Can You Order an RECD Before Your New Facility Is Ready?

Yes, you can, but only once one thing is settled: the exact generator that will stand on that plinth. An RECD is matched to a specific engine, its power rating, its exhaust flow and its back pressure limit. The building can still be half finished. The generator cannot still be a question mark.

Many businesses setting up a new plant, warehouse, hospital wing or office block want to tick every compliance box early. Ordering the emission control device in advance feels like one less thing to chase later. Sometimes that instinct is right. Sometimes it leads to a device sitting in a crate for a year, sized for a generator that was never installed.

This post is laid out like a project planner. We start with the one question that decides everything, then move through the project timeline phase by phase, and finish with the clauses that keep an early order from turning into a stranded asset.

The Deciding Question: Which Generator Is Going to the New Site?

Before anything else, put your facility into one of these four boxes.

Box A: An existing, older DG set is being moved to the new site

This is the most common reason for an early RECD order. A company shifts operations from a rented unit to its own building and takes its older generator along. That set was built to an earlier emission norm and, depending on its capacity, state and location, may need a retrofit device to stay compliant.

Can you order early? Yes. The engine exists, its nameplate can be photographed and its exhaust characteristics are known. What is still unknown is the new exhaust route, which we deal with below.

Box B: A brand new generator is being purchased for the site

New diesel gensets sold in India from 1 July 2023 are built to CPCB IV+ norms, which already include advanced exhaust after-treatment. Our explainer on CPCB II vs CPCB III vs CPCB IV+ norms covers the differences. For a CPCB IV+ set, a separate RECD is usually not what the regulations are asking for.

Can you order early? In most cases, you should not order one at all until you have confirmed that your consent conditions actually require it. Spend that energy on choosing the right genset instead.

Box C: A used generator will be bought for the site

Some facilities source a second-hand set to save capital cost. Until the specific unit is chosen, its engine make, rating and emission tier are unknown.

Can you order early? No. Choose the set first. Our second-hand diesel generator buying guide covers what to check, and the emission question should be part of that evaluation, not an afterthought.

Box D: The site is in Delhi-NCR and the set is in the 125 to 800 kW band

In the National Capital Region, CAQM Direction No. 76 allows sets in this band to run with either a retrofit emission control device or a dual fuel conversion. You have a choice to make before you have a device to order.

Can you order early? Only after you pick the route. Our comparison of RECD vs dual fuel kit walks through the trade-offs, including gas pipeline availability, which is often unknown at a greenfield site.

The Planner: What to Lock at Each Phase

Assume you are in Box A: an existing older set is moving to a new building. Here is what can be fixed at each stage of the project, and what should wait.

Phase 1: Land and Layout (Earliest Stage)

The building exists on drawings. The generator’s location may still move.

Lock now:

• The engine identity. Photograph nameplates, record the kVA and kW ratings, and note the engine model and serial number.
• A budget line for the RECD. Our guide to RECD cost in India gives indicative ranges by capacity band.
• A reserved space in the layout. Tell the architect the generator will need room for an inline exhaust device, service access and a stack of the height your consent requires.

Hold back:

• Any purchase order for the device itself. The exhaust route does not exist yet.

Phase 2: Approvals and Consents

This is where the facility applies for its Consent to Establish and later its Consent to Operate from the State Pollution Control Board, alongside electrical and fire approvals. The sequence is set out in our post on how to get a pollution NOC for a DG set, and factories have an extra layer described in our factory licence requirements guide.

Lock now:

• A vendor shortlist, and a formal quotation that names the specific device model and capacity band. A quotation with a model number is useful supporting evidence for your consent application, because it shows the board how you intend to comply.
• A copy of the device’s type approval details from the vendor.

Hold back:

• Final delivery. The board may add conditions, such as stack height or monitoring ports, that change the exhaust design.

Phase 3: Civil Works and Generator Room Build

The plinth is cast, walls are rising, and the exhaust route through the building is being drawn in detail.

Lock now:

• The exhaust route drawing, including the position of the RECD, its supports and its service clearance.
• A back pressure estimate for the full new route. A generator moved to a new site often ends up with a longer exhaust run than it had before, and every metre of pipe and every bend adds resistance. Read how exhaust back pressure affects a DG set before approving the drawing.
• The purchase order, with a delivery date tied to the mechanical installation phase rather than a fixed calendar date.

Hold back:

• Fabrication of any site-specific adapters or spools until the pipe is actually installed and measured.

Phase 4: Mechanical and Electrical Fit-Out

The generator arrives, is set on its plinth and connected. The exhaust line is built.

Lock now:

• Delivery of the RECD, timed so it arrives when the exhaust pipe is being installed. Fitting the device during the original pipe build is simpler than retrofitting it into a finished line, because joints can be placed exactly where the device needs them. That is the easiest way to avoid the question in our post on installing an RECD without cutting the existing exhaust pipe.

