Who Provides Title 24 Calculations in California?

Three kinds of providers do most Title 24 work in California. Licensed engineering firms prepare calculations as part of a coordinated design package, which keeps the energy model and the drawings describing the same building. Specialty energy consultants focus exclusively on compliance modeling and documentation across many projects and jurisdictions. Certified energy analysts — professionals holding credentials such as CABEC Certified Energy Analyst status — bring tested competence with the compliance software and the code's calculation methods.

• Licensed engineering firms with in-house compliance staff
• Specialty Title 24 and energy-modeling consultants
• Certified energy analysts with documented software competence
• Design-build teams that carry compliance inside the project team

I look past marketing and check four things. First, licensure or certification that is current and verifiable — a license number or analyst credential I can confirm. Second, project-specific experience with the same occupancy and the 2025 California Energy Code / 2025 Standards, effective January 1, 2026, not just prior code cycles. Third, fluency with approved compliance software such as CBECC-Res or CBECC-Com for performance-path work. Fourth, a named responsible individual on the documents, because unsigned or unattributed calculations are a plan-check problem waiting to happen.

• Current, verifiable license or analyst certification
• Same-occupancy experience under the 2025 California Energy Code / 2025 Standards, effective January 1, 2026
• Demonstrated competence with approved compliance software
• A named responsible professional on every document

Compliance documentation tracks the project scope: residential design certificates (CF1R) prepared during design and submitted with the permit; residential installation certificates (CF2R) plus applicable field-verification certificates (CF3R); the NRCC family of compliance documents for the nonresidential permitted scope; and applicable NRCI installation, NRCV verification, and NRCA acceptance documents. The 2025 California Energy Code / 2025 Standards, effective January 1, 2026, govern permit applications filed on or after that date.

A provider who cannot explain which code edition applies to the permit application date is guessing. So is one who reuses calculations across projects, refuses to name the responsible professional, or promises approval without seeing the drawings. I also watch for pricing that skips modeling entirely — legitimate compliance work requires building the model, and anyone selling documents without it is selling paper, not compliance.

• Cannot identify the code edition tied to the permit date
• Reuses or recycles calculations between projects
• Will not name the responsible professional on the documents
• Prices the work without any modeling effort