REScheck & COMcheck Malden MA - Quick Facts
Local energy code in Malden
- New construction and major renovations in Malden follow the Massachusetts Stretch Energy Code. IECC Climate Zone 5A.
- Massachusetts has three energy-code levels - base (2021 IECC), Stretch, and Specialized (Opt-In) - and Malden is on the Stretch Code.
REScheck & COMcheck in Malden
- REScheck documents the prescriptive residential path for Malden 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 Malden permit application.
What you can get back: 2026 Mass Save
- 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 Malden MA
From small additions to commercial fit-outs in Malden, we deliver the REScheck and COMcheck reports your Middlesex 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 Malden building permit application.
REScheck vs. COMcheck: What’s the Difference?
Both are free compliance software tools developed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to demonstrate that a building meets the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). They document your envelope, and for commercial work your lighting and mechanical systems, so a plan reviewer in Malden can confirm compliance quickly.
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.
What is a COMcheck?
COMcheck handles commercial work and high-rise residential of four stories or more. The DOE tool evaluates envelope, lighting (interior and exterior), and mechanical systems against either the IECC or ASHRAE 90.1, with trade-offs allowed across components.
When Do You Need a REScheck in Malden?
REScheck is the simplest path for smaller residential projects in Malden that do not need a HERS rating. It is typically the right tool for:
- Residential additions of 1,000 sq ft or less that are not more than 100% of the existing home
- Basement and attic conversions that do not change the footprint or roofline
- Renovations and alterations to existing homes that need envelope documentation
- Detached accessory structures with conditioned space, where Malden's building department accepts REScheck
- New homes only in base-code towns; Stretch and Specialized Code towns require a HERS rating or Passive House for new homes
When Do You Need a COMcheck in Malden?
COMcheck is required for commercial and larger projects in Malden. Reach for a COMcheck when your project involves:
- Restaurant build-outs and retail white-box improvements
- Tenant fit-outs and interior or exterior lighting alterations
- Warehouse, industrial, and light-manufacturing conditioned spaces
- High-rise residential buildings of four stories or more
- New mechanical (HVAC) or service water heating systems in commercial spaces
What We Deliver for Malden Projects
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.
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 Malden.
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.
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 Malden and Middlesex County
Malden sits in Middlesex 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 Middlesex County, matched to the code edition Malden currently enforces.
REScheck & COMcheck Pricing in Malden
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 Malden. Send your plans for an exact quote.
Trusted by Malden Builders & Owners
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Which Energy Code Report Does a Malden Project Need?
Malden is not one of the 60 Massachusetts communities on the Specialized Code, so projects follow the Massachusetts Stretch Code (225 CMR 22.00 and 23.00), which 242 communities have adopted. The state's adoption list shows Malden on the Stretch Code since January 1, 2017.
| Your Malden project | What the energy code paperwork usually is |
|---|---|
| New single-family home or low-rise residential building | In Stretch Code towns, a HERS rating (maximum HERS 42 mixed-fuel, 45 all-electric) or Passive House. REScheck is not accepted for new homes under the Stretch Code. |
| 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 or a HERS/performance path |
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. Malden is in Middlesex County, served from our Everett (371 Main St) office.
How We Prepare Your Malden REScheck or COMcheck
Send your plans
Email the permit set for your Malden 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 Malden 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 Malden Permits
Malden is a Stretch Code city, with an effective date of January 1, 2017, and it has not adopted the Specialized (Opt-In) Code. For many Malden homeowners the energy question comes up with an accessory dwelling unit or an addition to a multi-family house.
ADUs in Malden: the city's ADU building code page calls for compliance with the current Stretch Code, and its submission requirements ask for an Energy Code Compliance table, prepared by a licensed construction supervisor for a one- or two-family home or by a registered design professional for other buildings. A REScheck report is one way to back up that table for a smaller ADU or addition.
- REScheck: residential additions up to 1,000 sq ft and not more than 100% of the existing home, and alterations, where the prescriptive path is allowed.
- HERS rating: new homes (42 mixed-fuel, 45 all-electric) and larger additions or major renovations (65 mixed-fuel, 70 all-electric).
- COMcheck: commercial buildings and fit-outs. Over 20,000 sq ft, a commercial building needs more than COMcheck, with a performance path and envelope calculations.
Malden Inspectional Services is at 215 Pleasant Street, 3rd floor, Room 330. Permits are filed online through the city's EnerGov self-service portal, where you can upload documents and pay.
Office-to-lab conversions such as Exchange 200, a 352,000 sq ft building, are the kind of large commercial job that needs careful COMcheck and performance-path work. Our Everett office at 371 Main St is next door to Malden.
Send us the plans and we will tell you which report fits.
REScheck & COMcheck Questions for Malden Projects
Do I need a REScheck or a HERS rating in Malden?
Under the Massachusetts Stretch Code, new homes need a HERS rating (HERS 42 mixed-fuel or 45 all-electric) or Passive House. REScheck is used for additions of 1,000 sq ft or less that are not over 100% of the existing home, basement and attic conversions, and renovations. Malden has been on the Stretch Code since January 1, 2017.
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 Malden?
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.
What energy documents does Malden ask for on an ADU?
Malden's ADU pages require compliance with the current Stretch Code and an Energy Code Compliance table prepared by a licensed construction supervisor (one- or two-family homes) or a registered design professional (other buildings).
Where do I file a Malden building permit?
Malden building permits are filed online through the city's EnerGov self-service portal and handled by Inspectional Services at 215 Pleasant Street, Room 330.
Related: HERS rating in Malden · Blower door testing · COMcheck & REScheck reports
Need a REScheck or COMcheck in Malden?
Send us your plans and we will tell you which report you need and get it back to you fast — ready for your Malden permit.
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HERS Ratings Across Malden and Nearby Communities
Home Energy Efficiency Consultants rates new homes, additions, and major renovations throughout Malden — from Edgeworth, Maplewood, and Linden to West End and Bellrock. Every Malden project is filed with the City of Malden Inspectional Services Department, 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 Malden, including Everett, Medford, Melrose, Revere, and Stoneham. Our Everett office at 371 Main St is the closest of our four Massachusetts locations — see our Everett office or call (617) 501-6788 to get a Malden rating on the schedule.
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