Equipment and Furnishings Assets

This section addresses the management of equipment and furnishings assets, which includes scientific lab, information technology (IT) and other equipment, vehicles and furnishings.

Assets owned by the university include those acquired by purchase with any type of university funds, in-kind contributions from donors or sponsors and transfers of assets from other institutions. In addition, some units may have custody of assets that are owned by external parties and entrusted to the university's care.

Refer to Equipment Assets and Furnishings Assets in this section for further information.

UAPPOL Policy:

Equipment and Furnishings Asset Management Policy

Equipment Assets

Equipment Services within Supply Management Services (SMS) is responsible for the overall coordination of policies, procedures, processes, and guidance to assist in the effective and efficient stewardship of equipment assets.

In most circumstances, Supply Management Services must coordinate the sale, disposal and transfer (to external individuals or organizations) of university-owned equipment assets, which include equipment assets purchased by academic employees from Professional Expense Reimbursement (PER) funds.

Who to Contact Regarding Equipment Assets

TOPIC	CONTACT DETAILS
Questions from unit staff	Unit equipment coordinator
Questions from unit equipment coordinators	SMS Equipment Services: Tess Urbanczyk Phone: (780) 492-8899 Fax: (780) 492-8268 Address: 1st Floor Materials Management Building Email: equipment.services@ualberta.ca
	SMS Surplus Disposal: Nick Green Phone: (780) 492-5393 Fax: (780) 492-8268 Address: 131 Materials Management Building Email: smssurplus@ualberta.ca
Equipment asset tag	Email the Equipment Asset Tag Request Form to equipment.services@ualberta.ca

Equipment Asset Responsibilities - University Units

Deans, Chairs and Directors are responsible for acquisition planning, procurement and ongoing effective and efficient stewardship of assets, including safeguarding, utilization, maintenance and disposal. In order to facilitate asset stewardship, units are required to tag and track the following equipment assets in an equipment asset register:

• moveable equipment with an acquisition value of $5,000 or greater. This includes equipment acquired through purchase, donation or transfer and fabricated equipment where the aggregate cost is $5,000 or greater.
• desirable equipment with an acquisition value of less than $5,000 defined by a unit as necessary to tag and track.

Units may choose to tag and track any other items. Units are not required to tag and track furnishings assets or museum and collections assets.

UAPPOL Procedure:

Equipment Registration and Tracking Procedure

Summary of Equipment Asset Acquisition and Disposal Procedures

The following summarizes the university's procedures (UAPPOL) specific to the acquisition or disposal of equipment assets and the key requirements related to the action. In addition to these key requirements, all actions require the completion of a particular form, as per the UAPPOL procedure. The majority of equipment asset disposals also require coordination by the Surplus Services unit within SMS (refer to Link at end of this section).

ACTION	KEY REQUIREMENTS	UAPPOL PROCEDURE
Transfer of equipment assets from another institution to the University of Alberta (e.g. with a researcher)	sponsor terms must enable the transfer to be made Dean, Chair or Director must approve the transfer	Equipment Asset Disposal/Retirement Procedure
External sale of university equipment asset	sale must be made by SMS (Surplus Disposal)	Equipment Asset Disposal/Retirement Procedure
Disposal of damaged, destroyed, or dismantled asset	disposal must be made through SMS (Surplus Disposal)	Equipment Asset Disposal/Retirement Procedure
Identification of stolen/lost equipment asset		Equipment Asset Disposal/Retirement Procedure
Transfer of equipment asset or sale of equipment asset by one University of Alberta unit to another University of Alberta unit	If equipment asset originally purchased with restricted funds: selling price must equal fair value, as evaluated by Surplus Services proceeds must be allocated according to sponsor terms	Equipment Asset Disposal/Retirement Procedure
Transfer by University of Alberta researcher to another institution	sponsor terms must enable the transfer to be made institution receiving the asset must confirm acceptance prior to transfer University of Alberta Vice-President (Research) must approve transfer	Equipment Asset Disposal/Retirement Procedure
Gift of equipment asset to staff member	equipment asset's fair value must be less than $500, as evaluated by Surplus Services staff member must be long-serving requires VP approval	Equipment Asset Disposal/Retirement Procedure
Donation of equipment asset to registered charity	unit must confirm that charity has Canada Revenue Agency registered charity status requires VP approval	Equipment Asset Disposal/Retirement Procedure
Sale of equipment assets by a unit to departing staff	only electronic storage devices can be sold to staff staff member purchasing the electronic storage device must be departing the university's employ staff member must pay fair value, as evaluated by Surplus Services, plus 5% GST	Equipment Asset Disposal/Retirement Procedure

Link:

Surplus Services (SMS)

Furnishings Assets

The Design and Technical Services group (Planning and Project Delivery unit) with Facilities and Operations is responsible for the overall coordination of policies, procedures, processes, and guidance to assist in the effective and efficient stewardship of furnishings assets.

Who to Contact Regarding Furnishings Assets

TOPIC	CONTACT DETAILS
New furnishings and furniture standards	Design and Technical Services: Furnishing Coordinator Email: furniture.coordinator@ualberta.ca
Requests to acquire used/surplus university furniture	Design and Technical Services: Furnishing Coordinator Email: furniture.surplus@ualberta.ca
Furniture repairs	Refer to Furniture Repair Procedure
Requests to pick up surplus furniture Note: Refer to link below to access the Furniture Pickup Form	Supply Management Services Email completed form to: smswareh@ualberta.ca

Link:

Facilities and Operations - Furnishings

Last Update: March 2015