Foothills Higher Education Center HVAC Replacement

BRITTAIN ENGINEERING, INC.
P.O BOX 939 828-328-1813
HICKORY, NC 28603 FAX 828-328-1814

INSTRUCTIONS TO BIDDERS
May 13, 2026
Burke County Foothills Higher Education Center
2128 S. Sterling St.
Morganton, NC 28655
Re: Foothills Higher Education Center HVAC Replacement
To: Bidding Contractors
Please find attached design drawings for the replacement of (3) three VRF system consisting of
(33) indoor air handlers, (3) outdoor heat pumps along with (4) indoor branch controllers. All new
equipment to tie into newly replaced Mitsubishi controller. Existing refrigerant piping to be reused.
Sealed Bids will be accepted until Monday, June 1, 2026 by 12:00 PM. Bids can be delivered or
mailed to:
USPS: Delivery/FedEx/UPS/Courier:
Burke County Finance Office Burke County Finance Office
Attn: Brain Nieft Attn: Brian Nieft
PO Box 219 200 Avery Avenue
Morganton, NC 28680 Morganton, NC 28655
Bids will be opened at this time and presented to the Owner for review at Avery Building, 1st Floor
Conference Room. After Owner review, the winning bidder will then be notified, and a Pre-
Construction meeting will be scheduled to coordinate all work with the Owner's schedule.
A mandatory Pre-bid meeting will be held onsite to survey the Mechanical Room Thursday, May
21, 2026 at 10 AM.
We appreciate your interest in this project and please call or contact us with any questions.
Thanks,
Rodney Brittain, PE
Brittain Engineering, Inc.
rbrittain@brittainengineering.com
CONSULTING MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS

BURKE COUNTY
FOOTHILLS HIGHER EDUCATION CENTER
VRF HVAC REPLACEMENT
GENERAL CONDITIONS
ARTICLE 1 - CERTIFICATE OF CONTRACTOR'S BOND AND INSURANCE COVERAGE
1.1 The Contractor shall provide to the Engineer, immediately upon notice of award of
Contract, three (3) copies of insurance coverage certification issued by Surety and/or
Bonding Underwriters, legally licensed to issue such bond and/or as Underwriters of
Liability and Property Damage Insurance in the State of North Carolina.
1.2 Minimum coverage shall be:
a. Workmen's Compensation Insurance and Employee's Liability Insurance
covering all employees of the Contractor as required by the Laws of the
State of North Carolina. The Contractor shall be responsible to see that all
Subcontractors used by him on the project have like Workmen's
Compensation Insurance or extend his coverage to all workmen on the
project under this contract.
b. Contractor's Property Damage and Public Liability Insurance in the
amount of:
General Liability Automobile Liability
Bodily Injury: Bodily Injury:
Each Person: $1,000,000 Each Person $1,000,000
Each Accident: $1,000,000 Each Accident $1,000,000
Property Damage: Property Damage:
Each Accident: $1,000,000 Each Accident: $1,000,000
1.3 All the above insurance shall be maintained by the Contractor for the duration of
construction and shall not be discontinued until the Owner accepts the work
covered by this contract and extends his insurance to this installation. Each
coverage certificate shall contain a provision that coverage will not be terminated
without thirty (30) days prior written notice to the owner. Such notice shall be
delivered by certified United States Postal Service
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Copies of Certificates will not be accepted and must come from the Insurer (Fax
copy from Insurer will be accepted in emergency situations).
ARTICLE 2 -PERMITS, CODES AND INSPECTIONS
2.1 The Contractor shall, unless otherwise specifically stated give all notices, make
arrangements for, obtain and pay for all permits necessary for the execution of work
under this contract.
2.2 Local, State and National Code requirements shall govern when plans and
specifications are in conflict with or require less than applicable codes. However,
plans and specifications shall govern when their requirements meet and exceed the
code requirements.
2.3 The Contractor shall not knowingly install any work in violation of codes, laws
and/or ordinances even though as shown on the contract drawings without first
requesting clarification and specific written instructions to proceed. The Contractor
shall notify the Engineer prior to executing the work if there is any question
regarding code compliance or shall remove and replace, at no cost to the Owner,
any work which the Contractor has knowingly installed in violation of applicable
codes and good practice relative to his trade.
ARTICLE 3 - DRAWINGS AND SPECIFICATIONS
3.1 The Contractor is cautioned to read the entire project specifications and the entire
set of project working drawings to assure that no reference to work by the
Contractor is overlooked and to assure an understanding of the division of work
between the various trades and/or contracts.
