MANCHESTER - The new Manchester Essex Regional Middle and High School recently took its first step toward construction of a new building by opening subcontractor bids.

The second step in the process, opening major contractors to bid on the $46 million project, will have to wait a few days.

The deadline for major contractors to turn in bids for the project has been extended from Wednesday, April 25, to Monday, April 30, according to project manager Jay Stanbury of Design Technique Inc.

Officials said the extension won't cause the project to be delayed.

"The extra time will give contractors additional a time to get their bids in," Stanbury said.

Stanbury said the move to extend the deadline was to give those bidders who were affected by last week's nor'easter time to regroup. The storm caused flooding in several parts of the state.

Officials said they don't think the will to cause major delays in the start of construction, which could begin as soon as July and wrap up in the summer of 2009.

The new school will be built behind the high school. It will include separate wings for the high school and middle school. The high school will be torn down with the completion of the new school.

"I don't anticipate any impact from the delay," said Sarah Creighton, chairwoman of the School Building Committee.

She added that in addition to opening bids Monday afternoon, the process of awarding the bid will be discussed with School Committee members that night during a joint committee meeting.

If at least two companies bid for the project, the work could be awarded to the lowest bidder.

The extension could help the bidding process, Stanbury said.

"We want to get the most competition (among bidders)," he said. "I think this is in the best interest of the public."

Two weeks ago, about 40 bids were received for a series of areas - electrical, heating system, plumbing, flooring and fire protection - that will be handled by subcontractors. Those bids will be used in conjunction with the selection of a main contractor.

The process of opening bids for subcontractor work is required by state law, Stanbury said.

When the main contractor of the school is chosen, a combination of low bids from subcontractors will be chosen.

Those contractors that were prequalified for the bidding process are Brait Builders of Marshfield, J&J Contractors of Lowell, PJ Stella of Wakefield and TLT Construction of Wakefield, which in January 2004 was found negligent by a Middlesex Superior Court jury of exposing Gloucester High School students and staff to airborne toxins. A settlement of $1.3 million was awarded to the plaintiffs from Gloucester in that TLT case.

TLT Construction has also had other cases that resulted in litigation alleging shoddy and unfinished work in Salem as well as other communities around the state.