01Key facts / TL;DR
Yes, published residential report pricing starts at $149; commercial starts at $399, with the full square-footage bands shown below.
No, an ADU or remodel does not have a separate project-name price menu: applicable residential work uses conditioned area and dwelling units.
It depends whether the request is new documentation, a design revision or a major model rebuild; those are different scopes.
No, report preparation does not include field verification, acceptance testing, registry fees, CALGreen or AHJ fees.
Representative stock photography. Not our projects, staff or offices.
Published schedule
Flat prices for report preparation
Residential
By conditioned floor area in the confirmed report scope.
- Up to 2,000 sq ft
- $149
- 2,001 to 4,000 sq ft
- $199
- 4,001 to 6,000 sq ft
- $279
- Over 6,000 sq ft
- $279 + $50per additional started 1,000 sq ft
- Each additional dwelling unit
- +$75beyond the first
Commercial
By floor area in the confirmed documentation scope.
- Up to 5,000 sq ft
- $399
- 5,001 to 15,000 sq ft
- $599
- Over 15,000 sq ft
- Custom quote
Revisions
- Plan-check correction caused by our modeling or report error
- Free
- Architectural or design revision after the report
- $75 flat
- Full remodel of the energy model or larger resubmittal
- Custom quoteintake required
Rush
+$99 residential / +$149 commercial. Next-business-day production after complete inputs are received. Not a permit-approval or unconditional 24-hour promise.
Not included
- ECC field verification (formerly called HERS testing in older documents)
- Nonresidential acceptance testing
- Registry or document registration fees
- CALGreen documentation
- Building department (AHJ) plan check and permit fees
No payment is taken online. Price and scope are confirmed with you before work begins. Full pricing page
Example, not yet calculated
$149
Published example: a 2,000 sq ft single-dwelling residential report without rush. Your own estimate appears here once the estimator loads.
Estimate only: not a payment, order acceptance or permit approval. Price is confirmed before work starts. Major redesigns and full remodeled energy models need a custom quote; see the published revision tiers on the pricing page.
Full pricing and exclusions02Worked examples: three published-tier walkthroughs
ILLUSTRATIVE ONLY. These anonymized arithmetic examples show the published menu, not actual clients, additional price menus or promises that a particular permit scope qualifies. They cover new design-phase report preparation, excluding rush and separate testing, registration, CALGreen and AHJ fees. Confirm the documentation boundary before relying on any total.
A. Residential remodel: a new report covering 1,900 sq ft and one dwelling falls in the up-to-2,000-sq-ft residential tier. The base is $149; no additional dwelling-unit supplement applies, so preparation is $149 before optional rush and exclusions. The remodel name does not create a special fee. This is not a $75 revision to an existing report, and a full model rebuild would instead need custom intake.
B. ADU plus main dwelling: suppose the confirmed report scope actually includes a 1,400-sq-ft main dwelling and a 600-sq-ft ADU: 2,000 conditioned sq ft total and two dwelling units. The first dwelling uses the applicable residential area tier, $149; the second adds $75, making $224. There is no separate ADU price menu. An untouched main house outside the commissioned report scope is not automatically an extra quoted unit; send the boundary and unit count for review.
C. Commercial TI: an 8,000-sq-ft tenant-improvement documentation scope falls within 5,001–15,000 sq ft, so the published base is $599 and preparation is $599 before rush and excluded work. It is not the up-to-5,000-sq-ft $399 band. Commercial work over 15,000 sq ft is custom, not an extrapolated fixed rate. Clarify which lighting, mechanical or envelope documentation the permit actually needs.
Optional rush adds $99 residential or $149 commercial for next-business-day production after complete inputs—not an unconditional 24-hour or permit-approval guarantee. City plan-check corrections caused by our modeling/report error are Free; architectural/design changes are $75 flat; full remodeled models and larger rebuilds are custom after intake. Contractors can use the linked bid-line pack, but should keep these boundaries in their own proposal.
