When a hospital loses utility power, the emergency power system keeps life-support equipment, lighting, and life safety systems running. That makes generator and transfer switch work some of the most sensitive construction a healthcare facility can undertake, because the building has to stay protected while the equipment that protects it is being replaced.

For facility directors and federal project managers, planning that work starts well before a crew arrives. Carrigg Commercial Builders, led by Robert Carrigg of Manchester, NH, completed the Bedford VA Emergency Generator Replacement in Bedford, Massachusetts in 2021. What follows is general guidance for owners, not a description of any one project's methods.

Why Emergency Power Work Is Different

Most renovation work affects a room or a department. Emergency power work affects the safety net for the entire facility. Any period when the building relies on a single source, or on a temporary arrangement, needs to be planned with clinical leadership and facilities staff, not just scheduled by the contractor.

Sequence the Outages Before the Work

Planned outages and cutovers should be defined early: which systems are affected, how long each window lasts, who approves it, and what the rollback plan is if something does not go as expected. Clinical staff need advance notice, and the work should be timed around the facility's operating rhythms rather than the construction calendar alone.

Long-Lead Equipment Drives the Schedule

Generators, switchgear, and transfer switches can have long lead times, and those times vary by manufacturer and market. Identifying and ordering them during preconstruction, before the project is formally under way, protects the schedule. A delivery date that slips after the outage windows are approved can force the whole sequence to be rebuilt.

Testing Is Part of the Work, Not the End of It

A new or upgraded emergency power system has to be tested under load and documented before the facility relies on it. The applicable codes and accreditation requirements set the testing expectations, and the facility's authority having jurisdiction should confirm them. Owners should treat testing, commissioning, and documentation as scheduled scope, not as paperwork at the end.

In a hospital, a backup system is only finished once it has been proven under load.

What Owners Should Ask a Contractor

Has the contractor replaced or upgraded emergency power in an occupied facility before? How will outage windows be sequenced and approved? Who is accountable for testing and documentation? Contractors with real experience in mission-critical construction can answer these specifically, and their answers will show how seriously they treat occupied-facility risk.

What This Means for Clients

Carrigg Commercial Builders works in occupied and mission-critical environments, including VA medical centers across New England. Bob Carrigg's team in Manchester, NH approaches emergency power and electrical infrastructure projects with the planning discipline those environments require, and welcomes early conversations with facility directors before a project is scoped.

Carrigg Commercial Builders is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business providing commercial construction and general contracting services throughout New England. To connect with Bob Carrigg's team, visit carrigg.com or call (603) 262-4343.