REScheck & COMcheck Worcester MA - Quick Facts
Local energy code in Worcester
- Worcester adopted the Massachusetts Specialized (Opt-In) Energy Code effective July 1, 2024; the Stretch Code applies as the baseline. IECC Climate Zone 5A.
- Beyond the Stretch baseline, new mixed-fuel homes must be pre-wired for future electrification and add on-site solar where there is significant unshaded roof space.
- All-electric new homes must use heat pumps for space heating and hot water; fossil-fuel homes over 4,000 sq ft must reach net-zero (HERS 0), and new multifamily over 12,000 sq ft must meet Passive House.
REScheck & COMcheck in Worcester
- REScheck documents the prescriptive residential path for Worcester additions, alterations and renovations (from $300); new-construction performance projects use a full HERS energy model instead.
- Commercial projects use COMcheck for the prescriptive path (from $600); larger new commercial buildings need third-party performance certification under the Stretch Code.
- 24-48 hour turnaround - documentation ready to upload with your Worcester permit application.
2026 Mass Save incentives in Worcester
- All-electric renovations and additions can earn Mass Save incentives up to $20,000 (Level 1) or $30,000 (Level 2) for a single-family home, verified by a RESNET-certified HERS rater.
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REScheck & COMcheck Worcester MA
From small additions to commercial fit-outs in Worcester, we deliver the REScheck and COMcheck reports your Worcester County building department requires — accurate, signed, and turned around quickly.
What we deliver
A signed compliance report matched to your plans and ready to upload with your Worcester building permit application.
Understanding REScheck and COMcheck
These are the two standard software tools plan reviewers accept for energy code compliance. Developed by the DOE, they let a Worcester County project demonstrate that its envelope (and, for commercial, lighting and mechanical) meets the IECC.
What is a COMcheck?
For commercial and four-plus-story residential buildings, COMcheck is required. It documents envelope, lighting, and mechanical compliance against the IECC or ASHRAE Standard 90.1 and produces the certificates a commercial plan reviewer expects.
What is a REScheck?
REScheck is the DOE’s residential compliance tool. It covers one- and two-family dwellings and low-rise multifamily (three stories or fewer), using a UA trade-off so a stronger wall or roof can make up for a weaker window while the overall envelope still meets the IECC.
REScheck Projects in Worcester
REScheck is the simplest path for smaller residential projects in Worcester that do not need a HERS rating. It is typically the right tool for:
- A residential addition of 1,000 sq ft or less (and not more than 100% of the existing home); new homes in Worcester need a HERS rating instead
- Additions, alterations, or renovations to a one- or two-family home
- Permit applications needing residential envelope documentation on the prescriptive or UA trade-off path
- Window and insulation upgrades that must be documented for a building permit
- Multifamily buildings of three stories or fewer
When Do You Need a COMcheck in Worcester?
COMcheck is required for commercial and larger projects in Worcester. Reach for a COMcheck when your project involves:
- Commercial buildings — offices, retail, restaurants, warehouses, and mixed-use
- Warehouse, industrial, and light-manufacturing conditioned spaces
- New mechanical (HVAC) or service water heating systems in commercial spaces
- Restaurant build-outs and retail white-box improvements
- Tenant fit-outs and interior or exterior lighting alterations
What Your Worcester Compliance Report Includes
Fast, permit-ready turnaround
We deliver documentation ready to upload with your building permit application, and we answer plan-review questions if the department asks for revisions.
Plans matched to code
We enter your assemblies, fenestration, and (for commercial) lighting and mechanical details exactly as designed, so the report reflects what you are actually building in Worcester.
REScheck report
A signed REScheck compliance certificate matched to your plans, the inspection checklist, and the UA trade-off summary showing your insulation R-values and window U-factors meet the residential energy code.
COMcheck report
The COMcheck Envelope, Lighting, and Mechanical Compliance Certificates plus the Plan Review Checklist — the full package a commercial plan reviewer expects for permit submission.
Serving Worcester and Worcester County
Worcester sits in Worcester County, Massachusetts, in IECC climate zone 5A — the cold-climate zone that drives the insulation and air-sealing levels your REScheck or COMcheck must document. We prepare compliance reports for projects throughout Worcester County, matched to the code edition Worcester currently enforces.
Transparent Pricing for Worcester Compliance Reports
Transparent starting prices. Final cost depends on project size, number of assemblies, and scope.
- REScheck (residential): starting at $300
- COMcheck (commercial): starting at $600
- Revisions to match plan-review comments are handled promptly
REScheck reports start at $300 and COMcheck reports start at $600 for projects in Worcester. Send your plans for an exact quote.