Try these inputs in the estimatorContractor bid-line copy packUpload plans for a scoped quote
03First decide what you are buying
A Title 24 energy report is shorthand for design-phase documentation demonstrating applicable California Energy Code compliance. Title 24 contains multiple parts; Part 6 is the Energy Code, while Part 11 is CALGreen. An informal request for “Title 24” should be narrowed to the building, changed components, code edition and requested documents before a price is treated as the whole project budget.
For an applicable single-family residential scope, CF1R is design-compliance evidence. For applicable nonresidential work, NRCC belongs to the design-compliance family. Multifamily classification can change the form family, so do not order a house certificate solely because the building contains dwellings. The responsible project team and reviewing authority establish what is needed.
Preparing that design package is different from mechanical/electrical design, installation certification, field verification or acceptance testing. A low report price is not a promise that every permit discipline and construction-stage record is included. Ask for a defined deliverable, not simply a document with “Title 24” in its filename.
Do I need an energy report for this scope?CF1R service and responsibilities
04Read the published menu as a scope-based price
The residential and commercial schedules above are Title 24 Lab’s published offer, not a statewide government fee, market survey or claim about competitors. The California Energy Commission sources below explain compliance concepts; they do not establish these prices. The pricing page remains the central menu, and the embedded estimator uses the same shared calculator.
For residential work, identify conditioned square footage in the requested documentation scope and dwelling units included in the request. An ADU, addition and remodel use the residential framework rather than three invented special-price menus. Describe the existing building and the affected portion so the preparer can confirm what is actually being documented.
Commercial pricing uses the floor area in scope. A tenant suite is not automatically the entire landlord building, but an applicant should not omit affected areas to obtain a lower band. For projects above the published commercial bands, request a custom quote. An estimator cannot determine the correct building boundary from a single area number.
Central pricing menuCost guide: aduCost guide: additionCost guide: remodelCost guide: commercial ti
05What drives the amount and the preparation effort?
Area and residential unit count are explicit price inputs. Building category selects the schedule. Rush is an optional supplement with a complete-inputs condition. A revision’s cause and size determine whether it is our-error correction, an architectural change or a larger rebuild requiring intake. Those distinctions are more useful than assuming every permit comment costs the same.
Complexity also affects scoping and the information needed: multiple building uses, unclear existing conditions, competing model boundaries, unresolved equipment choices or inconsistent plans can require clarification. This guide does not invent a hidden complexity surcharge. Instead, disclose the facts and have the actual scope and deliverables confirmed before preparation begins.
A preliminary option study and a final permit package are not identical tasks. If you need a comparison before selecting glazing or HVAC, say so. Do not assume that ordering a certificate includes unlimited alternatives, engineering design or repeated major redesigns. Conversely, do not order a full-building performance model when the actual permit only calls for a supported component-level approach.
06Area and units: two examples without a new price menu
ILLUSTRATIVE ONLY: a residential documentation scope of 6,050 conditioned square feet, one dwelling unit and no rush produces a published-menu estimate of $329. The over-6,000 supplement counts each additional started 1,000 square feet. This is an example of the shared calculator, not a completed project quote or an energy compliance result.
For a residential request involving multiple dwelling units, the published supplement is $75 for each unit beyond the first. Explain which units and conditioned areas are included instead of assuming every existing unit on a parcel automatically belongs to the new report scope. The intake review should resolve the documentation boundary.
For an addition, identify new conditioned area and any existing space included in the requested analysis. Addition-alone and existing-plus-addition are different modeling boundaries; the permit scope and allowed approach come first. This is why a floor-area number without drawings may produce a preliminary estimate but not a complete description of the job.
Addition cost and boundary questionsAddition-alone versus existing-plus-addition
07Three revision tiers—not a blanket redesign fee
City plan-check corrections caused by our modeling/report error are Free. Send the complete correction letter and reviewed report so the issue can be traced. An AHJ comment by itself does not establish whose error it was; compare the requested correction with the plans and inputs that were actually supplied.
Architectural/design revisions are $75 flat when the client or architect changes plans after the report. That is not a promise to rebuild a substantially different energy model for the same fee. Keep the previous and revised drawing sets, mark changed sheets and identify equipment or envelope substitutions.
