Compliance for certain energy efficiency measures, as specified by the Commission, requires field verification and diagnostic testing of dwelling units by a certified Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Rater. The Commission approves HERS Providers, subject to the Commission’s HERS regulations, which appear in the California Code of Regulations, Title 20, Division 2, Chapter 4, Article 8, Sections 1670-1675. Approved HERS Providers are authorized to certify HERS Raters and are required to maintain quality control over HERS Rater field verification and diagnostic testing activities.

When the Certificate of Compliance documentation for a dwelling unit indicates that field verification and diagnostic testing of specific energy efficiency measures are required as a condition for complying with Title 24, Part 6, an approved HERS Provider and certified HERS Rater shall be used to conduct the field verification and diagnostic testing according to the applicable procedures in Appendix RA2. HERS Raters shall be considered special inspectors by enforcement agencies and shall demonstrate competence, to the satisfaction of the building official, for the visual inspections and diagnostic testing that they perform. As specified by California Code of Regulations, Title 20, Division 2, Chapter 4, Article 8, Section 1673(j)(2), “Providers and Raters shall be independent entities from the builder and from the subcontractor installer of energy efficiency improvements field verified or diagnostically tested.” An “Independent Entity means having no financial interest in, and not advocating or recommending the use of any product or service as a means of gaining increased business with, firms or persons specified in California Code of Regulations Title 20, Division 2, Chapter 4, Article 8, Sections 1671 and 1673(j).” Third Party Quality Control Programs approved by the Commission may serve some of the functions of HERS Raters for field verification purposes as specified in Section RA2.7.

The remainder of this Appendix RA2 describes the:

1. Measures that require field verification or diagnostic testing;
2. Requirements for documentation and communication for HERS verification compliance processes;
3. Responsibilities assigned to each of the parties involved in the field verification and diagnostic testing process;
4. Requirements for procedures for installing contractors and Certificate of Installation documentation;
5. Requirements for HERS Rater field verification and diagnostic testing and documentation procedures;
6. Requirements for sampling procedures for HERS verification compliance;
7. Requirements for Third Party Quality Control Programs;
8. Requirements for HERS verification compliance for alterations to existing dwellings.