Conner complex new laboratory facility

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is requesting Statements of Qualifications from licensed general contractors to provide construction management at-risk services for the Conner Complex New Laboratory Facility in Tallahassee, with SOQ proposals due November 9, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. ET and public opening on November 10.

The scope is a new 156,000-square-foot modernized laboratory facility at 3125 Conner Boulevard designed to house five department scientific divisions — Agricultural Environmental Services, Consumer Services, Food Safety, Aquaculture, and Animal Industry — plus BSL-2 and BSL-3 capable labs, offices, storage, and loading/receiving areas. The project includes displacement and relocation of multiple offices, warehouse operations, and maintenance facilities within the complex. Construction is subject to future legislative appropriation.

The construction manager will be compensated through a fixed fee for preconstruction services (design review, value engineering, market and constructability analysis, preliminary schedules, progressive cost estimates) culminating in a Guaranteed Maximum Price amendment, then through management of construction to completion. The CM must provide staff, oversight, 100% performance and labor/material payment bonds, quality controls, permitting, and competitive trade contracting under Florida Administrative Code Rule 60D-5. All workers must meet Florida Department of Law Enforcement Level 1 background check requirements.

Evaluation criteria, weighted preliminarily, are proposed office distance to site (10 points), financial capacity (5 points), relevant project experience (20 points), preconstruction staff (15 points), construction phase staff (15 points), and project management systems (10 points). Selected firms advance to interviews (combined 75 points) assessing references, preconstruction services, bid marketplace effort, construction mobilization, scheduling, and overall approach. The Department reserves the right to reject any proposals and to negotiate with the next highest-ranked firm if negotiations with the top-ranked firm reach impasse.

Respondents must complete a detailed Contractor Experience Questionnaire providing five years of annual construction gross revenue, current bonding capacity, years in business, full-time personnel counts, personnel qualifications, ten most recently completed contracts with original and final prices and schedules, project failures or litigation within five fiscal years, and current projects under construction. Questions are due October 12, 2026, with anticipated written responses October 15. Interviews are anticipated for December 1–3, 2026, in Tallahassee, with the short list published November 17.