Evidence emerges that Modern Piping provided “as-built” documents despite UI claims
Lang
4/20/19
Research from The Cedar Rapids Gazette shows Modern Piping provided maps and construction documents detailing its work on the Stead Family Children’s Hospital despite the Iowa Board of Regents claiming otherwise.
University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld claimed ahead of last Thursday’s Board of Regents meeting that Modern Piping asked for another $500,000 to $2 million to hand over “as-builts”, which are documents detailing what pipes they put in the children’s hospital as well as other construction plans.
Harreld added that the documents are important for the hospital so that the university knows which pipes are carrying potentially dangerous gases, and claimed that patients are at risk without that information.
Modern Piping refuted the UI’s claims, saying they already provided the documents two years ago. Now documents obtained by The Gazette show Gilbane Building Company…a Chicago firm hired to manage construction of the Children’s Hospital…reviewed and signed off on 136 pages of documents labeled “as-builts” in September 2017. The documents show Gilbane again confirmed reviewing the documents in January 2018.
More documents show the children’s hospital project’s design professional, Heery International, also signed off on “as-builts” with “no exceptions taken” on June 6th, 2018.
And an Oct. 25th, 2017, email from Modern Piping to Gilbane states the firm had provided all of the as-built drawings.
Despite the new evidence, UI officials still claim they never received the “as-builts”.
Modern Piping says it will provide them again as long as the university admits it had them all along and retracts its extortion claim…even if the UI has not yet paid its bill in full.
UI officials agreed to pay the remaining $18 million it owes the contractor after the Iowa Court of Appeals upheld a ruling earlier this month. The Regents also agreed to pay Merit Construction a settlement of $9.4 million.