3.2 The submission of a bona fide bid will be considered as evidence that the
Contractor has inspected the job site and understands the conditions under which
the work of this contract must be fulfilled. No extra will be allowed for any condition
at the site encountered during execution of this contract which could have been
determined by a thorough on-site inspection prior to submittal of the bid.
3.3 Where equipment, materials, articles or any particular standard is referred to in the
specifications, the Engineer shall decide the question of quality and/or acceptability
of alternate "equal" offered based upon the requirements of this contract and
performance capacities and other pertinent information supplied to him by the
Contractor.
3.4 Working drawings and specifications are not complete without engineering
consultation. Certain field adjustments and corrections of conflicts are to be
expected. The Engineer recognizes this fact and makes his services available to
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the Contractor on this project at all times to answer questions of interpretation or
intent and to make any and all decisions wherever problems of any nature arise
during course of construction.
3.5 The Contractor is to furnish and install all materials called for in these specifications
and accompanying drawings, or both. All items of material, labor or equipment not
specifically mentioned by the drawings or specifications, but necessary to complete
the work which is obviously intended under this contract shall be furnished as if
specified.
3.6 The plans are diagrammatic in nature and it may occur that certain dimensions or
locations of equipment or materials require certain changes in the drawings and
specifications. In the event that such changes are necessary, they shall be made
by the Contractor without expense to the Owner, provided that such changes do
not require furnishing more materials or performing more labor than the true intent
of the drawings and specifications demand.
3.7 Electronic Copies of all plans and specifications will be provided to the bidding
contractor by the Engineer. If the contractor wants hard copies of plans, they can
be obtained from Accent Imaging, Inc. located at 725 11th Ave. Blvd. SE, Hickory,
NC 28602. Their phone number is 828-322-5050. The contractor shall pay the
cost of printing the hard copies.
ARTICLE 4 - SUBMITTALS
4.1 These specifications and drawings are intended to indicate a standard of quality for
materials and equipment which is established by the listing of manufacturers'
names and catalog numbers and/or by referenced standards. Materials and
equipment that do not comply with these standards of quality will not be considered
for substitution.
4.2 As soon as practicable and within thirty (30) days after the award of the contract
and before beginning the fabrication of any material or the installation of any
equipment, data shall be submitted for approval on equipment and materials where
noted. Materials (pipe, fittings, etc.) may be listed with the name of the
manufacturer and identifying catalogue numbers. Data for equipment shall include
manufacturer's name, catalogue data, diagrams, drawings and other descriptive
data as required or requested by the Architect for evaluation.
4.3 Notwithstanding any reference in the specifications to any article, device, product,
material, fixture, form or type of construction by name, make or catalogue number,
such references shall be interpreted as establishing a standard of quality and shall
not be construed as limiting competition; and the Contractor, in such cases, may at
his option use any article, device, product material, fixture, form or type of
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construction which in the judgment of the Engineer expressed in writing, is equal to
that specified.
4.4 All data shall be carefully examined and shall be forwarded for approval with a
signed certification to the effect that the data has been carefully checked and found
to be correct with respect to dimensions and available space and that the
equipment complies with all requirements of the specifications.
4.5 It is understood that proof of equality is the responsibility of the Contractor and/or
supplier and that it is not the responsibility of the Engineer to prove the inequality of
the proposed substitutions. Furthermore the decisions of the Engineer is final.
4.6 While it is not the intention of the Engineer to discriminate against any manufacturer
of equipment which is equal to specified equipment, a strict interpretation of such
equality will be exercised by the Engineer in considering any equipment offered as
a substitute for equipment named in the specification It shall be the responsibility of
the Contractor to submit with each request for approval of substitute material or
equipment, sufficient data to show conclusively that it is equal to the material or
equipment specified.
4.7 Each Contractor shall submit shop drawings and/or diagrams for approval and for
job coordination in all cases where significant deviations from the contract drawings
are contemplated because of job conditions, interferences, or substitutions of
equipment, or when requested by the Engineer for purposes of clarification of the
Contractor's intent. He shall also submit detailed shop drawings, rough-in sheets,
etc., for all special or custom built items of equipment.
4.8 Submittal of shop drawings shall be made electronically with submission to
Engineer and owner.
4.9 Should any substitute items be submitted and disapproved, then those items must
be furnished exactly as described herein.
ARTICLE 5 - CONSTRUCTION UTILITIES AND SERVICES
5.1 Electrical Power: The Contractor shall be allowed to use power from the existing
building power at no expense. .
