Services · Tucson, Arizona
A generator is only as good as everything around it — the transfer switch, the separation of emergency circuits, the pad, the conduit, and the commissioning that proves it picks up load when the power drops. Arizona Electrical Solutions engineers and self-performs commercial standby and emergency power systems across Tucson, from the concrete pad to the final load test. Request a bid →
Standby Power
Standby power is a systems problem, not an equipment purchase. The code treats emergency systems, legally required standby, and optional standby differently — different separation, different transfer times, different testing — and the design has to say which one you are building before anyone sets a generator. We install those systems under our CR-11 electrical license, with the emergency circuits, transfer equipment, and interlocks wired by the same crews who build the rest of the distribution.
This work sits inside our broader life-safety and emergency power scope and our service & distribution capability.
Diesel and natural-gas generator sets for commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities — sized against a real load calculation, set on a pad we pour, and wired, tested, and commissioned before you depend on it.
Life-safety systems →ATS and manual transfer equipment installed and coordinated with the service and the emergency loads — including the neutral-switching decision, which depends on whether the generator is a separately derived system.
Transfer switch field guide →Concrete equipment pads, the underground conduit between the generator and the building, bollards, and the trenching that goes with it — self-performed under our KA engineering license with our own equipment.
Trenching & underground →Scoping It
Two buildings with the same square footage can need completely different standby systems. These are the questions that set the scope:
Life-safety loads only, or the whole building? Emergency egress lighting and fire alarm are one conversation; keeping refrigeration, servers, or a production line running is another. The answer sets the generator size, the transfer scheme, and most of the cost.
NEC Article 700 (emergency), 701 (legally required standby), and 702 (optional standby) impose different separation, transfer time, and testing requirements. Occupancy type and the fire code drive which one you are in — and that has to be settled during design.
Setback, sound, fuel, service access, and the distance back to the transfer switch all shape the install. A generator on the far side of a parking lot is a trenching and conduit job as much as an electrical one.
Natural gas removes the fuel-storage problem but depends on the gas supply; diesel needs a tank, containment, and a fuel-maintenance plan. Required runtime, refueling access, and local requirements all factor in.
Code Path
These three are not interchangeable words for the same thing. Emergency systems under Article 700 carry egress lighting and the loads that keep people safe getting out, and they have to transfer within ten seconds with wiring kept independent of everything else. Legally required standby under Article 701 covers loads the AHJ requires — smoke control, certain pumps — with its own rules. Optional standby under Article 702 is everything you keep running because losing it costs money.
Getting this classification right early is what keeps a project from being redesigned at plan review. Our field team wrote a public guide on it: how to wire a generator transfer switch, including sizing per 702.4 and the neutral-switching decision.
Commissioning
A generator that has never been tested under load is a hypothesis. We commission the system: verify phase rotation and voltage, exercise the transfer switch in both directions, confirm the loads pick up in the sequence the design calls for, and document the results for the owner and the AHJ.
Once it is in service, emergency and standby systems carry ongoing testing duties — monthly exercise, annual testing, records the inspector will ask for. Our commercial maintenance crews can take that on for facilities that would rather not manage it in-house.
Self-Performed
A generator install is a civil job, an electrical job, and a controls job at once. We hold the licenses for all three, so nobody is waiting on somebody else's subcontractor.
Equipment pads, the conduit run back to the building, and the trench it lives in — all under our own KA engineering license, with our own Cat fleet and certified operators.
The transfer switch, the emergency panel, the separated wiring the code requires, and the interlocks that make the building respond as a system when power drops.
FAQ
It comes out of a load study, not a rule of thumb. We identify which loads have to stay energized, calculate their demand including motor starting, and size the set against that — then look at whether load shedding or staged pickup lets a smaller, cheaper generator do the job. Oversizing costs money twice: at purchase and every month it runs lightly loaded.
Yes. We install and wire the transfer equipment, the emergency distribution, and the interlocks, and we commission the whole system together. That includes the neutral-switching decision, which depends on whether the generator is treated as a separately derived system.
It depends on the occupancy and what the fire code and the AHJ require. Some facilities need an emergency system under NEC Article 700 or legally required standby under 701; many commercial buildings install optional standby under 702 purely as a business decision. We settle that classification during design, with the AHJ, before equipment is ordered.
Yes — that is one of the reasons owners call us for generator work. Our KA engineering license and our own equipment cover the pad, the trench, the underground conduit, and the restoration, so the site work and the electrical work are on the same contract and the same schedule.
Always. We run start-up and functional testing with the manufacturer's representative, verify transfer and re-transfer under load, confirm the loads pick up in the designed sequence, and hand over documentation for the owner and the inspector.
Yes. Emergency and standby systems carry ongoing exercise and testing duties, and inspectors ask for the records. Our commercial electrical maintenance crews handle scheduled testing and life-safety system checks for facilities across the Tucson area.
Related Services
One contractor carries the whole scope. See every service we self-perform.
Fire alarm, emergency power, egress lighting, and AHJ sign-off.
Panelboard, switchboard, and service-entrance upgrades with load calcs, TEP coordination, and phased shutdowns.
Panel and switchgear inspections, lighting upkeep, and life-safety testing.
Short-circuit, coordination, and arc-flash analysis with labels and corrections.
Tell us what has to stay running and where the generator can go. We'll size the system, plan the site work, and come back with a line-item bid.
Request a Bid Call (520) 308-6235