Onward and Upward

Open Letter to Iowa House Commerce Commitee February 18, 2012

The following letter was sent to the Iowa House of Representatives Commerce Committee in opposition to HB 2035.

Representative Sodeberg and sub-committee members:

Please know that I, as a registered Iowa contractor and an Iowa State Fire Marshal certified contractor for fire alarm, fire suppression, security and nurse call systems,  am opposed to HF 2035 requiring contractors such as myself to post a surety bond.

Requiring a surety bond is unnecessary and, frankly, another attempt for government to interfere with private agreements between contractors and owners.  In fact, many owners both public and private already require surety bonds to be posted as a part of the contract.

Iowa State Fire Marshal certified contractors must currently submit an acceptable certificate of insurance along with other industry related credentials to qualify for a contractor’s certification.  The surety bond provides absolutely no additional benefit to the citizens of Iowa that the contractor is more qualified and capable of performing his or her work.

Such a requirement further penalizes the fire systems contractor by requiring yet another expense to be met with no benefit to either the contractor or the public.

I have served the citizens of Iowa as an industry representative to the Iowa State Fire Marshal’s Fire System Contractors Advisory Board for six years now.  I am very familiar with the current regulations imposed by law on such contractors as I have been part of the process from the beginning.   This surety bond requirement is unnecessary and bad public policy.

I encourage you to not allow this bill to come before your full committee for a vote.

Sub-committee members and their respective e-mail addresses are:

Representative Chuck Soderberg (committee chair): chuck.soderberg@legis.state.ia.us
Representative Jeff Smith: Jeff.Smith@legis.state.ia.us
Representative Chip Baltimore: Chip.Baltimore@legis.state.ia.us
Representative Brian Quirk: brian.quirk@legis.state.ia.us