Temp Power Questions

Inside city limits it is an electrical permit from the Department of Building Inspection. In Daly City, South San Francisco, Brisbane, San Bruno, Burlingame and San Mateo, the city building division issues it, and San Mateo County covers unincorporated parcels. We pull whichever one applies as part of the job.

Plan on a few weeks from the first call to a live meter. The install itself takes a day or less. Most of the wait is permit review and PG&E’s schedule for the meter set, and both move with the time of year and the amperage requested. Once the PG&E application is open, we can give you a firm target date.

On a lot built out to the property line, it sometimes has to. Anything placed in the public right of way generally requires street-use approval from San Francisco Public Works, and the pole has to leave a clear path for people walking by. Check with Public Works on the conditions for your block. We flag this on the site walk so the application can go in early.

We drive two rods spaced at least six feet apart on nearly every job. A single rod can pass when its resistance to earth measures 25 ohms or under, but proving that takes a test, and a second rod is quicker. On rocky hillside ground we talk through the electrode setup with the inspector before driving anything.

For 100A or 200A single-phase, expect roughly $1,800 to $4,500 installed. Three-phase 400A work begins at about $6,000, and complicated sites go beyond $14,000. Equipment rental by the month and PG&E charges come on top. You get a written number after we see the lot.

It happens often enough that we plan for it. We can bring a generator sized for your tools and trailer, feed it through the same panel, and take it off rent once PG&E energizes the service. If the first weeks also run into the dark, rental light towers can go out on the same delivery.

We set posts deep and brace them for a loaded panel, and on exposed sites near the bay or on a ridge we add bracing or use a weighted steel pedestal. Fog and salt air are hard on hardware, so we use weatherproof covers and look them over when we are on site.

Our crews work Monday through Saturday, 7am to 7pm. Inspections and PG&E meter sets run on their own calendars, and we book our install days around them.

It depends on the address, the carriers and how busy local towers are. Bonded cellular is usually enough for video calls, large drawing files and several cameras at once. We test at your site before you commit, and you see the numbers.

Yes, on sites with a clear view of the sky. We use Starlink-class equipment as a second path next to cellular. In dense parts of SoMa or the Financial District, surrounding buildings can block too much sky for a dish to help, so cellular carries the load there.

Yes. Cameras and gate devices get their own segment and fixed addresses, so crew phones cannot slow them down. Our solar surveillance trailers can join the same network or keep their own cellular uplink.

A standard 120V circuit with surge protection. If the trailer closet also holds a small server or a video recorder, heat builds up fast in a sealed space, and a small spot cooler keeps that gear from shutting itself down.

Once the survey is done and hardware is in stock, installation usually takes a day. Call early in the week if you need a connection before a planned trailer move-in.

Tell us the new location and the date. We relocate the router, antennas and access points and run a fresh speed test. Moves are quoted in advance.

Plans are month-to-month. Longer terms bring the rate down, but you are not locked in if the project wraps early.

Our monitoring alerts us when a carrier drops or the router goes offline, and most problems clear remotely. If hardware fails, we swap it during working hours, Monday through Saturday, 7am to 7pm.

They do, with some planning. Fog and short winter days cut solar output, so we size the battery for the site and add a small backup generator or a hardwired feed where a location stays shaded. Infrared cameras see at night and in light fog, though thick fog shortens their range.

With a permit, yes. Curbside placement inside the city goes through SF Public Works for street space, and the peninsula cities run their own encroachment rules. Check with the city before placement, and we will schedule delivery around the permit date.

A small residential lot with one gate may need a single trailer. Bigger sites need coverage of every gate, the laydown yard, the trailer and the structure itself. We mark camera positions on your site plan before we quote.

On the standard plan, you and your team get alerts and live view on your phones. With the optional monitoring service, operators review alerts after hours and respond through the speaker or by calling police.

Most rentals fall in a $450 to $1,200 monthly range. Camera count and the choice of live monitoring explain most of the spread.

Most have built-in lights meant to deter. For crews working after dark you will want LED light tower rentals, which put out far more light over a wider area.

When units are in stock, we can often deliver within a few days of the order. Placement in the street depends on when the permit comes through.

