Property Management Group
Inventories
• Physical
A Physical inventory is a process whereby Berkeley Lab physically goes out and accounts for the DOE tagged assets in FMS Asset Management. DOE 41 CFR 109-1.5110 requires that physical inventories be conducted on a regular basis for all Accountable personal property. Pre-established performance targets have been set by DOE at 100% for Sensitive, High Risk and Capital personal property. All other Accountable property has a performance target of 98%.
Physical inventories are a tool to help Berkeley Lab maintain a property management system that results in the efficient management of property entrusted to its care.
> For more information, please view the Property Management Procedure for Inventories
• Precious Metals
The Precious Metals Inventory is conducted in accordance with Berkeley Lab General Inventory Plan. Property Management conducts the annual Precious Metals Inventory concurrently with the annual Physical personal property inventory held during the 2nd quarter of the fiscal year. Precious metals are specifically defined by the DOE as: Gold, Iridium, Osmium, Palladium, Platinum, Rhodium, Ruthenium and Silver.
> For more information, please view the Precious Metals Program Brochure or the Property Management Procedure for Precious Metals
> To acquire precious metals, please complete the Request for Precious Metals form
• Controlled Substances
Property Management conducts the annual Inventory of Controlled Substances concurrently with the annual physical personal property inventory held during the 2nd quarter of the fiscal year.
Additional inventories are scheduled when there is a transfer of custodianship/stewardship, a termination of employment or a disposal of controlled substances.
> For more information, please view the Property Management Procedure for Controlled Substance Inventory
Asset Creation
Whenever practical, Berkeley Lab shall identify and tag Government personal property as U.S. Government Property or U.S. DOE Property upon physical receipt or as early as reasonably possible after physical receipt. To the extent possible property items must be received in the Receiving Department or at an officially designated forward delivery location. Property tagging shall be completed as part of the official receiving function for accountable and administratively controlled property.
> For information about property categories and criteria, please visit our Property Management Resources & Training page.
Asset Retirement
All personal property that is identified by a barcode tag and recorded into Berkeley Lab FMS Asset Management is subject to inventory control and several other DOE regulatory requirements. When such property is worn out, lost, stolen, damaged beyond repair, destroyed, declared excess and disposed of or subjected to a transaction that legally removes the property from Berkeley Lab inventory control the property must be retired from Sunflower.
The process is initiated by the requester completing a Request to Retire Personal Property form and submitting it to Property Management.
> For more information, please view the Property Management Procedure for Retirement of Personal Property
> To request an asset retirement, please complete the Request to Retire Personal Property form
Barcode Issuance & Control
Berkeley Lab applies unique barcode tags to Equipment items costing $10K or more (Controlled) and items that are Attractive by definition, highly portable, easily converted to personal use and more susceptible to theft than other property regardless of cost.
Property costing less than $10K and not sensitive by definition is tagged, when appropriate, with an orange tag identifying it as “LBNL/DOE U.S. Government Property”. Such property is called Administratively Controlled Property.
Fabrications & Field Tagging
Equipment, sensitive and administratively controlled property must be identified and marked as U.S. Government property. There are some situations where an asset cannot be tagged at Central Receiving or where a barcode tag comes off during use and the asset must be re-tagged. The process is called Field Tagging and is accomplished by the Property Management Group.
The research conducted at the Berkeley Lab requires some of the most sophisticated equipment in the world today. In some cases, the needed equipment is not available from a commercial source and must be designed and built at Berkeley Lab. The process of building a piece of equipment on site is called a fabrication.
Fabricated property is subject to the same requirements as property purchased from an outside vendor; it must be tagged, created in the Sunflower database and is subject to inventory control. Property Management’s involvement in and responsibility for fabricated equipment begins when Property Accounting notifies Property Management that property has been fabricated and is ready for tagging.
