INTRODUCTION
EFFECTIVE
6/1/00		LAST UPDATE
12/01/02

PURPOSE: The Property Management Policy and Procedures Manual provides direction for the management and control of capital property owned by or in the custody of the Arizona Board of Regents for the University of Arizona and to satisfy the requirements of the Federal Government respecting control over Government Property for which the University is responsible and accountable.
AUTHORITY: Powers and duties of the University President, ABOR Policy 3-801 and 3-802

Below authority applies ONLY to Federal Property (acquisition dollars or title):

    48 Code of Federal Regulations 45.5 and 45.511
    Office of Management and Budget Circular A-110

I. INTRODUCTION

    Property management is an essential function of the University because a large portion of the University's assets is made up of equipment and other property. Sound and prudent property management practices at the department level must be guided by consistent and articulated property management policies and procedures that apply University wide. In addition, the University must meet its responsibilities to comply with Federal property standards and to requirements of other sponsors when they support the acquisition of equipment under their awards.

II. TITLE

    Title to or ownership of all University property is vested in The Arizona Board of Regents.

III. RESPONSIBILITY

  1. The Arizona Board of Regents is responsible for all property to which it holds title. Custodial responsibility for other property rests with The Arizona Board of Regents to the extent that it has explicitly agreed to accept responsibility therefor.

  2. The Senior Vice President-Business Affairs has assigned responsibility for the management and control of inventorial equipment to the Assistant Vice President/Controller-Financial Services Office.

  3. The Financial Services Office – Financial Management Division is responsible for the implementation and monitoring of these property management policies and procedures.

  4. Sponsored Projects Services is responsible for providing sponsor titleholder information to the Property Management-Financial Services Office and preparation of required project property reports to the government and other sponsors.

  5. The University property management system is audited regularly by the Arizona Board of Regents and the Federal Office of Naval Research. These property audits are coordinated and supported by the Assistant Vice President/Controller-Financial Services Office in consultation with Sponsored Project Services, as appropriate.

  6. The head of the custodial department [i.e. the department that has custody of the equipment] and the Principal Investigator have the primary responsibility for the care, maintenance, records, physical inventory, and control of inventorial equipment and other University or sponsor-funded property. They must maintain up-to-date departmental records and, if government or other sponsor owned equipment is provided, initiate such forms as are necessary to fully inform the Financial Services Office and Sponsored Projects Services of the receipt of the equipment, and to notify Sponsored Projects Services when government or other sponsor owned property and produced deliverables are returned/shipped to the sponsor and provide shipping documentation so that Sponsored Projects Services and the Financial Services Office may properly carry out its functions respecting inventorial equipment.

  7. The Financial Services Office and the custodial department are responsible for identifying, marking and recording property in the custody, possession or control of the University. In general, all inventorial equipment is marked with a property number, and a property record is promptly created. It shall remain so identified as long as it is in the custody, possession, or control of the University. Assigned property numbers are recorded on all applicable receiving, shipping, and disposal documents, and any other records that may be a part of the Fixed Assets System (FFX). Such markings and identification are removed or obliterated from the equipment only when sold, scrapped, cannibalized or otherwise disposed of.

  8. Custodial departments are to take physical inventories at least every two years. The department head or Principal Investigator should verify the existence, current utilization, and continued need for the equipment inventoried. These physical inventories are to by completed in a timely manner. The Financial Services Office will verify the departmental inventories on the basis of statistical sampling, with all departments being sampled at least once every two years. Physical inventories are also performed by the custodial department and the Principal Investigator, upon termination or completion of a government contract. Disposition instructions are requested from the agency by Sponsored Projects Services, as required under the contract. If the equipment used on a terminating contract has been authorized for use in a follow-on contract, the requirement for a final inventory may be waived by the government Property Administrator.

IV. SCOPE

    The property management system policy and procedures apply to property acquisitions belonging to or in the custody of The Arizona Board of Regents for the University of Arizona, including property acquired/provided through sponsor funded contracts and grants for research, training, and public service. The federal regulations and requirements cited in the property management system policy and procedures apply only to property acquired with government funds, to federally titled property, and to equipment furnished by the government in support of contract performance or of a grant or cooperative agreement research program.