Total the running loads first, then allow for motor starting current, which can be several times the running draw. A site trailer and hand tools may need 20kW to 45kW. A hoist or crane often needs 100kW or more. We run the numbers for you.

That depends on the engine, its size and how long it stays at one location. Ask us to check whether a BAAQMD permit applies before the unit arrives. We look into it while we size the job.

Parking a unit at the curb in the city means applying to Public Works for street space. On narrow streets we look for room on the lot first, since that avoids the permit and keeps the unit behind your fence.

That depends on size and load. After the first few days of run time we set a delivery schedule, so the tank stays full through weekends.

Yes. Generators often power rental air conditioners in a trailer or an equipment room, along with light towers for night work. We include those loads in the sizing.

We do. For a planned outage, we connect before the shutdown. For PSPS or storm outages, we can stage a unit and switch over through a transfer switch when power drops. Book early in fire season.

It can be near homes, offices and hotels. We use sound-attenuated enclosures and set the unit away from windows. San Francisco limits noisy work at night, so check with the city if your generator will run after hours.

It depends on the fixtures, the mast height and the task. One LED tower can cover a large open area, but structures in the way and the light level your work requires both change the answer. We lay out the towers for your site.

LED heads draw less power, so the engine can be smaller and many units are quieter as a result. For the quietest option, a solar tower has no engine at all.

Night construction in the city is limited by noise rules and the conditions on your permit. If your permit allows night work, solar or low-noise LED towers make it easier to comply. Check with DBI or Public Works for your project.

Each tower has a wind rating, and the mast should come down when gusts exceed it. On exposed sites we set the outriggers and orient the tower to cut the load. Ask our crew to show you the rating on each unit.

Yes. LED string lighting runs along ceilings in parking levels, basements and stairwells and plugs into a standard circuit.

Weekly rates for one tower usually fall in the $350 to $700 range. Fuel and delivery are extra.

Yes. We cover San Mateo, Burlingame, San Bruno, Brisbane, South San Francisco and Daly City, plus all of San Francisco.

Solar makes sense for quiet hours, security lighting and sites near homes, as long as the panels get enough sun to recharge. Diesel is the safer pick for long shifts, heavy fog stretches and jobs that need several heads at full output all night. Many sites end up with one of each.

Our fleet runs on LED heads. They light up instantly, so a tower that gets switched off during a break comes right back, and the fuel savings over a month of night shifts are large enough that we retired the old lamps.

Yes. On timers or photocells they come on at dusk and shut off at sunrise without anyone on site. We top off diesel units on Friday so they make it to Monday.

The weather outside is mild, but enclosed rooms with servers, switchgear or lab equipment get hot fast. A sealed floor during finish work can also need its temperature held in a set range.

Start with the heat output of the equipment, then add the room, the people and any sun through the windows. A small trailer may need 1 ton. A busy server room may need 3 to 5 tons. We do the math for you.

Small units plug into a standard 115V outlet. Larger units need 208V or 230V on a dedicated circuit. Our electricians can add the circuit or supply a generator.

Every spot cooler makes hot exhaust that has to leave the room, usually through a ceiling panel, a window or a wall opening. Without that path, the room heats right back up. We plan the exhaust route at setup.

Yes. Electric and indirect-fired heaters are available for winter work, slab curing, drying out a building and finish trades.

Yes. A 1-ton unit usually handles a single trailer office. If the trailer also houses the router for your construction site internet, keeping it cool helps that hardware last.

When the unit you need is in stock, we can often deliver the same day or the next during our hours, Monday through Saturday, 7am to 7pm. Server rooms and labs go to the front of the line.

Yes. The units are built to run around the clock. A condensate pump or a full-tank shutoff keeps water from spilling, and for a critical room it is worth asking us about a temperature alarm that warns your team if the space starts to warm up.

They do as a side effect of cooling, which helps during drywall taping and flooring work on a damp day. For a building that is soaking wet after a leak, a dedicated dehumidifier does the job faster, and we can tell you which one the space needs.

As long as you need it. Some rentals cover a weekend chiller repair, and others hold an IT room for months while a new system is designed and installed. Monthly rates apply once you pass a few weeks.