Full remodeled models and larger resubmittals needing a rebuilt model require intake and a custom quote. Do not select an ordinary architectural revision merely because a major redesign is being resubmitted to the same city. State the scope openly so the quote is not based on an inaccurate revision label.
Plan-check corrections and revision decision checklistRemodel cost decisions
08Rush changes production—not city review
Published rush is +$99 residential or +$149 commercial for next-business-day production after complete inputs are received. It is not an unconditional 24-hour promise. A missing window schedule, unresolved HVAC selection or incomplete correction letter must be resolved rather than silently replaced with invented assumptions.
AHJ plan-check staffing, review queues, acceptance of the application and permit issuance are separate. Paying for rush does not buy city approval or construction-stage testing. If a target submittal date matters, include it with the plans and ask for confirmation of the scope and complete-inputs status.
Likewise, uploading plans does not itself mean a production slot has been accepted or payment has been taken. The quote request preserves the project information for review. Keep a copy of the submission reference and respond to missing-input questions with the controlling plan set.
09Keep excluded work in the project budget
The exclusions shown with the published menu matter when comparing a report quote with a total compliance budget. ECC field verification/field testing, nonresidential acceptance testing, registry/document-registration fees, CALGreen documentation and AHJ plan-check/permit fees are separate. Do not treat an excluded fee as waived simply because the report is inexpensive.
For applicable residential measures, installing contractors complete CF2R records and qualified ECC-Raters handle required CF3R verification. ECC is current terminology; HERS can remain on older-cycle paperwork. For nonresidential work, distinguish design records from installer and acceptance-testing responsibilities. A design certificate does not prove that a system was installed or passed testing.
Confirm those handoffs early, especially when a contractor is budgeting or an owner has received a construction-stage comment. A new report may not be the missing item. Send the actual request and identify the permit stage rather than buying another design package without checking what the reviewer needs.
Residential form stages explainedNonresidential form families
10A quote packet that reduces guesswork
Prepare existing/proposed plans, relevant schedules, supported equipment intentions, project type, area, units and the AHJ-recorded building-permit application date. The 2025 Energy Code applies to applications on or after January 1, 2026; confirm older or refiled applications with the AHJ and use matching forms/software. Neither drawing date nor intended construction start establishes the edition.
Send PDF plans with DWG/ZIP support where useful, a clear change summary and any complete correction letter. Mark unknown inputs as provisional. The quote form provides private uploads after sign-in; no public plan download is implied. If files are not ready, describe the missing pieces instead of assuming the estimate is a finalized production commitment.
Complete intake checklistUpload plans for a scoped quoteOrdering documentation online
11Six report-cost questions
Are these statewide required Title 24 fees?
No. They are Title 24 Lab’s published report-preparation prices. CEC sources explain the Energy Code, not our fees or an industry-wide price comparison. AHJ fees and excluded services are separate.
Does an ADU have its own special price list?
No. Applicable residential ADU work uses the published conditioned-area tiers and additional-unit supplement. Send the proposed scope and unit count so the documentation boundary can be confirmed.
Why can an estimate differ from the task I actually need?
A calculator uses the inputs entered; it cannot classify the building or read drawings. Missing scope, a major rebuild, commercial oversize work or a different documentation stage can require clarification or a custom quote.
Are all plan-check corrections free?
Only corrections caused by our modeling/report error are Free. Client/architect design changes are the published architectural-revision tier; major model rebuilds require intake and a custom quote.
Does rush guarantee my permit tomorrow?
No. Rush concerns next-business-day production after complete inputs. It does not control AHJ review, permit approval, missing-input resolution or separate field/acceptance testing.
Do I pay when I upload plans?
No payment is taken online. Sign in and send the request with plans for scope review. Submission is not order acceptance, a guaranteed production commitment or permit approval.
12Turn the estimate into a scoped project request
Use the published menu to budget, then send the actual plans and open questions. Sign-in protects submission and private uploads. No payment is taken online; submitting is not order acceptance, a production commitment or permit approval. Title 24 Lab is a provisional brand. This educational guide is not legal or engineering advice; the AHJ determines applicable requirements.
Upload plans with your quote requestGet a QuotePublished pricing and estimatorPrepare your intake packetOrder Title 24: what to expect