Home Energy Rating System (HERS) Booklet Disclosure
Reviewed by Jimi (James) Allyn · Founder, Verity NHD · 37-year real estate professional
Delivery of the state home energy rating booklet satisfies the seller's and agent's disclosure obligation about home energy ratings. No rating or testing is required.
What it is
This is one of the simplest disclosures in the California scheme, and the reason to read about it is to understand how little it asks.
Civil Code section 2079.10 concerns the state's Home Energy Rating System. A home energy rating is an assessment of a dwelling's energy efficiency — insulation, windows, duct sealing, heating and cooling equipment — expressed as a rating a buyer can compare against other homes. California's HERS program is administered under the Energy Commission's framework.
The disclosure obligation is satisfied by delivering the booklet. Section 2079.10 provides that delivery of the home energy rating booklet to the buyer discharges the seller's and the agent's duty to disclose the existence of the statewide home energy rating program. There is no obligation to obtain a rating, to have testing performed, or to characterize the home's efficiency.
Where a HERS rating does exist for the property — for example because a rating was performed in connection with permitted HVAC or duct work — that document is a known material fact about the property and belongs in the disclosure package on ordinary principles, independent of section 2079.10.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Confirm the current booklet version with C.A.R. and the California Energy Commission.
Who signs it
There is no dedicated signature block requiring a seller certification about energy efficiency. The booklet is a delivery item, and it is normally listed in the seller's disclosure package inventory — Section I of the TDS is where the delivery is commonly recorded — with the buyer acknowledging receipt of the package.
Agents handle delivery in practice. If you use an electronic disclosure package, confirm the current booklet is actually attached rather than referenced by name.
When it's due
With the seller's disclosure package, before transfer of title. There is no separate clock and no separate rescission right attached to the booklet itself.
Because it is a low-friction item, the realistic risk is that it quietly falls out of an aging disclosure template and nobody notices for a year of transactions. Auditing your package annually against the current C.A.R. disclosure checklist takes an hour and catches this class of omission.
If it's missed
Consequences are modest compared with the substantive disclosures. The obligation is informational, so a missing booklet is a compliance gap rather than a concealed defect, and it rarely produces a damages claim on its own.
It does, however, appear in the same audit as everything else. A file that is missing the easy items invites scrutiny of the hard ones, and in a disputed transaction opposing counsel will happily list every statutory delivery that did not happen.
The exception worth flagging: if an actual HERS rating exists for the home and was withheld, that is a nondisclosure of a known material fact, not a booklet problem.
Common mistakes
Thinking a rating is required. It is not. Delivery of the booklet is the obligation.
Referencing the booklet without attaching it. Naming it in a checklist is not delivery.
Using an outdated booklet. Check the current version with the Energy Commission or C.A.R.
Withholding an existing HERS certificate. If one exists, disclose it.
Volunteering efficiency opinions. "This house is very efficient" is a representation you did not need to make.
Statute
- Cal. Civ. Code § 2079.10 (home energy rating booklet)
- California Energy Commission — Home Energy Rating System (HERS)
This page is general information, not legal advice. Confirm current forms with C.A.R. and the DRE.