V. DEFINITIONS

    Accessory Item - defined in FAR 45.501 as - An item which facilitates or enhances the operation of plant equipment, but which is not essential for its operation.

    Acquisition Date - Date on the University purchase order or similar University document authorizing the purchase of capital equipment, services or material.

    Agency - Entity, i.e., organization, corporation, foundation, person, from which the University derives sponsor support through contracts or grants.

    Auxiliary Item - defined in FAR 45.501 as - An item without which the basic unit of plant equipment cannot operate.

    Award - A legal document providing sponsor support. Award includes grants, cooperative agreements, purchase orders, as well as contracts.

    Cannibalization- The act of disassembling or dismantling equipment to the point of making the equipment unable to perform its intended use.

    Centrally Reportable Equipment (CRE) - Plant equipment, special test equipment (including components), special tooling, and non-flight space property (including ground support equipment) which is (a) generally commercially available and used as a separate item or component of a system, (b) valued at $1,000 or more, and (c) identifiable by a manufacturer and model number. [This term applies only to equipment acquired on NASA and JPL contracts.]  NASA and JPL require the use of DD Form 1419 to obtain prior sponsor approval for the acquisition of Centrally Reportable Equipment.  All Centrally Reportable Equipment must be issued an N or A property tag.

    Component Parts - Items which are not complete in themselves and thus are not separately inventoried. Component parts are capitalized or expensed according to the Property Control System policies.

    Contract - An agreement that includes grants, cooperative agreements, and purchase orders, as well as contracts with sponsors.

    Contractor - The Arizona Board of Regents.

    Contracting Officer - The duly authorized individual delegated by appropriate sponsor authority to enter into a contract, and thereafter, administer the contract, on behalf of the Federal government or other sponsor.

    Custodial Department - That department or unit of the University having physical control of property; i.e., using departments or sponsoring department for a contract.

    Deliverable - an item of capital equipment either purchased, assembled or fabricated by the University for delivery to a sponsor or third party designated by the sponsor.

    Discrepancies Incident to Shipment - defined in FAR 45.50 (federal only) as – All deficiencies incident to the shipment of property to or from a University facility whereby differences exist between the property purported to been shipped and the property actually received. Such deficiencies include loss, damage, destruction, improper status and condition coding, errors in identity or classification, and improper consignment.

    Equipment:

      Found Equipment - Equipment discovered either by the Financial Services Office-Property Management or a custodial department, which does not appear on the records of inventorial equipment.

      Industrial Plant Equipment (IPE) - defined in DFAR 45.301 as - That part of plant equipment with an acquisition cost of $1,000 or more; used for the purpose of cutting, abrading, grinding, shaping, forming, joining, testing, measuring, heating, treating, or otherwise altering the physical, electrical, or chemical properties of materials, components or end items entailed in manufacturing, maintenance, supply, processing, assembly, or research and development operations and which is currently controlled by Defense General Supply Center (DGSC) .

      Inventorial Equipment - Capital equipment which is an item of non-expendable, tangible, personal property which has an aggregate acquisition cost or fair market value of $5,000.00 or more, is free standing, movable, is complete in itself, does not lose its identity when affixed to or installed in other property and has a useful life greater than one year.  Centrally Reportable Equipment is also Inventorial Equipment but with a value of $1,000 or more.

    Fair Market Value - The fair market value of equipment is the price at which a willing buyer and a willing seller settle a sale of such equipment. Recent transactions or advertisements can be used as an estimate of fair market value.

    General Purpose Equipment (need definition)

    Government - United States of America, Federal government, unless otherwise specified, as in "State government".

    GFE - Government-furnished equipment.

    Government-furnished Equipment (GFE) - Equipment provided to the university by the federal government or government contractor with title in the federal government.

    Idle Equipment - Equipment that currently has no known use for the department, contract, or grant. Government Property - A special category of materiel defined in FAR 45.301 as - All property owned by or leased to the Federal Government. Such property acquired under grants and contracts with the University includes:

    1. Government-furnished property - property in the possession of, or directly acquired by, the government and subsequently delivered to or otherwise made available to the University for use under specified grants and contracts.

