November 8, 2023  
To:  Commercial Fan and Blower  Manufacturers and Retailers  
From: Peter Strait, Branch Manager  
 Appliances Branch, Efficiency Division 
 California Energy Commission  
 715 P Street  
 Sacramento, California 95814  
Subject:  Commercial Fans and Blowers,  Temporary  Changes  to 
Certification Requirements and Related Actions  
To all affected or interested parties:  
An update to federal regulation in 10 CFR 431 specifies an amended  federal test 
procedure for fans and blowers, which became effective on May 31, 2023. The 
federal Energy Policy  and Conservation Act, as amended,  requires that 
beginning on October 30, 2023, to the extent  the amended test procedure is 
required for purposes other than the evaluation and issuance of newly 
established efficiency standards,  any representations of energy efficiency and 
energy use, including those made on marketing materials and product labels , 
must be consistent with the amended federal test procedure. The U.S. 
Department of Energy (DOE) has since issued extensions to a large number of 
manufacturers of these products, extending the deadline for making 
representations consistent with the amended test procedure to April 29, 20241. 
California adopted testing and certification requirements for commercial fan and blower equipment covered by this test procedure, with an effective date based upon the federal compliance date of October 30, 2023.  This date was adopted 
prior to DOE’s issuing of 180- day extensions to manufacturers of commercial 
fans and blowers . 
Out of respect for DOE’s determination that a 180- day extension is appropriate 
for manufacturers of these products , it is the intent of the California Energy 
Commission (CEC) to amend the compliance  date through a rulemaking for 
California’s commercial fan and blower requirements to align with the federal 
extension date of April 29, 2024 and make other necessary corrections identified 
 
1 https://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/appliance_standards/standards.aspx?productid=51  by affected manufacturers. Be advised there is  a minimum 45- day public 
comment and review period for any rulemaking;  therefore, any  amendment to the 
compliance date can only be adopted after such time has passed.  
Owing to this circumstance, and to provide clarity to all stakeholders and address 
the gap between amendments to the federal test procedure  and existing state 
regulations , including other changes deemed necessary for compliance by 
stakeholders, the CEC is publishing this regulatory advisory to inform stakeholders of the expected proposed changes in order to avoid confusing or 
potentially conflicting requirements for testing, certification, and marking 
requirements of commercial and industrial fans and blowers.  
Specifically, the CEC is announcing the following actions applicable to 
requirements listed in the California Code of Regulations for commercial and 
industrial fans and blowers.  
The CEC intends to propose amendments to current regulations in CCR Title 20, 
Sections 1601- 1608 affecting Commercial Fans and Blowers that  will: 
1. Remove the “characters no less than 1/4 inch in tabular form” requirement 
from section 1607(d)(16).  
2. Change the compliance date from November 16, 2023, to April 29, 2024, 
listed in sections 1606 and 1607.  
3. Update test procedure listed in Table D -3 of section 1604(d) for 
commercial and industrial fans and blowers to reflect the required federal 
test procedure listed in Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations section 
431.174.  
4. Update the exclusions listed under the definition for commercial and industrial fans and blowers listed in section 1602(d) to match the 
exclusions listed in the federal test procedure for fans and blowers , with 
embedded fans as part of the excluded equipment required to comply with 
the CEC ’s requirements  for commercial and industrial fans and blowers.  
5. Update the method used to calculate the Fan Electrical Power (FEP
act) as 
required per Table 1 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations section 
431.174 for the Modernized Appliance Efficiency Database System listed in section 1606 for commercial and industrial fans and blowers.  
As a result of the federal extensions regarding product testing, some  
manufacturers are not expected to have completed applicable testing prior to 
April 29, 2024, and , therefore,  are not expected to be able to certify the results of 
said testing to California prior to that date. Because of this temporary limitation on certification, retailers may not be able to confirm whether certain models or units are certified to comply with t he CEC’s testing and marking requirements. 
Therefore, the CEC intends to updat e the compliance date to provide additional 
time to all manufacturers to comply with the testing and reporting requirements.  The CEC is working diligently to update applicable regulations, as described in 
items 1 through 5, and in doing so to conform to the federal updates through a Title 20 rulemaking which will be available for public review and comment through our Appliances Efficiency Proceeding - Title 20
 website.  
Questions can be submitted to our call center via phone or email at:  
Appliance Standards Call Center  
916-651-7100 / 888- 838-1467, toll -free in California  
Appliances@energy.ca.gov