HERS Testing, Title 24 & Permits Across Orange County
CHEERS-certified HERS / ECC Rating, Title 24 testing, mechanical/electrical/plumbing permit expediting, and final inspections in all 34 Orange County cities and the unincorporated county areas. Title 24 is California’s Building Energy Efficiency Standards (Title 24, Part 6 of the CA Code of Regulations); HERS testing — renamed ECC, for Energy Code Compliance, under the 2025 code — is the field verification it requires. Orange County is our single biggest market, and we run OC routes daily. Same-day field results. (This page covers the whole county — the City of Orange has its own page.)
Thirty-four city building departments — plus the county’s
Unlike Los Angeles, Orange County has no single dominant building department. Each of the 34 incorporated cities runs its own building division with its own portal, counter hours, plan checkers, and inspector pool: Anaheim’s Building Division works out of 200 S. Anaheim Boulevard; Huntington Beach out of 2000 Main Street; Santa Ana out of 20 Civic Center Plaza; Tustin out of 300 Centennial Way (and takes plan submittals by email). The project address — not the mailing city — determines which authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) you deal with, and OC addresses are full of traps: a “Santa Ana” mailing address can sit in unincorporated North Tustin, and a “Huntington Beach” address can fall in Westminster’s jurisdiction.
Unincorporated Orange County — OC Development Services
- Department: OC Development Services, a service area of OC Public Works
- Address: 601 N. Ross Street, Santa Ana, CA 92701 (public permit counter on the first floor)
- Counter hours: Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 4 PM
- Submission methods: public permit counter and the online myOCeServices land-management portal
- Covers: unincorporated communities such as North Tustin, Rossmoor, Midway City, Ladera Ranch, and the Silverado and Modjeska canyon areas
If your parcel is unincorporated, the county — not the nearest city — runs your plan check, your permit, and your final inspection. North Tustin is the one we see most: large lots, big HVAC systems, and a steady stream of remodels, all permitted through OC Development Services even though everything around them says Tustin or Santa Ana.
Two climate zones: 6 on the coast, 8 inland
Orange County splits between two of California’s 16 building climate zones, assigned by the California Energy Commission (CEC) by project address (see the CEC climate zone tool):
- Climate Zone 6 — the coastal strip: Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Westminster, Seal Beach, Fountain Valley, Costa Mesa, Laguna Beach, and San Clemente. Yes, Westminster is CZ 6 even though it isn’t on the sand.
- Climate Zone 8 — inland Orange County: Anaheim, Irvine, Orange, Tustin, Santa Ana, Cypress, Buena Park, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Mission Viejo, and Rancho Santa Margarita.
The zone changes the test list. Under the 2025 Building Energy Efficiency Standards (in effect for permit applications filed on or after January 1, 2026), refrigerant charge verification is prescriptively required for air conditioners in Climate Zones 8–15 — so an AC change-out in Irvine carries a verification that the same job in Newport Beach may not. Heat pumps require refrigerant charge verification in all zones under the 2025 code, per the CEC’s What’s New for 2025 fact sheet. We confirm the exact zone and measure list for your address before quoting.
Where we work most in Orange County
Orange County cities account for more than a quarter of the 5,300+ permits in our internal records since 2022 — more than any other county. Huntington Beach (340 permits) and Irvine (260) lead, with Anaheim, Orange, Tustin, and Santa Ana each above 115. Deep-dive pages for the cities we run most:
- Huntington Beach — our #1 OC city; coastal CZ 6, every HB zip in our records.
- Irvine — master-planned new construction and ADUs; online-portal-only submittals.
- Anaheim — from the Colony to Anaheim Hills (92807 leads our volume).
- Orange — east Orange and Orange Park Acres dominate; Old Towne adds historic review.
- Tustin — Tustin Ranch / Tustin Legacy (92782) is our top zip; email plan submittals.
- Santa Ana — heaviest volume in 92705, which also borders unincorporated North Tustin.
- Newport Beach — coastal CZ 6 remodels and custom homes.
- Cypress — compact CZ 8 city, nearly all volume in 90630.
- Westminster — CZ 6; portal, email, and counter submittals.
What we do across Orange County
- Title 24 HERS / ECC Rating testing — duct leakage, refrigerant charge, cooling coil airflow, fan efficacy, blower door. CF1R / CF2R / CF3R prepared and registered with CHEERS, at no additional charge.
- Permit expediting — mechanical, electrical, plumbing, in any of the 34 city systems or through OC Development Services. Portal, email, or counter — whichever your AHJ wants for the scope. Plan-check corrections handled.
- Final inspections & closeout — we schedule the final with the right city or county inspector, brief the homeowner on what the inspector will want to see, and hand off the HERS test and permit packet so the permit actually closes.
Frequently asked — Orange County
Who issues the building permit for my project in Orange County?
If the property is inside one of Orange County’s 34 incorporated cities, that city’s building division issues the permit — Anaheim, Irvine, Huntington Beach, Santa Ana, and the rest each run their own counters, portals, and inspector pools. If the property is in an unincorporated area — North Tustin, Rossmoor, Midway City, Ladera Ranch, or the Silverado and Modjeska canyons — the permit comes from OC Development Services at 601 N. Ross Street in Santa Ana. We confirm the jurisdiction from the project address before we quote, so the application goes to the right counter the first time.
Is this page about the City of Orange or Orange County?
Orange County — the county of 34 cities stretching from Seal Beach to San Clemente. The City of Orange is one incorporated city inside it, and it has its own dedicated page. If your project is in the City of Orange, start there; if it’s anywhere else in the county, or you’re not sure which building department you’ll be dealing with, this page is the right starting point.
When does Title 24 require HERS / ECC testing in Orange County?
Whenever permitted work touches energy systems, which covers most projects. HVAC alterations — replacing a coil, condenser, furnace, or more than 40 feet of ducting — typically require duct leakage testing, and in inland Climate Zone 8 refrigerant charge verification as well. New construction and ADUs almost always require multiple HERS measures, including QII on most plans. Window replacements, insulation upgrades, and water-heater swaps may trigger HERS depending on scope. Your city’s plan check will list the required measures on the CF1R; we can also confirm before you submit.
Does the 2025 Energy Code apply to my Orange County project?
Only if the permit application was filed on or after January 1, 2026. The California Energy Commission’s rule is date-of-application: projects applied for before that date stay on the 2022 code even if construction runs into 2026 and beyond. The 2025 code makes heat pumps the prescriptive baseline for space heating in every climate zone and requires refrigerant charge verification on heat pumps statewide, so post-2026 applications in Orange County usually carry more field verification, not less.
How fast can ERE schedule a HERS test in Orange County?
Same-day field results in your inbox the day of the test, with the CF3R registered with CHEERS. Orange County is our single biggest market — OC cities account for more than a quarter of all permits in our records — so we run county routes daily and can usually slot a test within 2 to 5 business days, anywhere from Westminster to Newport Beach.