HERS Testing Requirements for HVAC Contractors

HERS testing requirements for HVAC contractors in California cover a set of field-verified measures on the finished install — duct leakage, refrigerant charge, and airflow, plus fan watt draw where it applies. A certified rater independent of the installing crew performs the test and files a CF-3R. Until that filing lands, the permit stays open.

What are the HERS testing requirements for HVAC contractors?

A HERS field verification checks physical measurements on the completed system against the numbers filed on the permit's CF-1R compliance report. On a standard residential changeout, that means some combination of the following.

• Duct leakage — the duct system is pressurized and the rater measures how much conditioned air escapes before it reaches the living space. California sets a maximum leakage threshold; above it, the measure fails.
• Refrigerant charge — the rater confirms the system is charged within the manufacturer's specified range. Over- or under-charged systems fail, and the number has to match, not just look right on the gauges.
• Airflow — the rater measures air volume across the indoor coil to confirm it meets the equipment's design specification.
• Fan watt draw, on systems where it applies — confirming the air handler runs within its permitted power range.

Which measures apply to a given job depends on the permit scope. Not every changeout triggers every measure. The CF-1R filed at permit stage is what tells the rater which ones to test.

Who is allowed to perform a HERS test?

Only a rater certified through an Energy Commission-approved provider can perform the verification. The contractor's own technician cannot self-certify the install — the independence requirement is the entire point of the test. A rater who works for the company that installed the equipment cannot sign off on that company's work.

That leaves contractors getting HERS testing one of two ways: a subcontracted rating company booked separately on its own calendar, or a rater who is part of the same team already running the permit.

The difference shows up when something goes wrong — a CF-3R filed against the wrong permit number, a rater booked out two weeks in peak season, a filing that never made it into the registry. When the rater is a subcontractor, fixing it means calling a vendor who does not answer to your job timeline.

What changed under California's 2025 Energy Code

The 2025 Energy Code took effect January 1, 2026 and raised stringency roughly 30% over the 2022 standards. Two changes matter for HVAC contractors planning permit work.

First, HERS was formally rebranded to ECC — Energy Code Compliance. The field work is the same; the terminology on newer documentation has shifted.

Second, the provider landscape consolidated. CalCERTS shut down in September 2024, and raters and contractors who used it migrated elsewhere. Following the Energy Commission's approval in November 2025, CHEERS became the only fully approved ECC Provider, with a second registry's application still pending. If your compliance paperwork historically routed through a provider that no longer operates, the filing path is not the one you used two years ago.

How the process runs, from permit to close

1. Permit issued. The CF-1R filed with the application lists which measures the job requires.
2. Installation completed. Ductwork should stay accessible — sealing it up before the rater's visit means undoing work to retest later.
3. Rater scheduled and dispatched. The rater coordinates site access with the homeowner directly, independent of the installing crew.
4. Field measurements taken against the CF-1R targets.
5. Results filed. A passing result becomes a CF-3R filed to the registry. A failing result means correction and a re-test before anything gets filed.
6. Final inspection scheduled. The building department needs the CF-3R on file before it will sign off.
7. Permit closes.

Every step after the rater is dispatched depends on that rater showing up and filing correctly. That is the operational risk HERS adds to an HVAC permit that a permit without HERS does not carry.

What happens when a measure fails

The job does not get a second chance on the same visit. The contractor corrects the issue and the rater schedules a re-test. Until a passing result is filed, the permit sits exactly where it was — open.

Open permits are not a filing inconvenience. They surface years later at resale, when a homeowner's title work turns up a permit that was pulled and never closed, and the contractor who pulled it is the one who gets the call. Permits that are left open can come back to haunt you.

How iPermit handles HERS testing

iPermit's HERS raters are our own certified staff, not brokered out to a third-party rating company. Testing runs on the same job record as the permit, we file the CF-3R through the CHEERS registry, and we schedule the final inspection once the filing is on record. One workflow instead of a handoff between vendors.

That is built on more than 500,000 HERS tests completed and 1,000,000+ permits pulled since 1976. HERS and Title 24 testing is California-specific; iPermit's permit-pulling service runs nationwide across 40+ states, with 100% of permits submitted within 24 hours.

Do HERS requirements apply to every HVAC changeout?

No. Requirements depend on the permit scope and the measures listed on the job's CF-1R. Duct work, equipment replacement, and system alterations trigger different combinations. The compliance report filed at permit stage is the authority on which measures apply.

Can my own technician perform the HERS test?

No. The verification must be performed by a rater certified through an Energy Commission-approved provider and independent of the installing contractor. Self-certification is not permitted.

What is a CF-3R?

The CF-3R is the certificate of field verification — the document a certified rater files after testing a completed installation. It is the record the building department looks for before signing off the final inspection. The CF-1R is its counterpart at permit stage, filed before work begins.

Does HERS testing apply outside California?

HERS as a Title 24 requirement is California-specific. Other states have their own energy code verification regimes, and most do not require the same field testing on a residential changeout. Permit requirements themselves apply everywhere — they just do not carry the HERS step.

How much time does HERS testing add to a job?

The field test itself is a single visit. The delay risk sits around it — waiting on a rater to get dispatched, and re-testing if a measure fails. Contractors who run permits and testing through one provider remove the vendor-to-vendor coordination gap where most of that time accumulates.

If you run HVAC permits in California and want the permit, the HERS test, and the final inspection on one file instead of three vendors, talk to iPermit — or register at iPermitPro.com/signup to start submitting jobs.