CONNER COMPLEX NEW LABORATORY FACILITY Architect & Engineering Services

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is requesting Statements of Qualifications from Architect and Engineering firms for professional design services on a new multi-discipline government laboratory facility at the Doyle Conner Complex in Tallahassee, with proposals due August 4, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. ET. Responding firms must be properly licensed in Florida under Chapters 481 and 471, Florida Statutes.

The facility is approximately 156,000 square feet and will house five department scientific divisions: Agricultural Environmental Services, Consumer Services, Food Safety, Aquaculture, and Animal Industry. The design must accommodate dedicated laboratories capable of BSL-2 and BSL-3 containment, offices, storage, shared services, and loading/receiving areas. The A/E firm will provide comprehensive services including survey and assessment, facility programming, design documents, construction cost estimates, permit coordination, bid support, construction administration, and final project closeout.

The Department will use a construction management at risk, negotiated fee-guaranteed maximum price contracting method. Compensation consists of a lump sum fee for Basic Services covering concept/schematic design through construction administration phases, with Additional Services and Reimbursable Expenses requiring prior written authorization and payable as fixed rate fees or lump sums. Firms must carry professional liability insurance of $1,000,000 with a $50,000 deductible and comprehensive general liability insurance of $300,000 combined single limit.

Preliminary evaluation (0–45 points combined) assesses location to proposed region (0–10 points), current workload (0–3 points), key personnel and relevant design experience (0–22 points), and ability to perform contract delivery (0–10 points). A minimum of three firms with the highest preliminary scores will advance to interviews, where evaluation adds relevant past performance (0–15 points), understanding of program and project requirements (0–25 points), and approach and methodology (0–20 points). Written inquiries are due July 14, 2026. A short list will be announced August 17, 2026, with interviews scheduled August 31 through September 4, 2026. Construction is subject to future legislative appropriation.