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BRIEF

Policy Summary

This policy provides guidance on the requirements for the management of personal property at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Supervisors are responsible for the proper use and control of property and supplies used by employees.

Who Should Read This Policy

All Berkeley Lab employees

To Read the Full Policy, Go To:

The POLICY tab on this Wiki page

Contact Information

OCFO Property Manager

POLICY

A. Purpose

This policy provides guidance on the requirements for the management of personal property at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). Supervisors are responsible for the proper use and control of property and supplies used by employees.

B. Persons Affected

All Berkeley Lab employees

C. Exceptions

1. Property-removal approvals are not required when employees:
   1. Carry their Laboratory-issued laptops and cell phones for use away from the Laboratory.
   2. Temporarily remove printed matter for reading and reference.
   3. Take away their personal items.
2. Contracted scrap and salvage dealers and refuse services are pre-approved to remove equipment, materials, and garbage from the Laboratory.

D. Policy Statement

D.1 General
D.2 Employee Responsibilities
D.3 Property Classifications
D.4 Inventory Requirements — General Inventory Guidance
D.5 Off-Site Use of Property
D.6 Loaning Property
D.7 Borrowing Property
D.8 Property Loss or Damage
D.9 Excess Property
D.10 Storage of Property
D.11 Property Movement Records
D.12 Property Retirement
D.13 Property Acquired as a Gift
D.14 Employee-Owned Property
D.15 Export Control Considerations

D.1 General

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1. Title: Title to Berkeley Lab property rests with the United States government. Laboratory policies and procedures governing the effective and efficient stewardship of government property and supplies are summarized below. The Laboratory Personal Property Policy Manual (PPPM) (PUB-3032) provides procedural detail and guidance for employees.
2. Charter: The Property Management Charter is twofold:
   1. Oversight and Control. Oversight and control of the Laboratory's government property are in accordance with the policies and procedures described in the PPPM.
   2. Support and Guidance. Support and guidance are provided for Laboratory personnel in the life-cycle management of their property activities, from creation of the asset record to final asset retirement from the database.

D.2 Employee Responsibilities

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1. Official Use: The facilities, tools, supplies, materials, and equipment at the Laboratory are U.S. government property and are for official use only by division-authorized employees. Use for any purpose other than official Laboratory business, regardless of the location, constitutes a conflict of interest and is illegal and prohibited. Employees who use government property for personal business or who remove property from Laboratory jurisdiction without proper authorization are subject to disciplinary action as well as prosecution under federal law (Title 18, U.S. Code). The Laboratory may impose penalties commensurate with the gravity of an improper, dishonest, or illegal offense. Consequences range from a warning or official reprimand to salary reduction, suspension without pay, demotion, or dismissal. Prosecution at the discretion of the U.S. Attorney's Office may result in a fine, imprisonment, or both.
2. Responsible Use: Berkeley Lab policy mandates responsible use of all property in the custody of its employees. Property must be used in a safe manner, and adequate care must be taken to protect it from loss or damage. Each Laboratory division is responsible for establishing requirements that ensure the effective stewardship of its resources, including hierarchical responsibility for reporting losses and misuse of property.
3. Safeguard Property: Each asset is assigned to a Property Custodian, who must be a Berkeley Lab employee. Property Custodians must follow Berkeley Lab Property Management policies and procedures and take reasonable measures to safeguard property against theft, loss, destruction, and damage consistent with the environment in which the property is being properly used.

D.3 Property Classifications

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1. The following property classifications are defined in 41 CFR 109 or are industry-accepted descriptions of the classification:
   1. Capital Equipment: Property acquired or valued above a $500,000 threshold is classified as Capital Equipment.
   2. Controlled Substances: Illegal drugs allowed for use in strictly regulated research activities are classified as Controlled Substances.
   3. Equipment: A tangible asset that is functionally complete for its intended purpose, durable, nonexpendable, and needed for the performance of a contract. Equipment is not intended for sale, and does not ordinarily lose its identity or become a component part of another article when put into use.
   4. High Risk: Property that, because of its potential impact on public health and safety, the environment, national security interests, or proliferation concerns, must be controlled, and disposed of in other than the routine manner. The categories of high-risk property are automatic data processing equipment, especially designed or prepared property, export controlled information, export controlled property, hazardous property, nuclear weapon components or weapon-like components, proliferation sensitive property, radioactive property, special nuclear material, and unclassified controlled nuclear information.
   5. Precious Metals: Uncommon and highly valuable metals characterized by their superior resistance to corrosion and oxidation. Included are gold, silver, and the platinum group metals, platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium, and osmium.
   6. Property of Others: Property borrowed from external organizations for short-term use by Laboratory employees is classified as Property of Others
   7. Sensitive: Includes all items, regardless of value, that require special control and accountability due to unusual rates of loss, theft, or misuse, or due to national security or export control considerations.
   8. Stores: Miscellaneous low-value utility items are classified as Stores.