5.2 Water: The Contractor shall be allowed to use water from the existing building
water if required.
5.3 Sanitary Facilities: The Contractor may arrange, if agreeable with and as
designated by the Owner, to use the Owner's existing toilet facilities.
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ARTICLE 6 - OWNER'S CONTINUED USE OF EXISTING FACILITIES
6.1 The work shall be carried on in a manner which will cause as little inconvenience as
possible to the Owner in his normal use of the property and existing facilities.
6.2 The Contractor shall provide and maintain adequate protection coverings over work
which might be injured during construction. The Contractor shall be held
responsible for all injury or damage to and any such work which may result from his
neglecting to provide protection regardless of the cause of damage.
6.3 The Contractor shall instruct his workmen that access to parts of the existing
buildings other than those in which the Contractor's work is involved and parts that
he has been specifically authorized to use, is strictly prohibited.
ARTICLE 7 - ACCESS TO THE BUILDING
7.1 Before any work begins, each employee must have a Contractor's Badge to access
the building.
ARTICLE 8 - CUTTING AND PATCHING
8.1 The contractor shall be responsible for trenching, cutting and patching existing
pavement, cutting and patching existing structures and removal and replacement of
existing "built-in" furniture, cabinets and the like.
8.2 No structural member shall be cut or altered without prior written approval.
Cutting of pavement and building materials shall be straight and true (or round)
parallel to the main building lines. Cuts shall be made at natural joints or so as to
look like a natural joint when finished.
5.3 Patching shall be done by craftsmen skilled in the craft required. Materials shall be
the same as that being patched or as nearly so as is available today. Patchwork
shall be of the same quality and detail as the original work, such as: paving, base
gravel, thermal insulation, caulking, reinforcing rod, flashing, painting, glazing, grass
and the like.
5.4 Excavations shall be backfilled to twelve inches (12") above piping with clean soil
free of stones, broken concrete, bricks or other hard, sharp objects. The remaining
fill shall be placed in twelve inch (12") layers with each layer being thoroughly
tamped. The top surface shall be hand raked and fine graded to match the
surrounding areas. Previously grassed areas, disturbed by the execution of this
contract, shall be fertilized and seeded to establish a dense uniform stand of grass.
Areas where grass does not develop shall be reseeded.
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ARTICLE 9 - MAINTAIN- WORK AREA AND SITE CLEAN
9.1 Furniture, books, Owner's equipment and floors of building interior area shall be
covered with "drop" cloths or sheet polyethylene whenever drilling, cutting or
knocking of hole in existing construction is in progress.
9.2 All construction activities debris and waste materials shall be removed from the job
site at least once a week and the site left clear of all materials except tools and new
materials and equipment to be built into the project or used in completion of the
contract work. Materials and equipment shall be stored in a neat orderly manner.
Areas within the building shall be cleaned daily.
ARTICLE 10 - FINAL CLEAN-UP
10.1 The Owner reserves the right, should the Contractor fail to clean the site and areas
of execution of this contract to the satisfaction of the Owner within a reasonable
length of time after completion of the contract work (seven (7) calendar days), to
hire a third party to do such final clean up as is required and deduct from the
contract amount the actual cost to the Owner for this cleanup.
ARTICLE 11 - MAINTENANCE AND GUARANTEE PERIOD
11.1 The Installing Contractor shall guarantee all material and equipment provided under
this contract and all workmanship in connection with the execution of this contract
including the activation and initial operation of the system for a period of TWELVE
(12)MONTHS from date of final acceptance of work.
11.2 The Contractor shall at no cost to the Owner replace immediately any item or
component of equipment or material and/or correct any faulty workmanship which
becomes evident within this guarantee period.
ARTICLE 12 - OSHA REQUIREMENTS
12.1 The Contractor shall comply with and be responsible to see that all his
Subcontractors engaged in the execution of this contract comply with all applicable
portions of the OSHA regulations.
ARTICLE 13 - BUILDING SECURITY
13.1 The Contractor shall make arrangements with the Owner's Representative at the
beginning of the project to establish a plan to maintain the normal order of building
security during the execution of this contract work. The Contractor shall see that
the Owner's normal building security practices are not violated by an action of the
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Contractor, his Employees or his Subcontractors. The Contractor shall see that all
portions of the building to which he has had access are properly locked or
otherwise secured each time he leaves the work site.
