Hospital backup generator requirements & sizing guide

In most countries, yes — health-facility codes require emergency power for life-safety and critical loads, though the exact standard and required run-time vary by jurisdiction. Confirm the applicable code with your local AHJ.

Code minimums vary by jurisdiction and fuel storage capacity; many facilities plan for 48–96 hours of on-site fuel for the life-safety unit, sometimes longer depending on local requirements and resupply logistics. This is a key reason facilities pair diesel with a continuous-duty gas set — it reduces how often the diesel reserve is drawn down.

It depends on your load list, diversity factor, site altitude/temperature, and how many branches the unit must serve. Share your one-line diagram and our engineers will return a sized recommendation.

Under NFPA 99, Type 1 applies to facilities where power loss could cause major injury (most hospitals); Type 3 applies to smaller/limited-care facilities with lower risk. The type determines which loads must be on the emergency system and how quickly power must restore.

In some designs, yes, for equipment-branch loads — but the life-safety and critical branches are almost always diesel because of on-site fuel and rapid-start requirements. Confirm branch-by-branch requirements with your engineer of record.

This is exactly why N+1 redundancy and routine load-bank testing matter — a second unit (or a properly maintained single unit with a tested transfer scheme) prevents a single point of failure from taking down life-safety power.

Send your load list or one-line diagram, site location, and fuel preference. We'll return a sized option and, where useful, loop in your engineer of record.