UC Business and Finance Bulletin BUS-29, “Management and Control of University Equipment,” as amended by various official communications from the Senior Vice President, Division of Business & Finance, defines inventorial equipment as follows:
Non-expendable, tangible, personal property which has an acquisition cost of $5,000 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.
What are the important elements of this definition?
- Acquisition Cost. The purchase price of the item must be at least $5,000 (including sales tax).
The cost of accessories, start-up supplies, installation and/or freight CANNOT be counted toward the initial $5,000 in value. However, if the $5,000 threshold has been reached, then these additional costs can be included as inventorial equipment value.
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Independence. The item must be freestanding: it cannot be part of a building (electrical, plumbing, air-conditioning, etc.) system, or an item of modular office furniture. The item does not necessarily have to be functionally independent: an expensive lens objective for a microscope, for example, may receive a separate property number.
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Useful Life. The life expectancy of the item must be at least ONE YEAR. Otherwise, it is considered to be a consumable item and categorized as a supply purchase.
It is important to remember the distinction between generic “equipment” and “inventorial equipment.” All computers may be viewed as “equipment,” but a $2,000 laptop will not receive a University property number because its value is less than $5,000 – it is equipment only in the generic sense of the word; it is not inventorial equipment.
Similarly, it is important to remember that unit value is used to determine whether the item(s) being ordered are inventorial equipment. A $20,000 order for 10 computers (each with a unit value of $2,000) is NOT an inventorial equipment order.
Inventorial equipment is officially acquired when one of the following University documents is processed and routed through Equipment Management:
Document |
Issuing Department |
Type of Acquisition |
| Purchase Order |
Purchasing |
All items purchased by the University: APPROXIMATELY 95% OF INVENTORIAL EQUIPMENT ACQUISITIONS ARE PROCESSED ON A PURCHASE ORDER |
| Equipment Inventory Modification Request (EIMR) |
Equipment Management |
Items loaned to the University from an outside agency or individual; items brought to the University by a new employee; items whose title is transferred to the University following close-out of an extramural award; miscellaneous (re)acquisitions |
| Gift Form |
Development |
All items donated to the University by an outside agency or individual (except those provided at no cost on a Purchase Order) |
Click on one of the preceding links for detailed information regarding the acquisition process related to the specific type of document.
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