Departmental Funding Responsibility for the Purchase, Installation, Maintenance and Repair of Specialized Equipment Policy

Policy Statement

Departments are responsible for all specialized equipment in their custody, including equipment they choose to purchase, acquire under grants and contracts, or are exclusive users of, and the following costs all rest with the department, including, but not limited to: purchase, installation, repair, replacement, protection, maintenance, inventory, and contractual obligations.

Purpose/Scope

The purpose of this policy is to inform Departments / Units of their responsibilities, including financial, pertaining to all specialized equipment and systems.

Applicability

University-wide.

Definitions

There are no definitions for this policy at this time.

Policy Procedures

Prior to purchasing specialized equipment, departments should review and complete the General Purpose Campus Impact Statement and contact the Director of Physical Plant to ascertain and review any non-standard installation costs that may be involved, including, but not limited to:  special climate controls, higher than normal power requirements, abatement of pre-existing hazardous materials, and/or space needs. Departmental responsibility also includes any required alterations to facilities, or movement of furnishings or amenities. 

Prior to submitting a grant or contract, the principal investigator should review this policy with the appropriate department chair or dean. Principal investigators should be aware of any specific installation and ongoing equipment care and maintenance requirements defined by their grants or contracts.  These costs should be budgeted into their grant proposal and/or arrangements made with the department to allocate the necessary resources to cover them. 

Contracts for scientific equipment, department-specific equipment, and specialized departmental operating systems which require annual maintenance for upkeep and repair, are the financial responsibility of the department.  Further, departments are responsible for the establishment of maintenance agreements for approved equipment, as needed.

The University requires all departmental equipment repair and maintenance be procured. Procurement and Payment Services is responsible for negotiating all state contracts and agreements, including equipment maintenance agreements and lease and rental agreements. The Research Foundation is responsible for equipment acquired through grants and contracts, including any additional costs required for maintenance of the equipment.

Current equipment owners will be notified by the Physical Plant with both a memo and a copy of this policy.  The memo will highlight that the Physical Plant will remain a resource to all departments for guidance on the purchase of new equipment, care of current equipment and establishing service agreements for maintenance of their equipment.

This policy will take effect immediately upon approval of this policy for future purchases of departmental equipment.  Those departments with equipment in place prior to the effective date of this policy will have a twelve-month period to transition to the terms of this policy, with the assistance of the Physical Plant to ensure as smooth a transition as possible.

This policy will be enforced by the Facilities and Planning Service Center.  The Service Center will review all service requests on departmental equipment for adherence to this policy.

Links to Related Procedures and Information

General Purpose Campus Impact Statement

Contact Information

Director of Physical Plant

History (in descending order)

Approval

This policy was approved by President’s Cabinet on 2019-04-24