How to Find Your CF2R and CF3R Documents in the California Data Registry

CF2R (installation) and CF3R (verification) certificates are stored in the data registry of the ECC-Provider (formerly HERS Provider) your rater used. Today that is almost always CHEERS, or for some HVAC alterations permitted under the 2022 code, Golden State Registry. The CEC does not offer a public registry or lookup service for compliance documents. To get your documents, ask the people who worked on the project: your contractor, builder, energy consultant or ECC-Rater. They can pull the registered PDFs from the registry. Your building department can also look up the project status in the registry by address or permit number.

The CEC's ECC program page says: "To obtain copies of a project's documentation, one must coordinate with the builder, installing contractor, rater, or anyone who had a role in the compliance forms process." It also notes that "The CEC does not offer document registration and does not retain compliance documents for public access."

As of October 2026, the CEC lists CHEERS as the approved ECC-Provider for the 2025 code, and Golden State Registry as a HERS Provider for a limited 2022-code scope. CHEERS (California Home Energy Efficiency Rating Services) was approved on November 12, 2025, as an ECC-Provider for the 2025 Energy Code. That covers new single-family and multifamily buildings, additions, alterations, and efficiency measures in dwelling units and mechanical systems in nonresidential buildings. Its registry is also approved for 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2022 code documents.

Golden State Registry (GSR) is approved to oversee raters for prescriptive 2022-code space conditioning alterations and replacements in existing single-family homes. The CEC lists its ECC-Provider application as under review.

CalCERTS is no longer an option. It stopped operating as a HERS Provider on August 2, 2024, and its registry stayed open for document downloads only through September 1, 2024. CHEERS worked with rater companies, energy consultants and builders to move active projects from CalCERTS to the CHEERS registry. The CEC later warned that content on the calcerts.com domain is "at best, outdated and misleading." Don't rely on that site, and don't pay anyone claiming to sell CalCERTS records.

If you're unsure which registry your project used, look at a document you already have. The registration number, provider name or watermark on a CF1R or CF2R tells you.

Registries are built for professionals. Energy consultants register the CF1R. Installers and builders complete CF2Rs. ECC-Raters complete CF3Rs. Building departments review the project. CHEERS tells building departments to search by project address, homeowner name or permit number and check the project status.

CHEERS offers homeowner accounts, which homeowners can use to sign compliance documents. It also says homeowners should receive a consumer information form, a project owner report and a project status report. Title 24 requires completed documentation to be left in the home for the owner. An ECC-Provider must also send certificates of verification to the homeowner if the owner's contact information is in the registry. If you never got yours, the contact information on file may have been missing or wrong.

For more on what each form is, see CF2R vs CF3R and what is a CF1R.

• Start with your HVAC contractor or builder. They registered the CF2R and can download the full package.
• Ask the ECC-Rater whose name is on the CF3R. Raters can pull their own verification records.
• Ask your building department. It may have the documents in the permit file, or can confirm whether the project shows as complete.
• Contact the registry directly if the people above are out of business. CHEERS lists help@cheers.org and (800) 424-3377 for support. Have the address, permit number and approximate dates ready.

For older projects, remember that 2022-cycle and earlier documents say "HERS", while 2025-cycle documents say "ECC".

Missing or incomplete registered documents can keep the building department from signing off at final. Usually the rater hasn't tested yet, the test failed and hasn't been re-done, or the documents were never fully registered. For example, the installer never completed the CF2R the rater needs to finish the CF3R.

What to do:

• Ask the contractor for the registry status page. It shows which certificates are complete, pending or failed.
• If the rater never came out, schedule them now. On HVAC change-outs where the building department doesn't require plans, it may allow the CF1R-ALT-02 to be registered after the permit is issued, but it must be registered before final. Some departments want it before they issue the permit.
• If a test failed, the contractor has to fix the system and the rater has to re-test. The CEC says the contractor is required to fix the feature until it passes.
• If the original rater or contractor has disappeared, hire a new certified rater. They can test the system and complete verification, though the project may need to be set up again in the registry and the installer certificates may need to be completed first. Ask your building department what it will accept.
• Don't let anyone hand you unregistered paper forms for measures that require registration. Building departments need registered documents.

Selling a house with an open HVAC permit can become a negotiation point for buyers. Closing it out with the building department and keeping the registered documents avoids that question when you sell. See our permit guide for AC and furnace replacements.

If you need a new rater to complete testing or replace one who has stopped responding, search certified ECC and HERS raters by city, county or climate zone in the Title 24 Directory. For example, try San Jose or Orange County.