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Which Energy Code Report Does a Worcester Project Need?
Worcester has adopted the Massachusetts Specialized Code (the municipal opt-in code, 225 CMR 22.00 Appendix RC for homes and 225 CMR 23.00 Appendix CC for commercial and multifamily). New homes must be built to the net-zero-ready Specialized paths, new homes over 4,000 sq ft must use the all-electric or zero-energy path, and new multifamily buildings over 12,000 sq ft must be Passive House certified.
| Your Worcester project | What the energy code paperwork usually is |
|---|---|
| New single-family home or low-rise residential building | A HERS rating or Passive House certification on a Specialized Code path. REScheck is not accepted for new homes. |
| Residential addition of 1,000 sq ft or less (and not over 100% of the existing home) | REScheck (REScheck-Web, 2023 Massachusetts Stretch Code) or the prescriptive tables |
| Residential addition over 1,000 sq ft or over 100% of the existing home | A HERS rating of the whole house (HERS 65 or lower mixed-fuel, 70 or lower all-electric) |
| Basement or attic conversion with no change to footprint or roofline | No HERS rating required; REScheck or prescriptive documentation |
| Residential renovation or alteration | Prescriptive alteration rules; REScheck can document the envelope. Large "extensive" alterations over 1,000 sq ft may need a HERS rating. |
| New commercial building up to 20,000 sq ft | COMcheck: Envelope, Lighting and Mechanical certificates plus the Plan Review Inspection Checklist |
| New commercial building over 20,000 sq ft | COMcheck Lighting and Mechanical, with the envelope shown by backstop and thermal-bridge calculations, on a performance path (Targeted Performance/TEDI or ASHRAE 90.1 Appendix G) or Passive House |
| Commercial addition, alteration, or lighting/HVAC change | COMcheck for the altered systems |
| Multifamily building over 12,000 sq ft | Passive House certification (Phius or PHI) |
Based on 225 CMR 22.00 and 23.00 (Massachusetts energy code, 2025 edition). Building departments make the final call, so we confirm the path for your project before we start. Worcester is in Worcester County, served from our Marlborough (272 Lincoln St) office.
How We Prepare Your Worcester REScheck or COMcheck
Send your plans
Email the permit set for your Worcester project. We tell you the same day whether you need a REScheck, a COMcheck or a HERS rating.
We model the building
We enter every assembly, window, light fixture and HVAC unit as designed and flag anything that fails before the plan reviewer sees it.
Permit-ready report
You get the signed compliance certificates and checklists, ready to upload with your Worcester building permit application.
Plan review support
If the building department asks for changes, we revise the report and answer the reviewer's questions.
REScheck & COMcheck for Worcester Permits
Worcester moved to the Specialized (Opt-In) Code on July 1, 2024, the date shown on both the state's adoption list and the city's own Inspectional Services page. If you are pulling a permit in Worcester, the energy paperwork usually breaks down like this:
- REScheck: an addition up to 1,000 sq ft that is no more than 100% of the existing home, or an alteration where the prescriptive path is allowed.
- HERS rating: every new home (HERS 42 mixed-fuel, 45 all-electric) and larger additions or renovations (HERS 65 mixed-fuel, 70 all-electric).
- COMcheck: commercial buildings, fit-outs, and lighting or HVAC changes.
- More than COMcheck: commercial buildings over 20,000 sq ft, which need a performance path with envelope backstop and thermal-bridge calculations.
Downtown reuse shows why the line matters. The OCP Worcester project at 10 Chestnut St is converting an office building into 198 apartments, which MassDevelopment describes as the largest office-to-residential conversion in Massachusetts. Large residential projects like that follow Passive House or performance paths under the Specialized Code rather than a single REScheck. Smaller commercial jobs, such as a storefront fit-out or a lighting retrofit, still need a COMcheck for the systems being changed.
Permits are filed with the Inspectional Services Department's Building & Zoning division through the city's OpenGov portal. The city's sustainability pages summarize the Specialized Code, including all-electric new construction at HERS 45 or Passive House. We send the report files ready to attach to your OpenGov application, and our Marlborough office at 272 Lincoln St (Suite C1) is the closest HEEC office to Worcester.
REScheck & COMcheck Questions for Worcester Projects
Do I need a REScheck or a HERS rating in Worcester?
For a new home in Worcester, you need a HERS rating or Passive House, because Worcester is on the Specialized Code. REScheck is used for smaller additions (1,000 sq ft or less and not over 100% of the existing home), basement and attic conversions, and renovations.
