Relating to the definition of public improvement for public construction bidding purposes

This bill relates to the definition of “public improvement” for purposes of the Iowa construction bidding procedures Act.2 contains several exclusions from the definition of “public improvement”.2, subsection 3, paragraph “b”, subparagraph (5), related to the construction or repair or maintenance work performed for a city utility by its employees or performed for a rural water district under Code chapter 357A by its employees. The bill modifies this exclusion by providing that such construction or repair or maintenance work is not a public improvement if it is performed by the city utility’s employees, it involves existing utility infrastructure, or it involves establishing connections to existing utility infrastructure. The bill defines “utility infrastructure” to include facilities used for the storage, collection, disposal, treatment, generation, transmission, or distribution of water, sewage, waste, electricity, gas, or telecommunications service. The bill retains the exclusion relating to work performed for a rural water district by its employees.