Two school exterior jobs, one on Staten Island and one in Queens, drew 41 bids between them. That's the SCA envelope market right now: you don't bid these alone.

Start in Great Kills. NYC School Construction Authority solicitation 26-22821D covers windows, exterior masonry, parapets and roofs at I.S. 24 Myra S. Barnes, 750 Durant Avenue. Bids opened at 1:16 p.m. on Thursday, May 7. Twenty-one came in. Adam's European Contracting Inc. was low at $16,799,000. IMPERIUM CONSTRUCTION, INC. was second at $18,431,000 and KEL-TECH CONSTRUCTION, INC. third at $18,600,000. The high bid was National Environmental Safety Company, Inc. at $25,966,000. The gap from first to second is $1,632,000, or 9.7%. The spread top to bottom is 54.6%, and the median of the field was $20,727,804. Board listing: RFI-000508.

Now Queens. Solicitation 26-22900D is exterior masonry, windows, supporting structural elements, roofs and parapets at Richmond Hill High School, 89-30 114th Street. It opened at 12:23 p.m. on Wednesday, June 3, with 20 bidders. J & N Construction Group Corp. led at $15,996,000. Nehal Contracting, Inc. was second at $16,826,000, Army Construction, LLC third at $17,057,000 and Faith Construction Inc. fourth at $17,222,000. Neelam Construction Corp. was high at $27,779,000. First to second: $830,000, or 5.2%. The spread is 73.7%, the widest of the spring's SCA exterior tabs so far, and the median was $19,603,500. Board listing: RFI-000427.

"Supporting structural elements" on the Richmond Hill scope is worth a second look. That's the SCA's term for reinforcing the structure behind the facade, and it's its own budget line. The authority's February 2025 capital plan amendment carried $25.0 million for reinforcing support elements; the City Council's review of the February 2026 amendment shows $28.9 million. Small money next to $2.75 billion for exteriors, but it tells you somebody opened up a wall and found more than bad brick.

Neither tab came with a published engineer's estimate. Apparent low is not an award on either job.

Why this matters. Twenty-plus bidders on a $16 million to $17 million exterior package means the SCA's prequalified GC pool is deep and hungry. If you're a mason, roofer or window installer, that's good news: every one of those 41 bids needed sub numbers, and the firms that won't win this one are bidding the next one.

What to do next. Subs and suppliers: take your pricing to Adam's European Contracting Inc. on I.S. 24 and J & N Construction Group Corp. on Richmond Hill, and keep the second bidders warm until the SCA posts award. Plumbing, HVAC and electrical subs should know these jobs name those three trades at award under the Wicks Law, so the window to get on the low bidder's list is before that.

Update, Sept. 28, 2026: The SCA's bid tabulations now mark both apparent lows as awarded: Adam's European Contracting Inc. on 26-22821D and J & N Construction Group Corp. on 26-22900D. The named Wicks subcontractors are Triumph Plumbing & Heating Corp, Thermo Tech Mechanical Inc. and KLK Electric, Inc. on I.S. 24, and Forsythe Plumbing & Heating Corporation, EON Mechanical Inc. and Core Electric MEP Industries, LLC on Richmond Hill High School.