A Form 405 report cost is a paperwork budget, not the price of the air conditioner. Manual J Express lists a standalone Florida Form 405 at $175 for a residential project through 2,500 square feet, plus $50 for each additional 1,000 square feet over that size. Ordered with Manual J or Manual D, the form is $100 flat. That $100 is the form only. It is not the combined total, and it is not an installation quote.
Call (732) 731-9836 to discuss your Florida Form 405 quote
The number on the pricing page is the starting point. The on-page calculator is an indicative quote request, not checkout and not a final invoice. Square footage, which other reports you add, and what the local office asks to see can all change the file you actually order. This guide covers the published form price and the items that sit outside it.
What the Form 405 Report Cost Covers
Florida Energy Code Compliance Form 405, also called Form R405, is a residential energy-compliance report for a Florida project. The Florida Building Commission describes the simulated performance method as a compliance path that includes the Form R405 report, an input summary for field checks, an Energy Performance Level display card, and mandatory-requirement pages. A sample performance package prepared with Right-Energy Florida also lists HVAC sizing and selection based on ACCA Manual S, or the exceptions in the energy code, as part of what a performance application includes.
That package is still a calculation file. It is not the house, the equipment, or the permit fee. Manual J Express prepares the report from plans and construction details you send. The company is a residential design-report service based in Lakewood, New Jersey, working remotely for projects across the United States. It is not an HVAC installer, not a licensed engineering firm, and not the building department.
Use the form when the Florida project is following the performance path. Do not order it for a job outside Florida because a national checklist mentioned an energy form. And do not treat a REScheck PDF as this form. REScheck is a separate energy-code report. The published REScheck rate is $100 per report. A reviewer who asked for Form 405 is not asking for that other file.
The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation publishes the performance-method checklist through the Florida Building Commission. One current example is the residential performance documentation checklist. Read the code year your office is using. Editions and form numbers change, and this article does not pick the edition for your permit.
Standalone Form 405 Report Cost by Square Feet
The published standalone rate has two parts. Read them in order before you add other reports.
| How you order it | Published price | What the price is for |
|---|---|---|
| Standalone, residential, through 2,500 sq ft. | $175. | The Form 405 report only. |
| Standalone, each additional 1,000 sq ft over 2,500. | $50. | Added to the $175 base for that extra area. |
| Ordered with Manual J or Manual D. | $100 flat. | The form only, at any listed size. Not the J or D total. |
A 2,200 square foot house on the standalone card is the $175 base. A larger house adds $50 for each additional 1,000 square feet over 2,500. The pricing page does not say how a partial 1,000 square feet is rounded, and it does not define which rooms count in the measured area. Send the floor area from the plans and ask for the line item before you treat a mental total as the invoice.
Work a larger house in steps, not as one blended rate. Start at $175. Then count only the area above 2,500 square feet, in the 1,000 square foot steps the card states. A house just over the threshold is not priced like a house several thousand square feet larger. If the plans show a garage, a lanai, or an unfinished room, ask whether that area is in the billed square footage. Do not guess the step count from a listing photo.
There is no published minimum fee, tax, or rush surcharge on this card. Do not invent one. If the project is unusual, the quote is the place to confirm the area, not a rule of thumb from a different service.
The $100 Form Price Is Not the Whole Order
The discount is easy to misread. When Form 405 is ordered with Manual J or with Manual D, the form price is $100 flat. That rate does not depend on the size listed on the card. You still pay for the load calculation or the duct report on its own rate.
Manual J, a room-by-room or block heating and cooling load, is $0.10 per square foot. Manual D, duct sizing and layout, is also $0.10 per square foot. Manual S, equipment selection from manufacturer data, is $100 per system. None of those prices is included in the $100 form line. A Manual J order does not include Manual S or Manual D, and it does not include the energy form unless you add it.
The pricing page mentions bundling Manual J, Manual D, and Form 405. It does not publish one all-in package price. Add the lines you actually need. For a rough check, price each line on its own. Manual J is the plan area times $0.10. Manual D, if you need it, is the same rate again. Manual S is $100 for each system. Then add the form at the standalone steps or at the $100 flat rate.
That sum is a planning sketch. It becomes a quote only after the area and the report list are confirmed.
The three-part calculator on the pricing page covers Manual J, Manual D, and Manual S. It does not put REScheck or Form 405 in that displayed total. Use the calculator to request a quote. Then confirm the form as its own line. Email quote is not a paid checkout.
What the Report Price Leaves Out
Budget the form, then budget the rest of the permit file as separate items. Mixing them is how a $175 line turns into a surprise.
- Building-department permit fees, plan-review fees, and inspection fees are not in the report price.
- Drawing or redrawing architectural plans is not included. You send the plans.
- HVAC equipment and installation are separate. The report does not buy a condenser, a handler, or a crew.
- A PE stamp or an engineer seal is not part of this service. Do not expect one.
- Field tests the code may still require, such as envelope leakage or duct leakage, are not the form price. The performance checklist treats several of those records as items due before the certificate of occupancy, not as the calculation itself.
- Hard copies can be mailed on request. The pricing page does not state a shipping fee, so ask before you count postage as free.
Reports are design-support calculations. Inputs come from you and are not independently verified. The installing contractor verifies site conditions and makes the final equipment selection. “Permit-ready” means the PDF is prepared for submission. It does not mean the city has approved the permit.
