1. UCSB Campus Information & Procedure Manual
Equipment Management 7/03
Equipment Management
A. Equipment
Equipment may either be inventorial (unit cost of $1,500 or greater – see the next
section for additional details) or non-inventorial (unit value of less than $1,500). This
is an important distinction to remember when ordering equipment. All items of
inventorial equipment must be purchased via the Purchase Order process through
the Purchasing Department; items of non-inventorial equipment may be purchased
using a Low Value number, in accordance with the department’s low value limit.
Non-inventorial equipment items do not receive University of California property
numbers or tags and are not tracked by Equipment Management. Departments
should track non-inventorial equipment (especially theft-sensitive or highly portable
items) via an internal database or inventory system.
B. Inventorial Equipment
Inventorial equipment is defined as:
♦ non-expendable
♦ tangible, personal property
♦ which has an acquisition cost of $1500 or more
♦ is freestanding
♦ is complete in itself
♦ does not lose its identity when affixed to or installed in other property and
♦ has a normal life expectancy of one year or more.
Certain items (such as firearms) are considered to be inventorial equipment
regardless of cost. Refer to Business and Finance Bulletin BUS-29, “Management
and Control of University Equipment,” Section A.VII, for more detail.
All purchases of inventorial equipment require the completion of a Purchase
Requisition. Departments may use either the paper form or the campus electronic
purchasing system, Requisition Express (REx). Access to REx may be granted by
the Department Security Administrator upon completion of REx training. REx
training is provided by the Purchasing Department (x 4073) and given upon request
to departments.
Once a Purchase Requisition has been processed for an equipment item,
Purchasing will send a copy of the completed Purchase Order to the department
with the property tag(s) attached. This tag should be permanently affixed to the
equipment at the time it is received. (In the case of inventorial equipment acquired
via an Equipment Inventory Modification Request (EIMR) or via a Gift Form, the
property tag is sent to the department attached to the relevant form.) An engraver is
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2. UCSB Campus Information & Procedure Manual
Equipment Management 7/03
also available at the Equipment Management office for check out by departments for
permanent engraving.
In the event that a property tag is missing from a piece of equipment, a duplicate tag
can be requested from Equipment Management.
Identifying information such as location, user, and model numbers submitted with the
original requisition will be transferred to the Departmental Equipment Registry
EQ920. However, information such as the serial number or the final location (if
changed), is not known until receipt of equipment. Please provide this information to
Equipment Management using CATS (the on-line Capital Assets Tracking System),
or manually via the “Tag Flag.” The “Tag Flag” form is available on the Equipment
Management web site at
http://www.busserv.ucsb.edu/Forms/EquipmentTagFlags.pdf. By providing this
information upon receipt of equipment, the departmental equipment inventory will be
much more accurate and easier to reconcile.
C. Responsibility for Equipment
The head of the custodial department and the principal investigator, when a
research contract or grant is involved, have the primary responsibility for the care,
maintenance, records, physical inventory, control and disposition of materiel,
including inventorial equipment, in their custody.
1. The custodial department should notify Equipment Management of any changes
of location or user of inventorial equipment. This may be done on-line using
CATS (the Capital Assets Tracking System), or manually via the “Tag Flag” form
available on the Equipment Management web site at:
http://www.busserv.ucsb.edu/Forms/EquipmentTagFlags.pdf.
2. If inventorial equipment is to be used at an off-campus location for a period of
more than one year, Equipment Management should be notified of such usage
via an EIMR.
3. If inventorial equipment is to be used at an off-campus location for a period of
less than one year, documentation should be retained in the department.
4. Equipment Management should be notified promptly in the case of disposition of
equipment, whether it be through surplus disposal, cannibalization/destruction by
the department, sale, trade in, transfer, loan, loss or theft.
5. The head of the custodial department and the principal investigator, if a research
contract or grant is involved, should make adequate provision for the physical
security of the materiel in their custody. Special precautions shall be taken in the
case of high value, portable equipment, such as laptops or special tools.
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3. UCSB Campus Information & Procedure Manual
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D. Physical Inventory of Inventorial Equipment
1. Each department shall take a physical inventory of its inventorial equipment at
least once per year, and at a minimum every two years when requested by
Equipment Management. As a suggestion to departments with large equipment
inventories, one half of the inventory may be completed one year, and the other
half the following year, so that every two years the inventory will be completed.
The Departmental Equipment Registry, EQ920, is mailed to departments by
Equipment Management. A physical inventory may also be required when there
is a change in the head of the custodial department or under the terms and
conditions of a contract or grant, most frequently upon close-out.
2. Performing a physical inventory confirms that inventorial equipment listed on
official University records is actually on hand and has been accounted for by the
department.
3. Whenever possible, the person performing the physical inventory should be
someone who:
♦ Does not receive equipment
♦ Does not maintain the equipment records
Please refer to the Guidelines for Financial Management for suggested internal
controls for equipment management.
