Questions to Ask Before You Sign a Generator Quote

RenoHouse lists the equipment-only cost of a 16 kW Generac Guardian cabinet at $5,200 to $5,800, and lists a fully installed 14 to 18 kW system in Toronto at $9,500 to $13,000. On those same figures from that source, the generator itself accounts for roughly 40 to 60 percent of the completed project. The balance is site work, trades, and paperwork. That split is why two quotes for the same generator model can be thousands of dollars apart without either one being wrong.

Ask which model, at what output, and whether the quoted cabinet price covers equipment only or already covers other items. RenoHouse's Toronto tiers state the size decision in ranges: $6,500 to $9,500 fully installed for a 7.5 to 11 kW unit, $9,500 to $13,000 for 14 to 18 kW, and $13,000 to $16,500 for 20 to 26 kW. Kolji Bros. Electrical's wider Ontario range for a whole-home system of 20,000 to 48,000 watts costs $18,000 to $35,000, well above RenoHouse's Toronto figures for the overlapping sizes. A disagreement that wide between sources is itself a reason to get the size and the scope stated explicitly before comparing anything. The standby generator installation cost page contains the full set of rows behind both.

RenoHouse quotes $1,200 to $2,200 for a gas line from the meter that a TSSA-licensed sub-contractor runs over a standard 30 to 50 foot distance, and notes that runs beyond 60 feet add another $500 to $1,000. You can measure the distance with a tape before anyone signs anything, so this is the easiest line in the whole quote to check independently. Route complexity also affects the price, since a run through finished space, under a driveway, or across a yard requiring trenching costs more than a straight run along an exterior wall.

The second half of the question is as important as the first. A TSSA-licensed gas fitter must perform or supervise the gas fitting for a generator; that licence is separate from the ESA electrical licence. Some installers hold both licences. Others subcontract the gas work, which is what RenoHouse's own line item assumes. Either arrangement is normal, and knowing which one applies tells you how many companies will actually come to the property and who is responsible for the pressure test. The gas line cost page lists the separate Ontario pricing for that scope.

Because they are easy to leave out, two small line items cause a surprising amount of variation from quote to quote. RenoHouse quotes $400 to $700 for a poured concrete equipment pad, 4 ft by 5 ft with a 6-inch slab, and $400 to $700 for permits, inspections and commissioning on its 16 kW example project. Both are mandatory. The generator must sit on something, and Ontario requires an ESA electrical permit for every permanent installation; a gas-fired unit also needs a TSSA fuel-gas permit.

Rules differ among GTA municipalities, and some cities require a separate building permit for the pad or enclosure in addition to the ESA and TSSA permits. That difference is why a permit line can have the same scope but a different price in two municipalities. Commissioning is the item most often taken for granted rather than written down: the visit where the installer starts the unit, tests the transfer, and sets the exercise schedule. Asking whether the quote includes it, and whether the installer returns for it, closes the last gap between a delivered generator and a working one.

Municipal variation warrants one further question. In some GTA municipalities, a separate building permit is required for the concrete pad or the enclosure in addition to the ESA and TSSA permits; in others, it is not. An identical installation can therefore carry a different permit line in two neighbouring cities. A contractor who works across the region knows which requirement applies at a given address. A quote that names the local requirement explicitly shows a permit line that has been checked, not estimated.

Collecting three itemised quotes instead of three bottom lines is worthwhile because the disagreements between them are informative. If two installers quote the gas run inside RenoHouse's $1,200 to $2,200 range and a third prices it well above that, the third has either measured a longer route or is assuming trenching the others are not, and one question settles which. The same is true of the transfer switch line: a gap there usually means a different switch rather than a different margin.

Before comparing anything, separate two assumptions from every quote. The first is the generator size the quote assumes: RenoHouse's tiers run from $6,500 to $9,500 for a 7.5 to 11 kW unit up to $13,000 to $16,500 for a 20 to 26 kW unit, so a quote for a larger machine is not a worse deal. The second assumption is whether the installation is sized for whole-home coverage or just essential circuits, because this single decision moves equipment cost more than any negotiation will. Moving from a 20 to 26 kW system down to a 10 to 14 kW unit reduces equipment cost by a meaningful amount.