Mar 28, 2014 3 min read

CARMICHAELS – Carmichaels Area School Board received some good news Thursday when it was informed low bids for the junior-senior high school renovation project came in $1.5 million under budget.

The board met at a building and grounds committee meeting with district architect Kevin Hayes of the Hayes Design Group and construction manager Tom Allen of Accelerated Construction Services LLC to review bids opened last Thursday.

The total of the low bids came to $13,943,200. This amount included base bids as well as project additions recommended by the administration that are expected to be accepted by the board.

Hayes congratulated the board and administration, noting their timely decisions kept the design process moving so the project could be ready to bid at a time when contractors were lining up work for the summer.

Bid documents prepared by his firm were thorough and complete and the construction manager worked aggressively with prospective bidders to bring them on board, Hayes said.

It also helped that few other construction projects are now going to bid in the region. As a result, “contractors were hungry for work,” Hayes said.

The board intends to award the contracts at a special meeting Tuesday. Allen said he expected work to begin on construction of the cafeteria and kitchen between the two buildings April 14.

Allen said he and Hayes had already interviewed each of the five contractors that provided the low bids and “felt comfortable with all five of them.”

He reviewed each of apparent low bids and the proposed additions and deductions.

The low bid for general contractor was Nello Construction, whose base bid was $6,847,000. The additions recommended by the administration included refinishing the gym floor, $25,000; replacing all lockers, $78,000; and painting the gym roof deck, $20,000.

Nello offered a deduction for excavating and disposing of coal at the cafeteria site which will save the district $20,000.

The low bid for plumbing was submitted by Wheels Mechanical for $1,287,000, and the low bid for roofing was submitted by Altoona Roofing for $399,000.

The low bid for heating and air conditioning was submitted by R&B Mechanical for $2,900,000. The recommended deduction, which involved using a different brand of electric controls, will reduce the cost by $76,000. Recommended additions totaled $13,800 and were for extended equipment warranties.

The low bid for electrical work was submitted by Pitt Electric at $2,449,000. Two recommended additions were for lighting fixture warranties, $6,000; and new gymnasium lighting, $14,400.

The board briefly discussed whether any other work should be added to the contracts, seeing that the bids had come in $1.5 million under budget.

Hayes said the board can still consider additions and have that work addressed as a change order to the original contract or be bid separately during or after the project is completed.