Rule 1.1805.General provisions, comments and footnotes

Rule 1.1805 is a set of interpretive housekeeping provisions that apply across the entire body of Iowa's civil rules. The first makes sure a rule's wording is not read too literally: past, present, and future tense each include the others, masculine, feminine, and neuter gender each include the others, and singular and plural number each include the other. A rule written in the present tense, or referring to “he” or “she,” or using a singular noun, is not limited to that specific tense, gender, or number.

The second provision addresses headings — the short titles given to rules and subrules throughout the chapter, the same titles you see in the table of contents. Rule 1.1805 makes clear that those headings do not affect the scope, meaning, or intent of the rule's actual text. A heading is a navigational aid, not a substantive part of the rule.

The third provision covers sources, comments, and footnotes that accompany the rules — material like the amendment history or explanatory comments the Iowa Supreme Court has attached to certain rules. Rule 1.1805 states that this material is incorporated solely for convenience and does not form part of the rules themselves. That distinction matters when interpreting a rule: the operative text is the rule's body, not the surrounding annotations, even when those annotations offer helpful context.