University of Iowa decides to pay more to contractors

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — University of Iowa officials have decided to pay contractors millions the contractors said they were still owed for work on the Hancher Auditorium and the university’s Stead Family Children’s Hospital.

The officials will ask the Iowa Board of Regents at its next meeting to raise the project budget in order to pay Merit Construction $9 million and Modern Piping nearly $18 million.

Modern Piping had sued, saying it incurred substantial expenses because of miscommunication, budget overruns and design changes. The university had appealed an arbitrator’s decision favoring Modern Piping and then appealed a district court ruling that said the university had to go through arbitration to resolve its dispute with Modern Piping.

On Wednesday the Iowa Court of Appeals upheld the district court ruling.