Phase 5: Commissioning and Handover

The set is load tested, and the device is commissioned and documented.

Lock now:

• Commissioning report, back pressure readings, and the device documents for your compliance file.
• Warranty start date, service schedule and AMC, if you choose one.

Summary Planner Table

Phase	Safe to fix	Better to wait
Land and layout	Engine data, budget, reserved space	Purchase order
Approvals	Vendor, quotation with model, type approval copy	Final delivery date
Civil works	Exhaust route drawing, back pressure estimate, PO	Custom adapters
Fit-out	Device delivery and installation	Nothing major
Commissioning	Reports, warranty, service plan	Nothing

Why Ordering Too Early Can Backfire

Early ordering is not risk free. These are the problems we see most often when a device is bought long before the site is ready.

The generator changes

Midway through a project, management decides the old 250 kVA set will not be enough and buys a larger one, or decides to buy a new CPCB IV+ set instead. An RECD sized for the old set is now either wrong or unnecessary. Load growth is common in new facilities, so it is worth revisiting the sizing logic in our guide to generator sizing for factories before committing.

The exhaust route changes

An architect moves the generator room from the ground floor to a rooftop or from inside the building to an outdoor canopy yard. The pipe length, orientation and support points all change. A device ordered with fixed end connections for the old route may need adapters.

The consent conditions change

The board’s Consent to Establish may specify stack height, sampling ports or other conditions that influence where the device sits. Ordering before those conditions are known is ordering half blind.

The warranty clock starts in a warehouse

If warranty runs from invoice or delivery date, a device stored for a year has lost a year of cover before it ever sees exhaust gas.

Storage risk

A crated RECD in a construction site store is exposed to dust, moisture, mishandling and theft. Catalyst and filter elements are not designed to sit in a damp shed for a monsoon season.

Money is tied up

The cash spent on an early device is cash that cannot be used for civil works, which usually have a harder deadline.

Why Ordering Early Can Also Help

On the other side, there are real benefits when the timing is right.

• Lead time certainty. RECDs are typically fabricated to order. Our post on what to expect from an RECD installation timeline covers the usual lead times, and busy seasons can stretch them. Placing an order at Phase 3 avoids a scramble at Phase 5.
• Designing the exhaust around the device. When the device dimensions are known before the pipe is built, the whole route can be laid out once, correctly.
• Consent support. A confirmed order with a type approved model is clear evidence of intent for the board.
• Price protection. Material costs move. A fixed price for a delivery six months away can help budgeting.
• Start-up readiness. A new facility that switches on with a compliant generator avoids the risk of an early inspection finding a gap.

Contract Clauses That Make an Early Order Safe

If you do decide to place an order before the site is ready, the purchase order is where you protect yourself. Consider asking for the following.

1. Delivery on call-off

Delivery is triggered by your written notice, not a fixed date, with an agreed notice period. This keeps the device in the vendor’s controlled store until your exhaust line is ready.

2. Warranty from commissioning

Warranty begins on the commissioning date recorded in the handover report, not on invoice date. If the vendor cannot agree to that fully, ask for a cap, such as warranty starting at commissioning or a set number of months after delivery, whichever comes first.

3. Specification freeze point

Agree a date or phase after which the specification is frozen. Before that point, changes to capacity band or end connections can be made at a pre-agreed cost. After it, fabrication proceeds.

4. Change of generator clause

State what happens if the generator changes. Options include credit against a different capacity device, a restocking fee, or cancellation terms. Having this written down avoids an argument later.

5. Storage responsibility

If the device must be delivered early, agree who stores it, under what conditions, and who carries the risk until installation.

6. Site survey included

Include a final site survey after the exhaust route is built and before installation. This confirms dimensions, supports and back pressure.

7. Documentation deliverables

List the documents you expect at handover: type approval reference, test certificate copy, installation report, back pressure readings, service schedule. These all go into your compliance file, as outlined in our environmental compliance checklist for generator owners.

A Worked Example

Imagine a packaging company moving from a leased shed to its own plot. It owns a 320 kVA generator built to an earlier emission standard, and its state requires retrofit devices on sets of this size.

• Month 1: The team photographs the generator nameplates and sends them to three RECD vendors with the planned new address. They receive budget quotations.
• Month 3: They apply for Consent to Establish, attaching the preferred vendor’s quotation and type approval reference.
• Month 5: Civil works begin. The generator room is placed on the ground floor, and the architect’s exhaust drawing shows a 14 metre route with three bends.
• Month 6: The vendor reviews the drawing and suggests removing one bend by moving the silencer. The back pressure estimate improves. A purchase order is placed with call-off delivery and warranty from commissioning.
• Month 8: The generator is moved and set on the plinth. The exhaust line is built with flanged joints placed to suit the device. The company issues the call-off notice.
• Month 9: The device is installed during the exhaust fit-out, commissioned under load, and the documents are filed for Consent to Operate.

