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Generator · Laval
Portable or standby, our master electricians connect your generator to the house through a transfer switch, from Chomedey to Saint-François. Our warehouse is in Laval.
In short
The starting question is simple: will someone be home to start the unit? A portable waits for someone to take it out and plug it in. A standby starts on its own, even if you’re travelling.
In the 2021 census, 44.8% of Laval’s occupied dwellings were single-detached houses, and 43.1% were apartments. A standby generator needs a spot outdoors, in a yard where the CDU-1 allows it: the next section details those rules.
Gasoline, to refill during the outage
We install a power inlet on the outside wall and a manual transfer switch right next to the panel. When the power goes out, you set the unit outside, plug the cable into that inlet and switch over yourself.
Already have one? We connect it to the house with the same setup, with no extension cord running through a window.
Propane or natural gas, never gasoline
It stays outdoors on its base. Its automatic transfer switch starts it and transfers the circuits within seconds when the grid goes down, then puts them back on Hydro-Québec when the power returns.
The brand we install most often is Generac, whose Guardian models range from 10 to 26 kW. On propane, Generac requires a tank of at least 250 US gallons: cylinders aren’t enough.
A generator project? Three contact details and a few questions are enough.
Get a quoteLaval devotes an entire subsection of its urban planning code, the CDU-1, to the “ground-mounted generator”. The version consulted is the administrative consolidation of June 8, 2026. Section 267 refers to table 38, which sets the setbacks, and tables 5 to 9 show in which yards the unit may be placed.
It all depends on your zone’s “yard use type”, shown in the zoning grid. So it’s impossible to say in advance that a generator goes in the back yard in every Laval house: your zone’s grid is what specifies it.
| Zone yard type | Where a ground-mounted generator is allowed | Minimum setbacks (table 38) |
|---|---|---|
| A and E | Secondary front, side or back yard, never in the front yard | 6 m at the front, 2 m at the secondary front, 1 m on the sides, 1 m at the back |
| D | Secondary front, side or back yard, never in the front yard | 2 m on the sides, 1 m at the back |
| C | Side or back yard only | 2 m on the sides, 1 m at the back |
| B | No yard: a ground-mounted unit is prohibited everywhere | Not applicable |
In a secondary front yard, section 268 adds a condition: the generator must be hidden from the street by a vegetated screen of shrubs. Installed on a roof, it’s treated as mechanical equipment, and a visual screen is required if it’s more than 0.6 m high.
Two questions remain unanswered in the CDU-1. Its permit table doesn’t mention generators: the City therefore doesn’t publish whether a permit is required, and 311 can confirm it for you. Nor does it set a noise standard specific to this equipment.
A generator plugged into the dryer outlet, or into a wall outlet with a cable that has two male plugs, sends its current back the wrong way. That’s why the hookup always goes through a transfer switch, and never through an outlet in the house.
The manual transfer switch goes with a portable: you do the switchover yourself. The automatic one goes with a standby and switches over on its own. Installed and connected, a 60 amp manual switch or an automatic one has its price in the written quote, free of charge. The transfer switch price covers neither the unit, nor its base, nor the fuel.
A maintenance detail: a manual transfer switch is worth operating once a year.
Rénoclimat: up to $1,000 to hook up a backup power source. Since October 1, 2026, Rénoclimat pays up to $1,000 for the labour of a master electrician who connects a backup power source to the panel of your principal residence, a duplex, a triplex or a building with at least four units. The Québec government describes this measure as connecting a “backup power source powered by renewable energy”: for a generator, have its eligibility confirmed by Rénoclimat before counting on this aid. The home must have been built and lived in for at least five years. The aid doesn’t cover buying the generator or the transfer switch. You apply yourself, no later than 12 months after the work. Rénoclimat 2026: up to $1,000 to hook up a backup power source
We don’t back up the whole house by reflex. The circuits to protect are grouped in an auxiliary panel. Among the priority circuits: the sump pump, the heating, the fridge and the freezer, and a few lighting and outlet circuits. The dryer, the oven, the spa and the EV charger are left out.
Laval isn’t just a suburb: its permanent agricultural zone still covered 29% of the territory in 2024. If your house draws its water from a well, the well pump goes on the list. A pumped septic tank or a pellet stove too: we count them from the first visit.
