Friendswood ISD’s board of trustees approved two requests for qualifications, or RFQ, for construction managers at risk, or CMAR, at its Dec. 8 meeting.

The district is looking to solicit a CMAR to construct foundation projects throughout the district, according to board agenda documents.

What you need to know

A CMAR allows FISD to connect with the district’s architect and get a contractor to begin working on construction projects right away, said Nolan Correa, FISD’s executive director of facilities and capital projects.

Two RFQs for a CMAR were approved for the following projects:

• Foundation projects at Friendswood High School and FISD's administration building
• Multi-campus heating, ventilation and air conditioning and electrical

While the scope within the foundation projects has not been relayed, FISD Superintendent Thad Roher said these projects will spend the remaining 2020 bond funds that were listed under “priority maintenance projects.”

According to district documents, the district has a remaining balance of about $2.4 million for “district-wide priority maintenance” projects.

Quote of note

Correa said the move to approve CMARs is the right one for contractors.

“Anytime you're going into a building where you have to open it up, you can't see behind the walls. You don't know what to expect when you get there,” he said at the meeting. “We believe this is the better way to deliver this method, so that we know the pricing going into the project, and it just helps us speed up the project.”

Stay tuned

Now that the RFQs have been approved, FISD’s architect will immediately start working with the purchasing department to set up timelines for the projects, Correa said at the meeting.