ARTICLE 14 - CLOSE-OUT CERTIFICATES
14.1 The Contractor shall deliver to the Architect/Engineer, prior to or in conjunction with
his requests for final payment, the original and two (2) copies each of:
Inspection Certificates previously herein specified if applicable.
Mechanical Contractor's letter of Guarantee.
Equipment manufacturer's warranties for all equipment as required.
Affidavit of Payment of Debts and Claims (AIA Form G706).
Affidavit of Release of Liens (AIA Form G706A).
Letter certifying that all materials used on this project do not contain asbestos.
ARTICLE 15 - COMPLETION TIME
15.1 The time of completion shall be established by the owner.
15.3 All work is included in the Mechanical Contract.
ARTICLE 16 - DESCRIPTION OF WORK
16.1 All work is included in the Mechanical Contract including all general construction
work, electrical work supports and concrete pads.
The Contractor shall provide all materials and labor required for the
Mechanical and Electrical work for the replacement of (3) three VRF system
consisting of (33) indoor air handlers, (3) outdoor heat pumps along with (4)
indoor branch controllers. All new equipment to tie into newly replaced
Mitsubishi controller. Existing refrigerant piping to be reused.
ARTICLE 17 - HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
17.1 The Owner is not aware of any hazardous materials where HVAC and Electrical
work is to be performed except in the roofing materials. Should any Contractor
working on the project encounter any suspect materials, he shall stop work
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immediately and notify the Engineer and the Owner. The Owner will be responsible
for any survey and abatement. The Contractor shall not disturb any material that
may be suspect.
ARTICLE 18 - MINORITY PARTICIPATION
18.1 Each contractor shall submit the appropriate forms with their proposals.
ARTICLE 19 - CONSTRUCTION SAFETY
19.1 The Contractor assumes all responsibility for the safety of his personnel on the
project during construction. The Contract Documents do not include materials,
procedures, components, etc. required to insure construction safety. This includes
any additional requirements for electrical safety such as arch flash PPE equipment
required and gear required and restraints for roof work as may be required.
19.2 Deleted
19.3 Deleted
19.4 All contractors will require all personnel to abide by Burke County Safety
Precautions.
16.5 Selected contractor must have a safety coordinator/lead person that insure all
contractor, staff and visitors receive appropriate safety orientation and that
records are maintained. Safety coordinator must ensure the safety plan is
implemented, monitored and maintained. This coordinator must have the OSHA
30 training and be full time onsite if 50 or more employees are working onsite.
This also includes any of the Contractor's sub-contractors onsite.
ARTICLE 20 - OPERATING AND MAINTENANCE MANUALS
20.1 The Owner's operating personnel shall be instructed by the Contractor on how to
start and operate each item of equipment. Safety features shall be pointed out,
particularly the possible troubles which might cause the safety controls to operate
and what might be done to remedy the trouble.
20.2 Provide (4) four copies of operating and maintenance manuals. Manuals shall be
bound in large ring, loose-leaf binders. Each item shall have a typewritten index tab
and contain the following:
Mechanical Contractor's name, address, telephone number and emergency
telephone number. (First indexed section).
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Manufacturer's instructions and/or installation manual.
Manufacturer's service manual.
Manufacturer's lubrication chart listing types of lubricant to be used on each item of
equipment and recommended frequency of lubrication.
Electrical diagrams of each equipment "packaged" control system.
Diagrams of automatic temperature control systems, identifying each by name,
location and number showing sequence of operation. Each component of a control
system shall be identified. All diagrams shall be up-to-date, reflecting any on-the-
job changes.
Parts lists and identifying part numbers with prices of each part. The name and
address of the nearest distributor from which parts can be obtained.
ARTICLE 21 - WARRANTY
21.1 This contractor shall warrant all workmanship, material, equipment systems, etc.,
provided by him for a period of one year after substantial completion of the project.
This warranty means that this contractor shall make good to the Owner, at no cost,
any defects that become apparent during the year following substantial completion.
This warranty is in addition to any other guarantees or warranties and is not
intended to limit such other guarantees or warranties. A copy of this warranty and
the manufacturer's warranties shall be included in the Operating and Maintenance
Manuals.
ARTICLE 22 - AS-BUILT DRAWINGS
22.1 Upon completion of this project, the contractor shall provide to the Engineer a set
of As-Built drawings showing any and all changes that were made during the
installation of this project. The contractor shall keep onsite a clean set of
drawings for all contractors to red line with any changes made during the
installation. At the end of the project, these drawings shall be provided to the
Engineer to update the bid documents to "As-Built" drawings.
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