Policy Section
Sponsored Research
Summary
Fabricated equipment represents the costs incurred to fabricate non-expendable, tangible property by building or assembling various components and or materials into one identifiable unit.
II. Who is Affected by this Policy
All individuals responsible for purchasing, tracking, safeguarding, maintaining, disposing of, and reporting on capital assets.
III. Definitions
Allowable Fabrication Costs - Costs of materials and non-salary services, such as shop charges, vendor labor, shipping, installation, and operating software, that directly make up a fabricated equipment item.
Capital Equipment - An article of nonexpendable, tangible property having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more per unit.
Fabricated Equipment - A unique, identifiable, and discrete item that has a useful life of more than one year, and is made of material and components which cumulatively cost $5,000 or more.
PeopleSoft Project - Unique eight-digit number recognized by PeopleSoft Financial System and used to record financial activity in an award or a sub-portion of an award; each item of fabricated equipment charged to sponsored funds requires a unique project.
Unallowable Fabrication Costs - Salaries and wages of University personnel, documentation, repair, maintenance, administrative support equipment, capital equipment that is not integrated into the fabrication, or any other unrelated cost of the fabricated equipment item.
IV. Policy
Fabricated equipment is defined as an item of equipment that is built or assembled from individual parts. When a completed item of fabricated equipment has an aggregate cost of $5,000 or more and a useful life of more than one year it is considered capital equipment.
Adding individual components to an existing item of stand-alone equipment, such as upgrades to computers or other existing equipment, does not constitute fabrication.
The University owns the property title to all fabricated equipment, unless specifically stated otherwise in the applicable sponsored award terms and conditions. PIs and departmental staff cannot authorize University-owned equipment to be transferred, delivered, or sold without prior approval from both the Office of the Controller and ORPA.
Additionally, the federal government requires that adequate records and control procedures are established to provide a consistent and effective method of control. Accurate maintenance of property records is essential to safeguard assets, ensure financial accountability, support adequate insurance coverage, and promote efficient use of property already on hand.
Procedures
All fabricated equipment must be noted as such in the Prime Financials asset management module.
When using sponsored funds, the PI or department staff must submit to ORPA a Fabricated Equipment Request, Modification, and Completion Form prior to the assembly and capitalization of the item, regardless of whether the fabricated equipment item was included in the original proposal budget. Rebudgeting, completions, or any other changes must also be documented using the Fabricated Equipment Request, Modification, and Completion Form and submitted to ORPA for approval.
Review the detailed procedure here.
Revision Log
3/21/19 - Updated contact information.
10/1/18 - Updated Executive Sponsor listing.
1/18/18 - Updated to reflect terminology and procedures to support the new Prime Asset Management Module. Responsible office updated to Office of Controller. Broadened concept of fabricated equipment to any constructed equipment, not just federally funded and removed "off-the-shelf" reference. Procedures moved to a How To page.
9/20/17 - Updated links to Fabricated Equipment Request, Modification, and Completion form.
2/27/17 - Updated to align with current business practices and our Prime systems implementation.
8/6/12 - Added clarification that modifications may not be used for existing stand-alone equipment.
3/15/12 - Original policy released.