Fire stations, public works yards, police evidence storage, city maintenance barns and water plant buildings are the quiet end of public construction. Nobody cuts a ribbon for a salt shed, yet cities and counties spend real money on these, and many are essentially warehouses with a bay door on each side.
That is where we fit. A fire station apparatus bay is a tall, wide-span room with heavy doors and a slab that takes a loaded engine. A public works building stores trucks, pipe, salt and signs. A records or evidence building is a secure, climate-controlled storage box. We know how to pour, frame and enclose those, and we are comfortable with sealed-bid work and its paperwork.
We do not build city halls with council chambers and historic restoration, or jails and courthouses with detention hardware. For the buildings that look like storage and equipment space, we are well matched.
What a sealed-bid public job asks of us
On Oklahoma public construction over $100,000, the Public Competitive Bidding Act requires bid security of five percent of the bid, in the form of a certified check, cashier's check, bid bond or irrevocable letter of credit. The agency may keep that security if the winning bidder fails to execute the contract or provide the required bonds and insurance. Construction management trade contracts and subcontracts over $50,000 are covered as well, so a trade partner on a bid team feels the same rules.
Accessibility is separate. State law at 61 O.S. section 11 requires plans for buildings erected by the state, its agencies or political subdivisions, or funded with public money, to provide facilities for people with disabilities following the State Fire Marshal's codes, with elevators where the authority finds them feasible and reasonable. Existing buildings from before May 1973 come under the rule when additions reach 25% of floor area. We read both sections against the drawings during bid review.
Local governments that are actively building
Bixby's new fire station headquarters near Highway 67 and Sheridan, reported in 2023, was planned at nearly 30,000 square feet and 14 firefighters, up from five at the old station. That is a good illustration of how a growing suburb outgrows a station. The same pressure appears in Bixby and similar Tulsa suburbs, where public safety buildings keep moving out to where houses are being built.
Water and wastewater are bigger line items. The Oklahoma Water Resources Board cites a $24 billion water infrastructure need and lists loans such as $4,250,000 to the Shawnee Municipal Authority for wastewater infrastructure. In Shawnee, the city and the Citizen Potawatomi Nation signed an agreement pooling resources for public facilities, fire and police protection and economic development. Sharing like that changes who sits at the owner's table, and we plan for two or three decision makers rather than one.
Apparatus bays, yards and the building behind them
Heavy vehicles drive the structure. An engine or ladder truck weighs more than a loaded tractor-trailer, and bay doors are tall and wide enough to bring one in without a mirror scrape. We design the slab for the vehicle weight, slope it for washdown, and put trench drains and exhaust capture where the engineer shows them. The door manufacturer's lead time is long, so we order early.
The yard around a public works building is a truck court by another name. Fleet parking, a wash rack, fuel islands, material bins and a salt storage building need to be laid out so trucks can enter loaded and leave without crossing each other. Our site utilities package work gets the sewer, water and electrical stubs in before the pavement goes down.
The neighbors of a municipal building
Public owners tend to build in clusters. A new fire station may share a parcel with a school or a clinic, and a police annex may sit next to a library. Our hospital support experience covers the emergency power and communications needs these essential facilities share, particularly backup generators with fuel storage and communications towers.
Materials matter more for a public owner than for most. Block, structural steel, roof systems and overhead doors come through building products distributors, and public specs often name approved products or equals. We submit substitutions through the architect before bid day, not after the award.
Working next to an operating public building
Most city projects are additions or replacements next to a working building, and the public keeps using the old one. We fence the site, keep fire lanes open and put the fire department's response route on the first page of the safety plan. Utility outages at a station or a water plant are scheduled with the operator, who often gives only a narrow window.
Code editions need confirming, too. The City of Sapulpa's building inspector notice lists the International Building Code and the National Electrical Code as the minimum codes there, and the state sets its own minimum editions. A city's adoption date can lag the state's. We ask the building department which edition governs before the first drawing is finalized.
Send the bid documents or the budget line
If you are budgeting a station, a yard or a utility building, send the program and the bid timeline. We will give you a candid view on constructability and cost before the drawings are final.
Common Questions
Do you bid public work in Oklahoma?
Yes, within the limits of the Public Competitive Bidding Act. We provide bid security, bonds and insurance as the documents require. Questions go through the addenda process during the bid period, so every bidder hears the same answer. Sealed bid means the number is the number.
What is bid security and how much is it?
Bid security is a guarantee that the winning bidder will sign the contract. For public construction contracts over $100,000 in Oklahoma, it is five percent of the bid in the form of a check, bond or letter of credit. The agency can keep it if the bidder fails to sign or to provide required bonds and insurance.
Can you build a fire station?
We build the building and the site: the apparatus bay, the support wing, the slab and the pavement. Station alerting, exhaust capture and radio systems come from specialty vendors named in the plans. We coordinate them.
How do you handle accessibility rules on public buildings?
We build to the State Fire Marshal's accessibility codes as adopted, along with the plans and specs the architect issues. Elevators and other accommodations are checked against the contracting authority's determinations. Any change goes through the architect.
Will you help with budgeting before the design is complete?
Where the owner's procurement rules allow it, yes. We can provide unit pricing and constructability notes to the architect. Once the project is advertised, the sealed bid process takes over.