    2. Contractor-acquired property - property acquired or otherwise provided by the University for performing a contract or grant, title to which property is vested in the government by virtue of the property titleholder provisions in the government grant or contract.

    3. Excess government property - property which is no longer required by the holding Federal activity and is available to other Federal agencies or Federal contractors such as the University.

    4. Federal surplus property - property which has been screened by all Federal agencies and generally made available to eligible institutions through the State Agency for Surplus Property.

    Grantee - The Arizona Board of Regents for the University of Arizona.

    In-Service Date - Date capital equipment or material is received by the University and entered on the University’s receiving report document.

    Loan Equipment - Equipment which either is borrowed by the University from an external agency or one University department from another, or is loaned by the University to an external agency or individual.

    Material - defined in FAR 45.301 as - Property that may be incorporated into or attached to a deliverable end item or that may be consumed or expended in performing a contract. It includes assemblies, components, parts, raw and processed materials, and small tools and supplies that may be consumed in normal use in performing a contract.

    Personal Property - Any movable item subject to ownership; materiel but not real property.

    Personally Owned Equipment - Equipment that is not owned or in the custody of the university and is owned by a university employee or other private party.

    Plant Equipment - defined in FAR 45. 101 as - Personal property of a capital nature (including equipment, machine tools, test equipment, furniture, vehicles, and accessory and auxiliary items) for use in manufacturing supplies, in performing services, or for any administrative or general plant purpose. It does not include special tooling or special test equipment.

    Principal Investigator - The academic or administrative staff member responsible for initiating and conducting a sponsor funded research, training, or public service project. The individual may also be known as the Project Director or Project Administrator.

    Property Administrator - The duly authorized representative of the contracting officer delegated the authority to administer the contract requirements and obligations relative to government property.

    Special Purpose Equipment - Equipment which is used only for research, medical, scientific, or other technical purposes, as contrasted with General Purpose Equipment which is not limited only to research, medical, scientific, or other technical purposes (e.g., computers, automobiles, etc.). Equipment that is specifically designed for scientific purposes is special purpose equipment. Equipment that is not specifically designed for scientific purposes still may qualify as special purpose equipment if its use for scientific purposes makes it unusable for general purposes (e.g., a refrigerator used for storing radioactive or hazardous materials).

    Special Test Equipment - defined in FAR 45.101 as - Either single or multi-purpose integrated test units engineered, designed, fabricated, or modified to accomplish special purpose testing in performing a contract. It consists of items or assemblies of equipment that are interconnected and interdependent so as to become a new functional entity for special testing purposes. It does not include material, special tooling, facilities (except foundations and similar improvements necessary for installing special test equipment), and plant equipment items used for general plant testing purposes.

    Special Tooling - defined in FAR 45.101 as - Jigs, dies, fixtures, molds, patterns, taps, gauges, other equipment and manufacturing aids, all components of these items, and replacement of these items, which are of such a specialized nature that without substantial modification or alteration their use is limited to the development or production of particular supplies or parts thereof or to the performance of particular services. It does not include material, special test equipment, facilities (except foundations and similar improvements necessary for installing special tooling), general or special machine tools, or similar capital items.

    Sponsoring Department - That department or unit of a University campus responsible for the administration of a sponsor funded project.

    State - State of Arizona.

    Surplus Equipment - Equipment currently not in service and with no anticipated future use.

    Tag - To place a University of Arizona property control number on a piece of equipment.

    University - The Arizona Board of Regents for the University of Arizona.

    University Property - That property to which title is vested in the University whether secured with general University funds or funds derived from sponsors.

V. ORDER OF AUTHORITY

    In the event of an inconsistency or conflict, applicable law and Board of Regents’ policies supersede university policies and university policies supersede college, department or similar unit bylaws, policies, or guidelines.

    The university reserves the right to add, amend, or revoke any of the contained rules, policies, regulations, and instructions or incorporate additional ones, with or without notice, as circumstances or the good of the university community may require.