D.4 Inventory Requirements — General Inventory Guidance

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1. Divisions are responsible for the property under their stewardship and must account for it during inventories and/or upon demand by internal or external government auditors. Property Management plans and issues the campaigns and supports divisions' efforts in conducting their inventories. There are two main types of inventory:
   1. Statistical Sampling: Randomly selected sample representing a percentage of the total assets.
   2. Wall-to-Wall (100%): All active assets in the Sunflower Asset Management System.     
2. The following categories of property are subject to verification of every inventory:
   1. Capital Equipment
   2. Sensitive Items
   3. High-Risk Property
   4. Precious Metals
   5. Controlled Substances
3. Inventory guidance, schedules, and forms are available on the Property Management website.

D.5 Off-Site Use of Property

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1. Divisions allow off-site use of equipment under their stewardship and may issue a Property Pass to document the change of location. See section D.11.3.b, "Division Property Pass," below.

D.6 Loaning Property

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1. Laboratory property that is temporarily idle may be loaned to external organizations. Loans are arranged by Property Management and are governed by very specific U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) criteria and Berkeley Lab procedures. See the LBNL Property Management Procedure Loans.

D.7 Borrowing Property

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1. Employees may be allowed to borrow property from external organizations for short periods of time when doing so is practical and economical. Property may be borrowed from another government or educational organization for use in research or from a vendor for test and evaluation. The purpose of the borrowing arrangement determines the protocol that must be followed.
2. Use in Research: Borrowing property for use in research requires prior authorization through the Berkeley Lab Property Management Group. Information about this organizational agreement can be found in the Property Management procedure Borrowing Personal Property for Use.
3. Testing and Evaluation: Borrowing equipment for testing and evaluation is managed by divisions on behalf of their employees. See the Property Management procedure Borrowing Personal Property for Testing.
4. In all cases, the division must contact an EH&S Division Safety Coordinator to review and clear the borrowed equipment for use.

D.8 Property Loss or Damage

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1. Reporting Losses: Losses, theft, vandalism, sabotage, or suspected willful destruction of any Laboratory property must be reported to Berkeley Lab Site Access & Security and Property Management within 24 hours of discovery. Property thefts occurring off-site must immediately be reported to police in the jurisdiction where the theft occurred. Losses of Berkeley Lab property and/or damage beyond normal wear and tear must be reported to Property Management upon discovery. Employees must also complete the Request to Retire Personal Property form and submit it to Property Management so that the asset can be removed from inventory.
2. Disciplinary Actions: The custodian will be subject to established disciplinary actions and the Laboratory may impose penalties commensurate with the gravity of an improper, dishonest, or illegal offense. Consequences range from a warning or official reprimand to invoicing a current or former employee for missing or unreturned property, suspension without pay, demotion, or dismissal. Prosecution at the discretion of the U.S. Attorney's Office may result in a fine, imprisonment, or both.
   1. The custodian's actions will be defined as gross negligence or willful misconduct and subject to established disciplinary actions if:
      1. The custodian has a two lost or stolen Sensitive IT asset assets within the prior rolling 24 months.
      2. The lost/stolen Sensitive IT asset has an acquisition date less than three years from the date of loss.
3. Reimbursement/Liability
   1. Property Received or Shipped: Employees will not be reimbursed for insurance of property that is received at or transported from Berkeley Lab to off-site locations.
   2. Property Loaned or Borrowed for Use: Agreements for property that is loaned or borrowed for use in research are coordinated by Property Management. Reimbursement against loss or damage is governed by the terms of each individual agreement.
   3. Property Borrowed for Testing: Responsibility for property borrowed from a vendor for testing and evaluation rests with the borrower and the employee's division. Berkeley Lab's limited liability for borrowed property must be acknowledged in writing by the loaning entity prior to its being shipped. (See the Property Management procedure Borrowing Personal Property for Testing.)