We review the list with you based on the unit’s power. A published example for a 60 A panel: one heating circuit, three lighting circuits and three outlet circuits. The panel’s capacity, 60 A, isn’t the generator’s.
The generator panel is mounted at the agreed spot and the power inlet is installed on the outside wall.
The circuits you keep are moved to the generator panel and labelled.
We test the transfer, then show you how to use the installation on the night of an outage.
During the work, plan for a power cut of a few hours, the time to install the transfer switch and move the circuits to back up.
A standby generator involves more than one trade. Here is each one’s share, as we practise it.
For a standby, count a few days of work on site. What stretches the schedule is mostly permits and the fuel connection. Don’t start the process in November. The schedule is given to you in writing with the quote.
At the end, we simulate a grid failure: start-up, switchover, backed-up circuits, then return to the grid and switch back. We show you the maintenance and you receive a detailed invoice with the work report.
Laval was born in 1965 from the merger of fourteen municipalities. We travel everywhere: Chomedey, Sainte-Rose, Fabreville, Vimont, Duvernay, Auteuil, Sainte-Dorothée or Saint-François.
Since our warehouse is on the island, standard materials are never far. For a planned request like a generator, that reduces the risk of waiting for a part.
We don’t give a fixed price over the phone, and that’s on purpose. To prepare an accurate quote, we ask for your service amperage, the panel brand and a few photos: the panel with the door open, the main breaker label and the room concerned. The quote is written and free, and payment is made at the end of the work, with no deposit.
West of Laval
Fabreville and Sainte-Dorothée are two neighbourhoods in western Laval: the urban planning code rules described above apply there as everywhere in the city.
In Sainte-Dorothée, a generator is part of the electrical work planned ahead in homes, along with the service entrance, the EV charger and the heat pump. A generator is planned with its transfer switch, not during the storm.
On the neighbourhood’s large lots, the farther a piece of equipment is from the main panel, the more the cable gauge, its route and its protection matter.
In Fabreville, we work throughout the neighbourhood, for houses, plexes and businesses, as well as in the neighbouring areas: Sainte-Rose, Chomedey, Sainte-Dorothée and Laval-Ouest.
The price doesn’t change from one neighbourhood to the next; 60 A manual or automatic transfer switch, installed and connected, it is in the quote; generator, base and fuel extra. Both neighbourhoods have their own page: Fabreville (in French) and Sainte-Dorothée (in French).
Renovations, panels, 200 A services and emergencies, from Chomedey to Saint-François.
The four possible setups, the outlet rule and our territory, from Laval to the South Shore.
Manual or automatic, choosing the backed-up circuits and what to do during an outage.
The CDU-1 doesn’t say: its permit table doesn’t name generators. The City’s 311 can confirm it for your address. On our side, declaring the work to the Régie du bâtiment du Québec is the master electrician’s job, and the municipal permit, when one is needed, is part of our job.
No. In Laval, the CDU-1 yard tables prohibit a ground-mounted generator in the front yard, whatever the yard type. Depending on the zone, it can go in the secondary front, side or back yard; in a type B zone, it’s not allowed in any yard.
The price of the transfer switch installed and connected, 60 amp manual or automatic, is in the written quote, free of charge. The generator, its base and the fuel are extra. The exact price comes after the visit, in a written quote.
Yes. The setup is the same as for a new unit: a power inlet on the outside wall, a manual transfer switch next to the panel, and the circuits of your choice connected to that switch.
A licensed gas company. We do all the electrical work and coordinate with them, but we don’t do that work.
Yes, a few hours, the time to install the transfer switch and move the circuits to back up. The schedule is written in the quote.
Because a generator plugged into the dryer outlet, or into a wall outlet with a cable that has two male plugs, sends its current back the wrong way. That’s why the hookup always goes through a transfer switch, and never through an outlet in the house.
Yes. We connect generators in every Laval neighbourhood, Fabreville and Sainte-Dorothée included: 60 A manual or automatic transfer switch, price in the quote; generator, base and fuel extra. Our warehouse is in Laval.
Sources · Checked on October 11, 2026
Generator · Laval
A visit, the list of circuits to back up and a written quote, free of charge, before any work.
Your contact details and three or four quick questions. Not sure of an answer? Leave “Not sure” and we’ll check on site.