Commercial generator installation in Essex, Morris and Union County, NJ

A commercial standby system has four parts: the generator set, an automatic transfer switch, a fuel supply (natural gas, propane, diesel, fuel oil or kerosene) and the wiring that connects it to the building's electrical service. The job runs from a list of what must stay on, through a building review, permits, the gas utility or fuel, installation, inspection and start-up, to scheduled testing. MDL installs and services commercial standby generators and confirms the scope and the size after reviewing the building and its loads.

That depends on what has to keep running in an outage: lighting, heating and cooling equipment, refrigeration, pumps, computers and anything else the business cannot lose. MDL confirms the size after reviewing the building, its electrical service and those loads, and this page publishes no size range. The size also decides whether the engine needs a New Jersey air permit, so it is settled before anything is ordered.

Yes. New Jersey's Uniform Construction Code makes it unlawful to install or alter regulated equipment without first applying for and obtaining a permit (N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.14(a)), and the equipment may not be used until the construction official issues a certificate of approval (N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.8(a)). An annual construction permit does not cover it either: modification work, other than routine maintenance, that affects a standby generator system is not permitted under an annual permit (N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.14(e)12).

It depends on the engine. NJDEP's guidance says an emergency generator needs an air permit when its maximum rated heat input to the burning chamber is 1,000,000 BTU per hour or greater (N.J.A.C. 7:27-8.2(c)1). An emergency generator that meets a general permit's conditions can register under it instead of applying case by case: GP-005A for diesel, No. 2 fuel oil or kerosene, and GP-005B for natural gas or propane. NJDEP lists a $1,090 fee for a general permit. A generator run for peak shaving or demand response cannot use those general permits.

Under NJDEP's general permits, testing and maintenance runs are limited to the hours registered for each generator, never more than 100 hours a year, counted on a non-resettable hour meter and logged, with records kept for at least five years. Routine testing is not allowed on a day NJDEP forecasts air quality anywhere in New Jersey as unhealthy for sensitive groups or worse, so the forecast is checked after 4:00 p.m. the day before. In a real emergency the generator runs whenever it is needed, whatever the air quality.

A natural gas generator needs gas service sized for it: PSE&G requires residential and commercial customers to apply to add or increase gas service for a generator, asks for the equipment's specification sheet, and says gas generator projects can take up to six weeks. A diesel, fuel oil or kerosene generator stores its fuel on site. Each fuel group has its own NJDEP general permit, GP-005A for distillate fuels and GP-005B for natural gas or propane.

They are three separate articles of the National Electrical Code: Article 700 for emergency systems, Article 701 for legally required standby systems and Article 702 for optional standby systems. The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs notes that for emergency and legally required standby systems, the local enforcing agency must conduct or witness the test of the complete system, while Article 702 has no similar requirement. Which article applies to a building is set by the codes that require the system and decided by the local construction office.

The transfer switch, the feeders and the connection to the building's electrical service are electrical work, and New Jersey's construction code allows electrical work only by people licensed to perform it, except a homeowner working on his or her own single-family house (N.J.A.C. 5:23-2.15). MDL Electric Cooling & Heating is an electrical contractor as well as a heating and cooling contractor, so the generator, the transfer switch and the heating and cooling equipment the generator must carry are reviewed by one company.

MDL does not publish commercial prices, and this page lists none. The cost depends on the loads the generator must carry, the generator and transfer switch selected, the fuel and the gas service, the distance from the generator to the electrical service, the permits and any work the building's electrical service needs first. MDL reviews the building before it prices the job.

Yes. Home standby generators have their own page: MDL's generator installation page covers houses, with sizing, permits and costs for a home. This page is for businesses, apartment buildings and other commercial buildings.