Why Take This NFPA 110 Training Course?
Modern infrastructure — hospitals, data centers, industrial facilities, and commercial buildings — often cannot tolerate power outages. Standby generators provide that redundancy, and for facilities with Level 1 or Level 2 life-safety loads, NFPA 110 and local building codes make it a legal requirement, not an option.
This course walks through how emergency standby power, prime power, and grid-connected or micro-grid systems are designed, installed, and maintained in accordance with NFPA 110, alongside supporting guidance from EGSA, IEEE, NFPA 70B, NECA, and NETA. You'll learn to read vendor drawings, size and specify generators, manage parallel sources and load-sharing, and build a compliant testing and maintenance program — not just the theory, but the practical requirements an inspector or facility compliance officer will actually check.
NFPA 110 Generator Requirements
NFPA 110 classifies emergency power supply systems by three criteria, and understanding them is the starting point for any compliant design:
- Level — Level 1 systems serve loads where failure could mean loss of life or serious injury (hospitals, life-safety systems); Level 2 covers less critical, legally required standby loads.
- Class — the minimum number of hours the system must run on its own power source before refueling or recharging.
- Type — how quickly the system must restore power after a utility failure (Type 10 systems, used in healthcare, must restore power within 10 seconds).
This course covers how these classifications drive real design decisions: fuel storage sizing, transfer switch selection, generator set specification, and how Level 1 and Level 2 systems differ in practice despite sharing much of the same equipment.
NFPA 110 Generator Testing Requirements
An EPSS is only compliant if it's tested the way NFPA 110 requires — and this is where many facilities fall short. The course covers the full inspection, testing, and maintenance (ITM) cycle:
- Monthly testing — exercising the entire EPSS under load, not just running the generator, performed by qualified personnel
- 36-month (triennial) testing — the comprehensive system test required for Level 1 installations
- Acceptance testing — required whenever a new EPSS is installed or significantly modified
- Troubleshooting using a logical, systematic approach to isolate and repair generator, transfer switch, and control problems
- Documentation practices that hold up under inspection or audit
Course Overview
Specific requirements and recommendations for the installation, operation, and maintenance of backup power generation equipment, with guidance on where to find authoritative information from EGSA, IEEE, NFPA, NECA, and NETA.
- How to read and understand vendor drawings and technical information for generators
- How generators operate, and the EPSS components that support them
- Supporting electrical equipment: transfer switches, switchgear, emergency power distribution
- Auxiliary generator equipment: fuel tanks, silencers, ventilation, control equipment, gas detection
- Working with parallel energy sources: synchronizing procedures and load sharing
- Generator energy management and heat recovery applications
Learning Outcomes
- Understand NFPA 110's Level, Class, and Type classifications and how they apply to your facility
- Understand how generators operate and the auxiliary equipment required to support them
- Understand how generators integrate within an entire electrical distribution system
- Learn the different types of generators — emergency standby, prime power, and continuous power — and which NFPA 110 requirements apply to each
- Learn how to size and specify generators
- Gain the background needed to operate, maintain, and test generator sets under NFPA 110's ITM requirements — critical for data centers, hospitals, banks, airports, water treatment facilities, manufacturing plants, schools, stadiums, and commercial buildings
- Learn about thermal applications of power generators, such as cogeneration and combined-cycle operation
- Build the knowledge foundation recommended before attempting EGSA Apprentice or Journeyman certification