When is a COMcheck required in Massachusetts?
A COMcheck documents commercial energy code compliance for new commercial buildings up to 20,000 sq ft (envelope, lighting and mechanical), for lighting and mechanical on larger buildings, and for commercial additions and alterations such as fit-outs, lighting changes and HVAC replacements. Massachusetts commercial code is based on the 2021 IECC with state amendments in 225 CMR 23.00.
What does a COMcheck include?
The COMcheck Envelope Compliance Certificate, the Interior and Exterior Lighting Compliance Certificates, the Mechanical Compliance Certificate, and the Plan Review Inspection Checklist. Massachusetts 225 CMR 23.00 Section C103.2 lists these as the construction-document requirements for buildings up to 20,000 sq ft.
What does a REScheck include?
A REScheck compares your home's envelope (insulation R-values and window U-values) to the code using a total UA trade-off, so stronger performance in one assembly can offset another. The report includes the compliance certificate and inspection checklist. Mandatory items such as air sealing and duct sealing still apply.
What size addition needs a HERS rating instead of REScheck?
In Massachusetts, a residential addition over 1,000 sq ft, or over 100% of the existing conditioned floor area, needs a HERS rating of the whole house (225 CMR 22.00 R502.1.1). Converting an existing basement or attic without changing the footprint or roofline does not.
What information do you need to prepare a REScheck or COMcheck?
Plans with wall, roof and floor sections, insulation types and R-values, the window and door schedule with U-factors and SHGC, and for commercial work the lighting fixture schedule with wattages, lighting controls, and HVAC and water heating equipment schedules.
Which software version is used in Massachusetts?
REScheck-Web with the 2023 Massachusetts Stretch Code option for residential, and COMcheck-Web set to the 2021 IECC (or ASHRAE 90.1-2019) for commercial, matching the code Massachusetts enforces.
How much does a REScheck or COMcheck cost in Worcester?
REScheck reports start at $300 and COMcheck reports start at $600. The final price depends on the size of the project and how many assemblies and systems need to be entered. Send your plans for an exact quote.
When did Worcester adopt the Specialized Code?
The Specialized (Opt-In) Code took effect in Worcester on July 1, 2024, according to the city's Inspectional Services page and the state adoption list. New homes need a HERS rating or Passive House, and REScheck remains for small additions and alterations.
How do I apply for a building permit in Worcester?
Through the City of Worcester's OpenGov permitting portal, which is run by the Inspectional Services Department's Building and Zoning division. We provide your REScheck, COMcheck or HERS report as files to upload with the application.
Related: HERS rating in Worcester · Blower door testing · COMcheck & REScheck reports
Need a REScheck or COMcheck in Worcester?
Send us your plans and we will tell you which report you need and get it back to you fast — ready for your Worcester permit.
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HERS Ratings Across Worcester and Nearby Communities
Home Energy Efficiency Consultants rates new homes, additions, and major renovations throughout Worcester — from Shrewsbury Street, Main South, and Burncoat to Tatnuck and Grafton Hill. Every Worcester project is filed with the City of Worcester Department of Inspectional Services, and we handle the energy model, blower door and duct leakage testing, and the compliance paperwork from start to finish.
We also serve the communities right around Worcester, including Shrewsbury, Auburn, Holden, Millbury, and Grafton. Our Marlborough office at 272 Lincoln St is the closest of our four Massachusetts locations — see our Marlborough office or call (617) 501-6788 to get a Worcester rating on the schedule.
Worcester Specialized Energy Code — HERS Index Targets
Worcester enforces the Massachusetts Specialized (Opt-In) Energy Code. The required HERS score depends on fuel type and project scope — a lower index is stricter.
| Project type | Mixed-fuel | Mixed-fuel + solar | All-electric | All-electric + solar |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New construction | HERS 42 | 42 | 45 | 45 |
| New construction — embodied-carbon credit | 45 | 45 | 48 | 48 |
| Accessory dwelling unit (ADU) | 52 | 55 | 55 | 58 |
| Major alteration / renovation / change of use | 65 | 70 | 70 | 75 |
A HERS rating is triggered by new construction, additions over 1,000 sq ft (or more than 100% of the existing conditioned area), and Level 3 alterations over 1,000 sq ft affecting more than 50% of the home. New homes must also pass a blower-door test at 3.0 ACH50 and include electrification-ready wiring for heat pumps, EV charging, and solar. We model your Worcester project up front so you know the exact target and the fastest path to hit it — call (617) 501-6788.
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