed-door and skylight schedules: keep identifiers consistent with plans and elevations. Include dimensions, quantities and selected performance values, or clearly mark the values as pending.
• +Assembly details: identify roof/ceiling, exterior wall, floor and slab constructions, insulation locations and continuity. A general note saying “insulate to code” does not describe the proposed assembly.
• +Mechanical, electrical and plumbing sheets when relevant: include equipment schedules, system boundaries, ventilation, lighting/controls and water-heating information appropriate to the scope.
• +File manifest: use names such as Architectural_RevC.pdf, Windows_RevC.pdf and Equipment_Preliminary.pdf. List sheet numbers, revision dates and superseded files; avoid five different files named “final.”

04Project data checklist: attach a one-page scope note

A short cover note makes the drawings easier to interpret. Area definitions and permit boundaries matter more than the number of attachments. Label estimates and explain differences between the project description and the plans rather than silently choosing the more convenient figure.

• +Project address, actual reviewing city/county or other AHJ, and application/permit identifier if available. Supply the AHJ-recorded application date if known; do not substitute the drawing date.
• +Conditioned floor area, total affected scope and number of dwelling units. Distinguish the added area from the existing home and identify unconditioned garages or other spaces separately.
• +Occupancy/use, number of stories and project type: new dwelling, addition, alteration, ADU, garage conversion, commercial TI or correction. Explain simultaneous work under separate applications.
• +Climate zone if documented, with the lookup or plan reference. Use the actual project location and CEC guidance; do not assign one zone to a whole city or county.
• +Selected design team contact roles, decisions still open, relevant reviewer instructions and desired submission milestone. A target date is a coordination request, not an accepted production commitment.

CEC climate-zone tool and location guidanceNew-construction intake and staged modeling

05Performance inputs that are easy to overlook

Use project-specific evidence rather than favorable defaults copied from another report. For windows, glazed doors and skylights, provide the proposed whole-product U-factor and solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC), tied to the correct opening identifier. Include the NFRC rating or product documentation where available; a center-of-glass claim or supplier marketing phrase is not the same as the scheduled whole-product performance.

For insulation, give R-values, assembly types and insulation locations together. R-21 in a framed cavity and an additional continuous-insulation layer are not interchangeable descriptions. Identify existing materials separately from proposed upgrades, and mark concealed conditions as unknown until supported.

For HVAC, provide selected model information, capacity and applicable rated efficiencies when available, plus system type, served spaces and duct location. For water heating, identify fuel/type, equipment efficiency, storage and distribution information relevant to the design. If equipment has not been selected, state the intended system and ask which assumptions can be studied provisionally.

Provide PV and battery plans/specifications if proposed or claimed in the compliance approach. Do not assume an existing array automatically satisfies a new scope. The preparer needs to establish applicability and support any modeled inputs. Preliminary option studies may compare alternatives; the permit package must identify the actual selected design.

CEC single-family manual: envelope, systems and performance guidanceEnergy modeling: compare options before freezing inputsPrescriptive versus performance compliance

06Existing buildings need existing-condition evidence

For an addition or alteration, distinguish retained, removed, replaced and newly installed components on existing/proposed sheets. Include available prior energy documents and readable equipment nameplate photos. A photo helps identify equipment; it cannot establish undocumented wall insulation or replace measured geometry. Describe what is known and who can investigate the rest.

For a garage conversion or ADU, show the former use, conditioning status, separation from other units and affected systems. For commercial work, identify landlord-provided shell systems, tenant-installed equipment and any controls or envelope changes. These facts help the preparer define a defensible scope rather than importing assumptions from a superficially similar project.

Addition-alone versus existing-plus-addition modeling boundariesADU and garage-conversion documentationTenant improvement NRCC intake checklist

07Worked example: a fictional 400 sq ft single-family addition

Illustrative example, not a client case or compliance result: an owner requests a quote for a 400 sq ft addition to an existing 1,600 sq ft house. We receive revision B floor plans, two elevations and a window supplier’s preliminary quotation. The note says the existing furnace will serve the added rooms, but does not identify the equipment or show the complete existing conditioned layout.

What was missing: a section defining the new roof insulation, a coordinated window schedule with whole-product U-factor/SHGC, HVAC information, the AHJ-recorded application date and a clear statement about whether existing windows will also change. The quotation lists different window identifiers from the elevations. None of these gaps is resolved by assuming a standard product or inventing existing insulation.

The designer supplies revision C with a matching schedule, marks the existing windows as retained and identifies the added conditioned boundary. The contractor provides a readable furnace nameplate photo; the mechanical designer confirms the proposed system scope. The owner supplies the application record. Equipment suitability and mechanical design remain with the responsible designer, not the energy report preparer.

The preparer can now assess an addition-alone approach and explain what extra existing-building evidence an existing-plus-addition study would need. The combined area is 2,000 sq ft, but arithmetic alone does not choose the modeling boundary or report scope. If the owner wants to compare window options, those runs stay preliminary until specifications are selected. The missing-information round happens before final modeling rather than after an inconsistent report is issued; this illustrates reduced rework, not a promised number of days saved.

See the modeling-boundary comparison and its limitations

08What not to send: common causes of avoidable delays

Do not send only undimensioned photos, password-locked PDFs or a plan set for a different permit scope. Supply accessible files through the private upload flow and remove unrelated personal records, financial documents and unnecessary sensitive information. Keep backups of your own project record.

An incomplete window schedule needs an open-item note, not a concealed guess. Mark revision clouds and explain what changed; clouds without a revision narrative can still leave the affected report inputs unclear. Identify superseded sheets rather than mixing old elevations with new plans. A ZIP should contain a named, navigable package, not an unexplained archive of every draft.

09Separate the report handoff from construction verification

The design report describes a proposed compliance approach; it does not certify that work has been installed or tested. Where the single-family sequence applies, CF1R is design compliance, installing contractors certify CF2R, and a qualified ECC-Rater verifies required CF3R measures. Coordinate signatures and required registered documents for the applicable scope before relying on the permit package.

Use Energy Code Compliance (ECC) terminology for current-cycle residential field verification. Older searches and documents may say HERS; preserve the edition and ask about the appropriate provider process rather than relabeling an older report. Report preparation is not field testing or registry operation. Field testing, acceptance testing, registry fees, CALGreen and AHJ permit fees are separate from the energy report scope.

CF1R vs CF2R vs CF3R: responsibilities explainedHERS to ECC: terminology and older-cycle recordsCEC: ECC program and transition guidance

10Six practical intake questions

Use these answers to organize a first submission; project-specific gaps can then be identified during scope review.

11Ready to request a quote? Send a clear package, not a perfect one

Start with the scope note, current plans and a short open-items list. Use Get a Quote for the signed-in private plan upload, then review the published residential/commercial square-foot pricing and exclusions. Submission is a request for review, not payment, order acceptance or a guarantee of permit approval. Where scope remains uncertain, ask for clarification before treating a preliminary assumption as final.

Get a Quote — upload plans for scope reviewSee Pricing — residential, commercial and revision scopesQuick what-to-send checklistHow project intake and production work