> For more information, please view the Property Management Procedure for Fabrications
Precious Metals Administration
DOE provides eight designated Precious Metals for Berkeley Lab employees to use in mission-driven research. Precious metals are specifically defined by the DOE as: Gold, Iridium, Osmium, Palladium, Platinum, Rhodium, Rhuthenium and Silver. DOE’s expectation is that metals will be acquired and used for the duration of a specific experiment or project. Adequate security must be ensured and custodians are required to maintain continuous records of their activities utilizing the precious metals. A mandatory annual inventory of holdings is conducted by the Precious Metals Control Officer (PMCO) and an aggregate report of all stock held at Berkeley Lab is provided to DOE. In addition, there are a number of unannounced inspections of individual precious metals inventory and records. Periodic reviews may also be conducted to determine if precious metals quantities on hand exceed program requirements. Custodians who hold metals with no planned future need are strongly encouraged to transfer them to other researchers with stated need or return their surplus to the DOE Business Center for Precious Metals Sales and Recovery (BCPMSR) for reutilization by the broader national laboratory community.
> For more information, please view the Precious Metals Program Brochure or the Property Management Procedure for Retirement of Personal Property
> To acquire precious metals, please complete the Request for Precious Metals form
Subcontracts
Berkeley Lab may furnish or authorize the procurement of property to subcontractors. Responsibilities of subcontractors include receiving, utilizing, maintaining and managing Property in accordance with Berkeley Lab’s Property Management regulations. Berkeley Lab tracks property in possession by its subcontractors to account for all assets. GFP and SAP is usually returned to Berkeley Lab upon completion of the subcontract unless otherwise noted in the subcontract terms and conditions. All GFP and SAP is subject to identification and inventory requirements.
Government Furnished Property (GFP)
Any property owned by the government and made available to a subcontractor for its use during the performance of work under a specific subcontract with Berkeley Lab.
Subcontractor Acquired Property (SAP)
Any property that a subcontractor is authorized to buy under the terms of a subcontract in which the government takes title.
> For more information, please view the Property Management Procedure for Subcontractor Property (GFP/SAP)
Mission-Related Personal Property Use Agreements (MRPPUA)
Government property that is not excess may be loaned for DOE and Berkeley Lab mission-related research, studies and other efforts that result in benefits to DOE, Berkeley Lab and the borrower. Property may be loaned to other DOE facilities or contractors, federal agencies, or an organization that has a valid Federal contract, financial assistance agreement, treaty, international or cooperative agreement. Berkeley Lab will not procure or retain property for the purpose of making a lending agreement. Property will not be loaned to consultants for work under a consulting agreement with Berkeley Lab and property shall not be loaned to an individual.
Domestic & Foreign
- Initial lending period not to exceed one year. May be renewed in one-year increments (41 CFR 109-1.5103)
> For more information, please view the Property Management Procedure for Domestic Mission-Related Personal Property Use Agreements
>For more information, please view the Property Management Procedure for Foreign Mission-Related Personal Property Use Agreements
> To request a mission-related personal property use agreement, please complete the Request for Mission-Related Personal Property Use Agreement form
Borrow for Use
Property may be borrowed from other Department of Energy facilities, other Federal Agencies or private sector organizations (educational, research, non-profit) not to include vendors. Borrows should be for a relatively short period of time. The Property Manager must approve all borrows for use.
Note: Berkeley Lab employees may borrow property from vendors or suppliers for testing and evaluation purposes. This type of agreement is called a “Vendor Lending Agreement”. Contact the Procurement Help Desk for all borrow from vendor or supplier requests.
> For more information, please view the Property Management Procedure for Borrowing Personal Property for Use
Administrative Transfers
Property that is excess to the needs of Berkeley Lab may be transferred to other DOE facilities, to other federal agencies, or to other public (non-federal) agencies. Property being transferred to another DOE facility or DOE M&O contractor is not subject to screening. The Property Manager shall determine whether property being transferred to another federal agency or public (non-federal) agency will be screened depending on the circumstances.
Property may be accepted as being transferred into Berkeley Lab from DOE agency-level organizations, DOE facilities, or other federal agencies.
Note: When assets are offered to Berkeley Lab by any entity outside of the “DOE community” they are considered to be a “gift” to the University of California Regents. Gifts to Berkeley Lab are processed by the Strategic Partnerships Office (SPO).
* Property transferred to a DOE grant/contract are considered “government furnished property”. Title rests with DOE. Property will be returned to DOE upon completion of grant/contract.
> For more information, please view the Property Management Procedure for Incoming Administrative Transfers
> For more information, please view the Property Management Procedure for Outgoing Administrative Transfers
> To request an administrative transfer, please complete the Request to Transfer form
Please contact Berkeley Lab Excess Lead, Todd Anderson (x4938) for Excess Transfers.