Other published delivery notes apply to the main report cards, not as a Form 405 promise. Manual J, Manual D, Manual S, and REScheck cards say PDF by email and hard copies on request. The Form 405 block does not repeat a delivery clock. Ask which timing applies to the form on your order. Manual J Express turnaround is 2–4 business days standard. Expedited service available – contact us for rush jobs.
How to Budget a Florida House Without Guessing
Price the form from the plans you have, not from a neighborhood average. Use this order so the quote matches the filing.
- Confirm the project is in Florida and that the office wants the Form 405 performance path, not a different energy form.
- Take the residential floor area from the plans. Note anything over 2,500 square feet, and ask how a partial extra 1,000 square feet is counted.
- List the HVAC reports separately. Manual J if you need loads. Manual D if you need ducts. Manual S if you need equipment matched to manufacturer data. The form does not replace those.
- Apply the form rate last. Standalone uses $175 plus the extra-area steps. With Manual J or Manual D, the form line is $100 flat, and the load or duct line stays on its own rate.
- Send the plans, the address, and the report list through the contact form. Ask for the form line in writing before you set a filing budget.
A homeowner pricing one new house can stop at the standalone card if no load or duct report is in the order. A contractor who already needs Manual J for the same Florida house should compare the $100 flat form line with the standalone steps. The flat line does not shrink the Manual J fee. It only changes the form.
If the plans change after the quote, send the new area in writing. The site says revisions are available when project details change. It does not publish a revision count, a time window, or a rule that every change stays inside the original price. A larger floor area can move the form onto another $50 step. Confirm that before you reuse the first number.
Contact hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern. The contact page asks for a reply within the hour during those hours. That reply is not the report. Turnaround for the PDF depends on the reports you order, the plans, and the current workload. Get the timing on your quote. Do not publish one company-wide deadline from mixed page copy.
A Sample Budget Is Not Your Invoice
These sketches use only the published card. They are not quotes. They leave out permit fees, equipment, and any line the calculator does not show.
A 2,000 square foot Florida house, form only: the standalone price is $175. Nothing over 2,500 square feet is on the plans, so no $50 step applies. If that house also needs a block or room-by-room Manual J, add $0.10 times 2,000 square feet, which is $200, and the form can use the $100 flat line instead of $175. The planning total for J plus the form is $300. Manual D, if you add it, is another $200 at the same area. Manual S, if you add it, is $100 for each system.
A 4,000 square foot house is a different card. Standalone, the base is still $175. The area over 2,500 square feet is 1,500 square feet. The page states $50 per additional 1,000 square feet and does not state a rounding rule, so do not turn 1,500 into a private formula. Ask whether that extra area is one step or two before you lock a budget. If the same house is ordered with Manual D, the form line goes to $100 flat, and the duct report is $0.10 times the confirmed square feet. The flat form price does not cap the duct price.
Keep REScheck out of both sketches unless a non-Florida jurisdiction actually asked for it. At $100 per report it is cheaper than a large standalone Form 405, and it answers a different code question. Sending it in place of Form 405 does not fill a Florida performance file.
What to Send With the Quote Request
The report can only match the house described on the plans. For a Form 405 quote, send the project address, the residential square footage, and the services you want priced. Floor plans for each floor help, including a basement if there is one. Elevations, window details, and insulation values make the compliance inputs clearer. If you do not have every figure, send what you have and ask what is missing.
The contact form accepts an upload and is the order request, not a payment page. If a plan set is too large for the form, use the email address published on the contact page. Call or text 732-731-9836 if you would rather talk through the report list first. Name the city and county. Florida offices do not all ask for the same supporting pages, and the performance checklist is longer than the single form sheet.
Say whether you also want Manual J, Manual D, or Manual S. Those choices change both the form line and the rest of the invoice. They also change what the contractor still has to verify in the field. A form without a load calculation does not size the equipment. A load calculation without the form does not close a Florida energy-code request.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a Form 405 report cost?
A standalone residential Form 405 is $175 through 2,500 square feet, plus $50 per additional 1,000 square feet over 2,500. With Manual J or Manual D, the form is $100 flat. That flat figure is the form only, not the load or duct report and not the full order.
Does the $100 price include Manual J?
No. The $100 flat rate replaces the standalone form price when you also order Manual J or Manual D. Manual J remains $0.10 per square foot. Manual D remains $0.10 per square foot. Add those lines to the form line.
Is Form 405 the same product as REScheck?
No. REScheck is a separate energy-code report at $100 per report. Form 405 is the Florida residential performance form. One PDF does not substitute for the other. Match the file to the request from the building office.
Is the website calculator the final price?
No. The calculator is an indicative quote request. It is not checkout and not a final invoice. It also does not include Form 405 in the three-line Manual J, D, and S total. Confirm the form line when you send the plans.
Will the report guarantee permit approval?
No. The PDF is a design-support calculation for submission. The building department decides the permit. The report does not include a PE seal, and it does not include HVAC installation.
Call (732) 731-9836 for a Form 405 quote or send your Florida plans through the contact form.
Call or text 732-731-9836, or use the contact form, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern. Include the city, the square footage, and whether you also need Manual J or Manual D so the form line is priced on purpose.