Project snapshot
- Client / General Contractor: Willis A. Smith Construction, Inc.
- Project: The Classical Academy, Sarasota campus, 8000 Bee Ridge Rd, Sarasota, FL 34241
- Our role: Plumbing subcontractor, covering the complete plumbing system per CSI Division 22
- Scope: Underground/underslab sanitary and water, rough-in and top-out, fixtures and trim, electric water heaters with hot-water recirculation, grease interceptor, condensate drainage, testing and closeout
- Buildings: Classroom Buildings 01, 03 and 05, Administration Building 02, and Gymnasium Building 06
- Timeline: Awarded December 2025. Work started February 2026. Building 05 reached closeout in August 2026, and the remaining buildings are scheduled into 2027.
The Challenge
The Classical Academy is a multi-building campus being built next to existing, occupied school buildings. The work required:
- A phased schedule. Each building has its own sequence of underslab plumbing, rough-in and trim, so our crews mobilize again and again across the campus as the general contractor's schedule moves from building to building.
- School-site security. Under the Jessica Lunsford Act, every worker on site must pass a background check and carry an individual badge.
- Tight coordination with other trades. Floor drains had to be set and pipes wrapped the day before slab pours. Roof vents had to be installed and tied off early so the roof could be sealed before the second rough-in.
- Low water pressure at Classroom 05. The building needed a pressure-boosting solution to deliver reliable water service.
Our Solution, Stage by Stage
1. Underground
We installed the underslab sanitary and water systems for each building: PVC DWV underground (Charlotte Pipe cellular-core), and Type K copper for the underground water service. Every run was stubbed up through the foundation, inspected, then backfilled and compacted for density testing.
Gymnasium underground: sanitary and water lines stubbed up through the stem wall, ready for inspection before the slab.
2. Rough-in and Top-out
Inside the steel-stud walls, our crews installed CPVC domestic water and PVC drain, waste and vent piping. Fixture carriers, strapping and supports hold everything in place, and the hot water lines are insulated.
Administration building: wall-hung fixture carrier, braced supply stubs, insulated hot water, and a DWV connection.
A full restroom wall of fixture carriers, aligned and supported with the drain tie-in below.
Classroom Building 03: vertical risers plumb and strapped through the chase.
Classroom Building 03: water service riser with an isolation valve, next to the vent stacks.
3. Trim and Equipment
We set fixtures to the architectural finish schedule (Kohler, Sloan and Elkay products) and installed the electric water heaters, hot-water recirculation and thermal expansion equipment.
Classroom Building 05 mechanical room: hot-water recirculation pump and thermal expansion tank, with valved connections.
Classroom Building 05: wall-hung urinals set level on finished tile.
A clean lavatory trim-out: P-trap, trap arm and supply stops.
Project Highlights
- Booster pump at Classroom 05: a Grundfos CMBE variable-speed booster pump, added by change order to solve low water pressure.
- 1,000-gallon precast grease interceptor for the gymnasium, with grade risers and a sample well.
- 20 Woodford Model 84 wall hydrants across the campus.
- Hot-water recirculation in every building, including recirculation pumps CP-1 and CP-2 at the gym.
- HVAC condensate routed to drywells.
- Built to the 2023 Florida Building Code – Plumbing, with submittals reviewed by the project architect and engineer.
Results
- Classroom Building 05: complete through trim. The Operation & Maintenance manual was delivered in August 2026.
- Gymnasium and Classroom Building 03: progressing through rough-in and trim.
- Administration Building 02 and Classroom Building 01: scheduled through early 2027.
- Commissioning: before turnover, every building gets backflow testing, chlorination, owner training on the commercial water heaters, and as-built drawings.
The project is ongoing, and we'll update this case study as more buildings are completed.
Planning a commercial project?
DCH Plumbing partners with general contractors on schools, offices and multi-building commercial projects across Southwest Florida. Call +1 239-357-8107.
