The state Office of General Services opened bids Dec. 3 on project 46218, a new imaging bay in Building 35 at the Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, 140 Old Orangeburg Road in Orangeburg, Rockland County. OGS bid it as four separate prime contracts: general construction, electrical, HVAC and plumbing. The four apparent lows add up to $14,150,792.

General construction (46218-C) drew 10 bids. Unimak LLC is the apparent low at $9,677,000, then Andron Construction Corp. at $10,686,000, $1,009,000 or 10.4% higher, and Niram, Inc. at $11,391,400. The rest: Iron Sword Enterprises, $11,621,000; Butler Construction Group, $11,806,800; Niko Development Corp., $13,645,600; Koko Contracting, $13,846,804; A.B.C.D. Construction Corp., $16,498,000; P & K Contracting, $16,892,400; and Neelam Construction Corp., the high at $17,582,400. That is an 81.7% spread with a median of $12,726,200. The tab flags Butler's bid with the note "No certification-SFL 139-m."

Electrical (46218-E) drew three bids: Fanshawe, Inc. d/b/a Rockland Electric at $1,978,124, Javelin Electric at $2,198,081 and Hertz Electric at $2,342,524. The tab flags the Fanshawe bid "IBS - Incomplete Form, No Financial Statement of Surety." HVAC (46218-H) drew five: Ur Builders at $1,499,500, Tribeca Air Conditioning at $1,524,191, Planet Mechanical at $1,836,027, ACS System Associates at $1,958,227 and S & O Construction Services at $2,031,762. The top two sit $24,691 apart, 1.6%. OGS marks Planet Mechanical's bid "BID DISQUALIFIED - No Bid Security," and notes Tribeca did not acknowledge an addendum on its bid form, which the tab classes as an informality.

Plumbing (46218-P) drew four bids and the widest spread of the lot: S & O Construction Services at $996,168, Vital Plumbing at $1,533,333, Skountzos Plumbing & Heating at $1,665,000 and Eagle 1 Mechanical at $3,492,000. S & O's low is $537,165 under the next bid, and the high is 250.5% over it. S & O was also in the HVAC field, where its number was the highest.

NKI is an Office of Mental Health research facility, founded in 1952, and lists neuroimaging among its landmark research areas; brain imaging across the lifespan is one of its major fields of study. OGS's utilization plans for all four contracts carry 15% MBE and 15% WBE goals.

Why this matters. Four primes means four ways in. The electrical and plumbing fields were thin, three and four bidders, and the HVAC race was decided by less than 2%. Imaging suites are specialty work: shielding, dedicated power, tight environmental controls. Trade contractors who can do that work had room here that the crowded general-construction field did not offer.

What to do next. Apparent lows are not awards, and three of the four trade tabs carry flags OGS will have to sort out first. Drywall, shielding, doors, ceilings and finishes subs should price to Unimak and Andron; electrical and mechanical suppliers should call every prime still standing. Track it on our board: RFI-000868.

Update, Sept. 28, 2026: OGS's tab now marks the Unimak and Fanshawe bids withdrawn. OGS lists all four contracts as awarded March 16, 2026, and its utilization plans name Andron Construction ($10,686,000, general construction), Javelin Electric ($2,198,081, electrical), Ur Builders ($1,499,500, HVAC) and S & O Construction Services ($996,168, plumbing), $15,379,749 in all.