4. Instructions for performing a physical inventory are available on the Equipment
Management web site at:
http://www.busserv.ucsb.edu/equipmentmanagement/equipmentmanagement.htm
E. Equipment Data
All campus inventorial equipment records are maintained by Equipment
Management in the Capital Assets Tracking System (CATS), the campus inventorial
equipment database. Departments can access their inventorial records and make
many modifications to them through the mainframe ALLN01 system. If your
department continually updates its inventorial records (adding serial numbers;
correcting, if necessary, manufacturer's name and model number; adding or
updating building and room numbers as equipment is received or relocated; or
entering user codes), the physical inventory process will require far less time to
complete. Accurate information will already be entered into CATS and will therefore
already be printed on the EQ920 Equipment Register when you receive it, and the
physical location of equipment will be much more easily verified. The CATS User
Manual contains complete instructions for accessing and maintaining your records.
A department’s equipment data can be also be accessed using the campus Data
Warehouse. Departments can view only their own equipment records, with access
restricted by home department and custody codes. Departments can print out the
data using the standard report already available. The information displayed on the
report is similar to that which appears on the printed EQ920. The Data Warehouse
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4. UCSB Campus Information & Procedure Manual
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is updated weekly with equipment data, which allows departments to take an
inventory more frequently, or review the most recent equipment inventory listing for
their department.
F. Stolen Equipment
The theft of equipment, when detected, should be reported immediately by the
department head to the campus police. If the equipment is not recovered, an EIMR
should be prepared and sent to Equipment Management, in addition to a copy of the
campus police theft report. The equipment will then be removed from inventory
records.
G. Buy Down Insurance
All property owned by, or in the care, control and custody of The Regents of the
University of California is automatically insured under the BUS-28 Property
Self-Insurance Program. Under the provisions of BUS-28B, departments may
reduce (buy down) the deductible for equipment lost due to forced entry or non-
forced entry theft. The difference in deductibles is:
Non-Forced Forced
Entry Theft Entry Theft
Without BUS-28B Insurance $5,000 $1,000
With BUS-28B Insurance $1,000 $250
Each year, Business Services sends a schedule of covered property to
departments. Departments may then review, add, change, or delete any items
to the schedule. The cost of BUS-28B insurance is $.40 per $100 of value per
year (subject to change). The premium is not pro-rated for periods of less than
a year. The premium will be billed to the department requesting the coverage
and will appear on the General Ledger.
H. Modifications to Equipment Inventory
The Equipment Inventory Modification Report (EIMR) form is used to process all
types of modifications to the equipment inventory file except the disposal of excess
and surplus property (See ‘I’ below.).
I. Surplus Equipment
If a department has excess inventorial equipment, or equipment that is old, broken,
or damaged and the equipment is listed on the EQ920, then the department MUST
prepare an Excess & Surplus Property Disposal (ESPD) form and submit it to
Equipment Management. This form is available on the Equipment Management web
site. Once approved for surplus by Equipment Management, the form will then be
sent to Furniture Services. The department may deliver the surplus item(s) to
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5. UCSB Campus Information & Procedure Manual
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Central Stores, or, for a fee, Furniture Services will pick up the item(s) in the
department and take them to the warehouse for sale to the public. The department
will receive a portion of the proceeds from the sale (for sales over $75.00), and will
see a credit in the General Ledger. The department must use these surplus funds
within two years.
If department equipment does not have a property tag and it is not listed on the
EQ920, then the Excess & Surplus Property Disposal (ESPD) form is not necessary.
The department may deliver the item(s) to Central Stores, or contact Furniture
Services directly for removal and surplus of the equipment.
J. Donation of Equipment
There is a formal process for donating equipment (both inventorial and non-
inventorial) to a charitable or non-profit organization, as mandated under Business
and Finance Bulletin BUS-38, “Disposal of Excess Material and Transfer of
Federally-Funded University-Owned Material.” If a department would like to donate
equipment, it must contact the manager of Central Stores before committing any
University resources in order to ensure that the correct procedures are followed and
documentation obtained.
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6. UCSB Campus Information & Procedure Manual
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References
Departments
Central Stores
x3470
http://www.busserv.ucsb.edu/stores/index.htm
Data Warehouse (Information Systems & Computing)
http://dw.isc.ucsb.edu/
Data Warehouse Standard Reports
http://dw.isc.ucsb.edu/rp_index.html
Equipment Management (Information and Forms)
x2389
http://www.busserv.ucsb.edu/equipmentmanagement/index.htm
Purchasing
x2555
http://www.busserv.ucsb.edu/purchasing/index.htm
Policies
Business and Finance Bulletin, BUS-28, Property Self-Insurance Program
http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/policies/bfb/bus28.html
Business and Finance Bulletin, BUS-29, Management and Control of University
Equipment
http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/policies/bfb/uc-bfb-bus%20series.html
Business and Finance Bulletin, BUS-38, Disposal of Excess Material and Transfer
of Federally-Funded University-Owned Material
http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/policies/bfb/bus38.html
Resources
Guidelines for Financial Management
http://controller.ucsb.edu/presentations.shtml
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