Title 24 Energy Compliance in Rialto, CA

Title 24 Energy Compliance in Rialto, CA

Title 24 energy compliance is a mandatory part of every ADU permit set in California. For any new detached ADU, garage conversion, or junior ADU in Rialto, the city will not issue a building permit without an approved Title 24 energy calculation report – and the building department will not sign off on final inspection without proof that the finished structure meets those calculations. At Ellery ADU Studio, our ADU Design & Permitting services mean that report is not a last-minute add-on we hand off to a third party. It is drafted in-house, cross-checked against the architectural drawings, and submitted as part of a single coordinated permit package.

If you are already working through the ADU Design & Permitting in Rialto process or trying to figure out why your permit was flagged, call (951) 476-1467 and a live person will pick up. We can usually tell you within a few minutes whether a Title 24 revision is the bottleneck – and what it will take to clear it.

What Title 24 Actually Covers for ADUs in Rialto

Title 24 Part 6 is California’s Building Energy Efficiency Standards. The 2022 code cycle – currently enforced in Rialto and across San Bernardino County – tightened requirements substantially compared to the 2019 cycle. For ADUs specifically, here is what the report has to demonstrate:

• Insulation values (R-values) for walls, ceiling, and floor assemblies. Rialto sits in California Climate Zone 10, which covers the western Inland Empire. Zone 10 has specific prescriptive minimums – ceiling insulation of at least R-38 in most framing configurations, and wall assemblies that typically need to hit R-21 or better to pass the performance path.
• Window and glazing area. The report calculates the total fenestration area relative to the conditioned floor space. ADUs in Rialto frequently fail preliminary Title 24 runs because the designer specified large south- or west-facing windows without compensating with higher-performance glazing (U-factor 0.30 or lower is common in Zone 10 designs).
• Heating and cooling equipment efficiency. If the ADU uses a mini-split, the SEER2 rating and the HSPF2 rating must be documented. A unit that is physically installed but not spec’d correctly in the Title 24 report will fail inspection.
• Water heating. California’s 2022 standards require heat-pump water heaters in most new ADU construction. The report must identify the unit, its energy factor, and how the installation meets the mandatory measures checklist.
• Lighting power density. Interior lighting must comply with mandatory high-efficacy requirements. This is straightforward in practice but is often the line that causes a correction notice on otherwise clean permit sets.
• Solar-ready or PV requirements. Detached new ADUs above a certain floor area trigger solar-ready conduit and panel provisions under the 2022 cycle. Whether a full PV system is required depends on the ADU’s square footage and whether the main dwelling already carries a solar system that can offset the ADU’s load.

Rialto’s summer heat load is not trivial. Temperatures in the Inland Empire regularly exceed 105 degrees Fahrenheit, which means a Title 24 report that is technically compliant but specifies undersized cooling equipment will produce an ADU that is uncomfortable and expensive to run. We design to pass the report and to perform in actual Rialto conditions – those are not always the same target, and hitting both is the point.

When You Need Title 24 Energy Compliance

Any of the following scenarios means you need a compliant Title 24 report before Rialto will move your project forward:

• New permit application for any ADU type. Whether it is a new detached unit in the backyard, a garage conversion on a property in the Willow Avenue corridor, or a junior ADU carved out of existing living space, the city’s plan check will not be deemed complete without the Title 24 documents in the submittal package.
• Permit correction notice citing energy compliance. Plan check corrections are common. If the correction letter references CF1R, CF2R, or CF3R forms – those are the compliance forms that make up a Title 24 package – the fix requires a revised energy report, not just a drawing correction.
• Change of design after approval. If the approved drawings specified one window layout and construction has shifted to a different configuration, the Title 24 report must be revised and resubmitted. This is a frequent issue on projects where prefab or modular units – including systems from Plant Prefab – are substituted mid-project because the factory’s standard window package differs from the original spec.
• Final inspection failure on energy items. The HERS (Home Energy Rating System) inspector signs CF3R forms at final inspection to verify that insulation, duct systems, and HVAC equipment were installed as specified in the Title 24 report. A mismatch between what was installed and what the report says will hold up your certificate of occupancy.
• Inherited project with missing documentation. We see this regularly on projects in Rialto where a previous designer or contractor started the permit process and stopped. If the Title 24 report is missing, expired (reports must reference the current code cycle), or was never submitted, Ellery can reconstruct the package from the existing drawings.
• Lender or escrow requiring compliance documentation. If an ADU was built without a final-inspected permit and a buyer’s lender or escrow requires energy compliance documentation before closing, a Title 24 report tied to an as-built condition is part of the remediation package.

