Backup Generators Now Required At Large Newark Apartment Buildings

NEWARK, NJ — Apartment buildings in Newark with 40 or more units must have an emergency backup power generator under a new local law.

The Newark City Council voted on second reading in favor of an ordinance that creates the new rule at their meeting on Wednesday. Read the full text here.

According to councilman Patrick Council – the ordinance’s sponsor – it will help to make sure that Newark residents living in larger apartment buildings have electricity when emergencies cause power outages.

Council provided the following additional details about the new ordinance:

“The ordinance not only requires an emergency generator, but it also requires said generator to be inspected yearly. A description of the procedure to maintain the emergency backup generator must be filed with the Director of the Department of Engineering in the City of Newark. The names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the repair companies that have agreed to service said generator if it is in need of repairs, must be included in this filing.”

“I am thankful that my council colleagues understand the urgent need of providing safety measures to our residents in times of trouble or disaster,” Council said after the ordinance’s passage on Wednesday.

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