Jodie McDougal, a shareholder at the Davis Brown Law Firm in Des Moines and chairperson of the firm’s construction department, has compiled a list of bills to watch in the 2021 Iowa legislative session that are of interest to those in the construction industry.

The bills include:

SSB1006: According to McDougal, the bill would amend the Iowa Code by eliminating the current practice of attorneys posting duplicative mechanic’s liens in each applicable county. The bill would also allow recovery of attorney fees by prevailing contractors in all mechanic’s lien actions, including where liens are discharged by bond, according to McDougal.

SSB1018: The bill would allow most government entities to use the alternative project delivery contract method of construction manager-at-risk without the normal competitive bidding process, a substantial change for public projects, according to McDougal. A similar bill passed the Iowa Senate last year but failed within the Iowa House.

SF69: The bill would require contractors and subcontractors on public projects to provide certain additional information.

HF194: The bill would require state agencies to consider using a project labor agreement for projects that cost $25 million or more.