Before

After

Our Title 24 Energy Compliance Process

1. Drawing review and climate zone confirmation. Before running any calculations, we confirm the project address against Rialto’s Climate Zone 10 designation and review the architectural drawings for the inputs the energy model needs: conditioned floor area, ceiling height, wall assembly, glazing schedule, and mechanical equipment. If drawings are preliminary, we flag the design decisions that will most affect the energy model so you can make informed choices before the design is locked.
2. Performance path modeling. We use California’s CBECC-Res compliance software to model the ADU against the 2022 Title 24 standards using the performance approach rather than the prescriptive checklist. The performance path gives more design flexibility and frequently allows a better outcome – for example, using a higher-efficiency mini-split to compensate for a more generous west-facing window than the prescriptive path allows. The model produces the CF1R compliance form, which is the primary document the plan checker reviews.
3. Specification alignment. The energy report is only as useful as its alignment with the actual construction documents. We cross-reference every insulation R-value, every window U-factor and SHGC rating, and every piece of mechanical equipment listed in the energy report against the architectural and mechanical drawings before submittal. Mismatches between these documents are the most common reason Title 24 corrections come back from plan check.
4. Submittal as part of the permit package. The CF1R and all mandatory measure documentation are submitted to Rialto Building and Safety as part of the full permit package under our one-contract model. You receive the same written price for the complete permit set – drawings, energy compliance, and coordination through plan check approval – under Haven Standard Clause 1, before any work begins.
5. HERS coordination for final inspection. After permit approval and during construction, we coordinate with the HERS rater who will inspect and sign the CF2R and CF3R forms at installation and final inspection. If the installed equipment or insulation deviates from the report, we identify the issue and determine whether a report revision is needed before the HERS rater is on site – not after.
6. Documentation delivered to you. At project close, you receive the complete Title 24 package: the signed CF1R, CF2R, and CF3R forms, the CBECC-Res compliance report, and a photo record of the insulation and mechanical installation that corresponds to the HERS inspection. That file belongs to you and travels with the property for resale, refinancing, or future permit work.

Title 24 Energy Compliance Pricing in Rialto

Title 24 energy compliance for ADUs in Rialto is not a standalone line item at Ellery. It is part of the full ADU Design & Permitting in Rialto scope, quoted in writing before any work begins. That said, clients who come to us with an existing permit set that needs only a Title 24 report or revision get a separate written quote for that specific scope. Here is what that typically looks like:

• New Title 24 report for a new ADU permit submittal (standalone): $850 – $1,400, depending on ADU size and complexity. A straightforward 500-square-foot detached ADU with a single mini-split and standard window schedule sits at the low end. A 1,200-square-foot ADU with multiple mechanical zones, a PV system calculation, and non-standard glazing sits at the high end.
• Title 24 revision for plan check correction: $450 – $750. The range depends on how many compliance parameters changed and whether the revision requires a full re-run of the performance model or only a targeted amendment.
• As-built Title 24 report for an unpermitted or partially-permitted ADU: $1,100 – $1,800. The higher cost reflects the field documentation required to capture as-built conditions accurately and the additional risk management in representing those conditions in the compliance model.
• Title 24 compliance included in full design-build contract: Included in the all-in written project price. No separate energy compliance invoice.

Every number above is a range because every project has different inputs. The written quote you receive from Ellery will be a single fixed number, not a range - see How Much Does ADU Design & Permitting Cost? (2026 Price Guide) - Rialto, CA for context - and under Haven Standard Clause 1, the price is locked at signing. Call (951) 476-1467 to get the written scope and price for your specific ADU and address in Rialto.

FAQs – Title 24 Energy Compliance

Does every ADU in Rialto need a Title 24 report, or only new construction?

Every ADU that requires a building permit in Rialto needs a Title 24 energy compliance report – that includes new detached ADUs, garage conversions, and junior ADUs created from existing space. Garage conversions sometimes catch people off guard because the structure already exists, but converting a non-conditioned garage to a habitable ADU triggers a full Title 24 analysis under California’s 2022 standards. The only scenario where an existing structure avoids the full Title 24 requirement is a simple re-roof or cosmetic interior work that does not change the conditioned envelope – and that is not an ADU conversion. Call (951) 476-1467 or search ADU Design & Permitting Near Me in Rialto, CA for a free assessment of what your specific project triggers.

What is a HERS inspection and do I need one for my Rialto ADU?