At no point did the company have a device sitting idle in a store. Yet it was never waiting on a supplier either.

Special Case: You Are Not Sure What the Rules Will Be

New facilities sometimes sit in areas where rules are changing, or where the state board has not yet issued a clear directive for sets of your size. In that situation:

• Check the national emission standards timeline. DieselNet’s summary of India genset emission standards is a useful neutral overview of the phases.
• Ask the State Pollution Control Board in writing what it expects for your set’s capacity and age at the new location.
• Compare the lifetime cost of a retrofit with buying a new compliant set. Our RECD vs new CPCB IV+ genset cost comparison is built for exactly that decision.
• Keep your vendor quotation valid but avoid committing to fabrication until the rules for your site are clear.

Briefing Your Architect and MEP Consultant

On a new build, the RECD is only as good as the space and route the design team gives it. Many retrofit headaches on older sites came from generator rooms that were never designed with an exhaust device in mind. A new facility is the one chance to get this right from the start. Share these points with your architect and mechanical, electrical and plumbing consultant early in design.

Space and access

• Reserve a straight section of exhaust run long enough for the device plus flanges on each side.
• Leave clear space around the device for a technician to open inspection points and remove internal elements.
• Plan a safe route for lifting the device in, and later out, whether by door, removable panel or roof opening.

Structure

• Identify the beam, wall or floor that will carry the device’s weight, and confirm the load with the structural engineer.
• Avoid planning the device on the pipe alone. It needs independent support.

Exhaust route

• Keep bends to a minimum and use long radius bends where turns are needed.
• Place flanged joints where the device will sit, so installation is a bolt-in job.
• Keep the flexible connector next to the engine outlet.
• Include a condensate drain at low points.
• Allow for the stack height set by your consent conditions.

Ventilation and heat

• Account for heat given off by the device and extra pipework in the generator room’s ventilation design.
• Keep lagging and guards in the plan so hot surfaces are protected.

Monitoring points

• Provide a tapping for back pressure measurement near the engine outlet.
• Leave space for stack sampling ports if your board requires them.

A single coordination meeting between the RECD vendor and the design team, once the generator location is fixed, usually settles all of this. It costs an hour and can save days of rework later.

Budgeting the Payments Across the Project

An early order does not need to mean full payment upfront. Discuss a payment schedule that tracks the project, for example:

• A modest advance with the purchase order to confirm the booking.
• A further payment on the call-off notice, when fabrication or dispatch begins.
• The balance on installation and commissioning.

This keeps cash available for civil works during the heavy spending months and ties most of the money to actual delivery of a working device.

A Quick Readiness Checklist

Before you sign an RECD purchase order for a site that is not yet finished, check every line below.

• The generator that will run at the new site is confirmed (make, model, kVA, kW, serial number).
• You know whether that generator needs an RECD under your state and location rules.
• If you are in NCR in the 125 to 800 kW band, you have chosen RECD over dual fuel.
• The generator location on the site plan is final.
• You have at least a draft exhaust route drawing.
• The vendor has confirmed the device’s capacity band and type approval.
• The purchase order includes call-off delivery and warranty from commissioning.
• A final site survey is included before installation.

If you can tick all eight, an early order is a sensible move. If you cannot tick the first two, it is too early.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I get a quotation before the building is ready?

Yes. A quotation needs only the generator details and your approximate location. The exhaust route can be finalised later.

Will the vendor hold a price for months?

That depends on the vendor. Ask for a price validity period in writing, or a formula for adjusting price if delivery is later than planned.

Is it better to install the RECD before or after the generator is moved?

After. Moving a generator with a device attached risks damaging the device and its joints. Install it once the set is on its final plinth and the new exhaust route is built.

Can the old site’s RECD move with the generator?

If the generator already has an RECD and is moving intact, the device usually moves with it. The new exhaust route may need new connections and a fresh back pressure check.

Does the Consent to Establish require an RECD order?

Requirements vary by board. Some want evidence of how you will comply. A quotation naming a type approved model is often enough at that stage, but confirm with your board.

How far in advance should I order?

A practical rule is to place the order during civil works, once the exhaust route is drawn, with delivery on call-off. That typically avoids both a last-minute rush and long storage.

The Bottom Line

The readiness of the building is not what decides whether you can order an RECD. The certainty of the generator decides it. Once the engine is fixed and you know the device is required, you can lock in a vendor, a model and a price long before the paint dries. The purchase order just needs to follow the project rather than a calendar, with delivery on call-off, warranty from commissioning and a final survey on the built exhaust line.

To start the conversation for a new site, share your generator details and site plan with the Aceget team through our contact page, or browse the RECD product range to see the capacity bands we cover.