D.9 Excess Property

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1. Equipment, office furnishings, and other material (including software) identified as excess property are handled according to national disposition objectives, which may include redeployment within Berkeley Lab. Equipment for which there is no current or projected need should be forwarded to the Property Management Excess Group after review and clearance by an EH&S Division Liaison. Note: Employees are not allowed to remove government-owned property for personal use.
2. Excess property will be made available for redeployment across the Lab.
3. Excess equipment that is not redeployed within the Berkeley Lab complex may be transferred to government organizations or academic institutions with active DOE grants. DOE approval is required. Guidance for determining the suitability of transferring excess Laboratory equipment and the process for gaining approvals can be found on the Property Management website.
4. Sensitive IT Asset Retention
   1. Sensitive IT assets have a typical expected useful life of three to five years.
   2. Assets with an acquisition date more than eight years old will be removed from active service unless there is a documented operational need.

D.10 Storage of Property

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1. Warehouse storage of Laboratory equipment is provided by the Property Management Excess Group and must satisfy requirements for retention.

D.11 Property Movement Records

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1. General: The custodian must notify the divisional property representative of all movements of property so that changes in location can be updated in the Property Managements Property database.
2. Property Removed from the Laboratory Site: Except as noted above in C, "Exceptions," government property shipped or carried away from the Laboratory requires prior authorization and appropriate documentation.
3. Shipping Approvals
   1. Common-Carrier Shipping: Division approval is required in all situations in which property is shipped from the Laboratory via a "common carrier." Property that is identified by a DOE/LBNL bar-code tag is subject to additional approval by the Property Management Group. Information about shipping property off-site is available from the Facilities Division Shipping Department.
   2. Division Property Pass: Divisions may issue a Property Pass to their employees for off-site use of government property, such as:

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      D.11.3.b D.11.3.b

      1. Arrangements with suppliers performing Laboratory work if the material will remain in the custody of Laboratory personnel.
      2. Short-term or intermittent use to perform Laboratory work at an off-site location.
      3. Incidental use in connection with authorized attendance at a meeting, seminar, exhibit, or lecture.

D.12 Property Retirement

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1. The status of a property record may change from active to retired in the database if criteria are met in the following categories:
   1. Abandonment
   2. Asset Created in Error
   3. Cannibalized
   4. Destroyed
   5. Foreign Donation
   6. Incorporated — Larger System
   7. Inventory Loss
   8. Lost
   9. No Longer Controlled
   10. Related Real Property
   11. Return to Vendor
   12. Return Property of Others
   13. Stolen
   14. Trade-in
   15. Transfer
2. Each of these categories is defined in the Request to Retire Personal Property form. The form must be completed and submitted to Property Management for approval.

D.13 Property Acquired As a Gift

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1. Any property item that has been accepted as a gift or that has been purchased with funds specifically accountable as a gift must be reported in accordance with University of California and Laboratory practices (see Gifts for Research and Acceptance of). Gifts may be accepted only in the name of, and title will be vested in, the Regents of the University of California. The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) notifies Property Management when a gift has been accepted so a Property of Others sticker can be placed on the gift. Divisions that anticipate receiving equipment through the gift process should notify the IPO and Property Management well before any items are expected to arrive on-site.

D.14 Employee-Owned Property

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1. Employee-owned property may not be installed in, affixed to, or made a part of any government-owned property. This restriction does not apply to small decorative items or memorabilia displayed in an employee's work area. In all cases, the Laboratory cannot be held responsible for loss of or damage to any employee-owned item.

D.15 Export Control Considerations

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Management of Property will adhere to existing export control requirements.

E. Roles and Responsibilities

Managers, supervisors, and employees have the responsibility to adhere to the provisions of this policy.

F. Definitions/Acronyms

G. Recordkeeping Requirements

None

H. Implementing Documents

I. Contact Information

OCFO Property Manager

J. Revision History

DOCUMENT INFORMATION

Source Requirements Documents

41 CFR Chapter 109 - Department of Energy Property Management Regulations

Implementing Documents