A HERS (Home Energy Rating System) inspection is a third-party field verification required by California to confirm that what was installed in your ADU matches what the Title 24 report specified. In most Rialto ADU projects, at least one HERS measure will be required – typically duct leakage testing if the ADU uses ducted HVAC, or refrigerant charge verification on a split system. Ductless mini-split systems can reduce the number of required HERS measures significantly, which is one practical reason we often specify them on Rialto ADUs where the reduced inspection scope also shortens the time to final sign-off. The HERS rater signs the CF3R form that the building inspector needs to issue the certificate of occupancy.

Can the Title 24 report be done after the architectural drawings are submitted to the city?

No – the Title 24 report has to be part of the initial permit submittal in Rialto for the plan check to be deemed complete. Submitting without it means the city will issue an incompleteness notice, which adds time to your permit timeline. Some plan checkers will allow a Title 24 to be submitted as a revision during the plan check review cycle, but that is at the plan checker’s discretion and is not something to rely on for scheduling. The cleaner path – and the one Ellery follows on every project – is to have the energy report, the CF1R, and all mandatory measure documentation ready before the permit package goes to the counter.

My contractor says he can handle Title 24 on his own. Is that a problem?

It depends on whether the contractor is using a qualified energy consultant or running the calculations himself. California Title 24 compliance reports must be prepared using approved compliance software (CBECC-Res is the standard tool) and, for residential projects, are typically certified by a CEPE (Certified Energy Plans Examiner) or prepared by a HERS provider. A contractor who says he “handles it” may be outsourcing to a third party – which is fine – or may be producing an uncertified worksheet that will fail plan check. The more common problem is not the report itself - even with proper ADU Design & Blueprints - but the lack of coordination between the energy report and the construction drawings: the report says R-21 walls and the drawings show a different assembly, and nobody catches it until the HERS rater is on site. Under Ellery’s one-contract model, the drawings and the energy report are produced together, so that gap doesn’t exist.

Why Rialto’s Climate Affects Your Title 24 Strategy

Rialto sits in Climate Zone 10, which the California Energy Commission defines as a hot inland valley zone with significant cooling loads and moderate heating loads. What that means practically for an ADU energy compliance strategy is that the report is dominated by the cooling analysis – west and southwest-facing glazing is the biggest risk, mass wall assemblies can help reduce peak cooling demand, and heat-pump water heaters perform well because the ambient temperatures that support their efficiency are present for most of the year.

We have seen ADU projects in Rialto’s established neighborhoods – near Foothill Boulevard, in the Baseline area, and on the larger parcels east of Cactus Avenue – where the lot orientation put the ADU’s primary facade facing west. On those projects, the Title 24 performance model is the tool that shows the owner exactly what that orientation costs in energy terms, and what changes to the window schedule or wall assembly bring the project into compliance without gutting the design intent. That is a conversation worth having before the drawings are finalized, not after.

Prefab and modular ADU systems can simplify the Title 24 process when the manufacturer has already developed a compliance certificate for their standard configurations in Zone 10. Plant Prefab, for example, builds to a documented energy performance specification that can be adapted into the site-specific Title 24 report without starting from scratch. James Hardie cladding systems, which we specify regularly for their durability in the Inland Empire’s heat and low-humidity conditions, are thermally transparent in the energy model – the R-value contribution comes from the wall assembly behind the cladding, not the fiber cement itself, and the report needs to reflect that accurately.

The Ellery Approach: One Contract, One Permit Set, No Gaps

Title 24 compliance failures in the field almost always trace back to a coordination failure, not a technical one. The designer produced a report. The builder installed something different. Nobody noticed until the HERS rater came out. That is the designer-versus-builder blame gap that breaks projects. At Ellery ADU Studio, the drawings, the energy report, and the construction are a single contract at a single written price – so the person responsible for the Title 24 report is also responsible for making sure the insulation in the wall matches it.

That accountability is backed by the 365-Day Done Right Promise: if the finished ADU is not built to the permitted drawings and specifications – including the Title 24 compliance documents – Ellery makes it right, in writing, before the project starts. That promise is not a marketing phrase. It is a written term in your contract.

Since 2015, Ellery has designed, permitted, and built more than 900 ADUs across the Inland Empire, every one with a written price before work started and a documented photo record at each stage of construction. Nadia Ellery reviews the energy compliance package on every project before it goes to submittal – not because the process requires it, but because a Title 24 correction notice is a preventable delay, and preventable delays have a documented cost in time and money.

If you have a Rialto ADU project that needs a Title 24 report – whether it’s a new permit application, a plan check correction, or a final inspection that got held up on energy documentation – call (951) 476-1467. A live person will answer. We’ll tell you what the report needs to say, what it will cost, and how long it will take, in writing, before any work begins.

Written by Nadia Ellery, Owner at Ellery ADU Studio Rialto, serving Rialto.