The
ICESS Administrative team would like to make purchasing your supplies and
equipment easy and quick. In order for us to be successful meeting your delivery
request, we ask that you review the following text and let us know if you have any
questions or need further clarification on this process.
ICESS is always mindful of obtaining our participants the best product for the best price. Therefore our Purchasing Assistant always checks to see if the product you have requested is part of one of the UC wide commodity agreements. These agreements are negotiated via the Office of the President for all ten campuses and help us take advantage of specifically negotiated prices for products. An additional component of these contracts is under the area of “Green Procurement” – a new program that looks at the production cycle, product content, energy efficiency, packaging, and delivery methods of products and includes items based on improved or reduced environmental impact - so the items you buy are not only the best product for the price, but they are environmentally friendly (e.g. energy star rated) as well.
The
ICESS administrative office is open Monday through Friday 8 am-12 pm and 1 pm-5
pm. When you plan to purchase supplies, equipment, or service on grant funds
administered through ICESS, please contact us. Please note the departmental
purchasing function is a privilege granted by the Chancellor's Office and the
Material Manager. Repeated occurrence of procurements not meeting the standards
set forth by UC may result in certain consequences, up to and including
revocation of all or part of the department's purchasing activities. Below are
the guidelines for purchasing supplies, services, and equipment.
1. All purchasing of supplies and equipment must be
processed through the ICESS office. This may be done via a preliminary
requisition form or through e-mail (ipurchase@icess.ucsb.edu).
We strive to place orders
within 24 hours of their receipt (e.g. the form has all the required information
as well as all the correct authorizations), but request that you provide ample
time for
processing orders, except under emergency circumstances. This will allow us time
to work with other campus departments (e.g. Purchasing) if necessary, and will
decrease the need to expend additional funds for overnight shipping. Always
provide a date needed (not ASAP) when a required delivery date is
important, as well as the vendor name, phone number, fax number, address, and grant to be
utilized for the purchase. Any change in a purchase order that has been placed
must be coordinated through us and not directly with the
vendor.
2. Low-Value Purchase Orders:
a. Orders for supplies (under $2,500), which are to
be called or mailed in, must be placed by admin staff.
b. Orders for Software Depot should be forwarded to ipurchase@icess.ucsb.edu after visiting the Software Depot site (please see https://secureweb.ic.ucsb.edu/software-depot/ ) and locating the items needed and the related reference number(s).
c. Local pickup purchase orders (under $2,500) are
issued by administrative staff to specific vendors for items that are "needed
immediately." Since P.O. numbers will contain a "dash number" and are assigned
via a computerized system, making each number unique, you must OBTAIN A
PURCHASE ORDER FROM ICESS before making a purchase. Any purchase, with
billing to UCSB, which does not have the full P.O. number is considered
unauthorized by campus (see definition below) and the user may be responsible
for payment. After the purchase has been made, the RECEIPT MUST BE RETURNED
TO ICESS for processing.
d. Additional items may not be added to the
purchase order without the approval of ICESS staff. As additional items may
raise OMB A-21 issues, or may not be appropriate for the grant covering the
purchase, a phone call to x4885 verifying that changes to the order are
auditable will address this issue.
e. The issuance of repeat orders on consecutive
days to a vendor for the same materials or the issuance of multiple invoices by
a vendor using two or more dates in order to circumvent the established limit is
prohibited by UC policy and shall be considered cause for the withdrawal of
purchasing authority.
Purchases and transactions not
permitted under Low-Value Purchase Authorization:
a. Inventorial equipment. This is defined as a single stand-alone hardware item valued at $5,000.00 or more (including tax), with a useful life of at least one year
b. Equipment rental in excess of 30 days or in excess of $2,500 fee
c. Automatic External Defibrillators (AED)
d. Personal items (also including equipment repairs on personal equipment)
e. Animals
f. Alcohol, beverages, and ethyl alcohol (except denatured)
g. Radioactive materials
h. Narcotics, controlled substances, DEA controlled chemicals and/or dangerous drugs
i. Firearms, explosives, ammunition
j. Precious metals
k. Vehicles (for personal transportation including trucks, cars, boats) and real estate rentals/leases
l. Construction, alteration, repair or improvement to any University structure (including floor coverings, fume hoods, slot hoods)
m. Goods or services from any officer and employee of the University or from a near relative of any officer or employee
n. Professional and Personal Services
o. Bio-hazardous agents and Human tissues/fluids (bio-safety authorization required)
p. Charters (air, land, or sea)
q. Refrigerators or freezers
r. Respiratory protection items, SCUBA regulators
s. Bio-safety cabinets
t. Catering
u. Cellular phone services or pager services
v. Compressed gasses
w. Furniture
x. Lasers
y. Meals, travel, or entertainment
z. Pesticides
aa. Postage
ab. Pressure vessels
ac. Relocations: household or office moves
The above purchase transactions must
be placed with the UCSB Purchasing department via ICESS and may require approval
of other UC departments such as Environmental Health and
Safety.
3. All equipment orders, orders of the controlled
items listed above, and orders over $2,500 will be entered as a general
requisition on-line by ICESS staff and submitted to the UCSB Purchasing
Department for processing. The Purchasing Department will select the appropriate
vendor and place the order. Please remember vendor names on the preliminary
requisitions are only recommendations. Never commit an order directly with a
vendor that should be placed by the Purchasing Department. If you require that
an order be placed with a specific vendor, be sure to state so on the
preliminary requisition. Sole source justification will be needed for orders
over $50,000 (Sole Source forms can be obtained at the ICESS office or via a
downloadable form at
http://www.busserv.ucsb.edu/Forms/SoleSourceQuestionnaire.pdf). Any order
over $50,000 will be sent out to bid, a process taking approximately three to
four weeks. Please note that, depending on the funding agency, additional
requirements may have to be met.
4. Repetitive items of supply, services, and
repairs, which are needed over a stated period of time, require the initiation
of a vendor blanket. The vendor blanket number is applicable only between the
research grant(s) and the specific vendor for the goods or services outlined in
the initial vendor blanket authorization.
5. Petty cash reimbursements can be made up to $150
and only when normal purchasing procedures cannot be followed. Anything over
this amount should be purchased on a P.O. or it may be considered an
unauthorized purchase (see definition below). Reimbursements to individuals for
expenditures on behalf of the University must be supported by original
receipts.
6. A Request for Delivery Form is required for each
purchase at the campus bookstore. This form must be picked up from ICESS prior
to purchase. If you call or e-mail ICESS in advance (ipurchase@icess.ucsb.edu),
the paperwork will be waiting for you.
7. Before renting a vehicle for transportation of
equipment, be sure to coordinate through ICESS. Insurance
paid on a rental truck will not be reimbursed (please see the
Travel Policy for
current UC contract numbers or
http://www.ucop.edu/ucophome/policies/bfb/g28summary.pdf). The person renting the vehicle will be responsible
for any additional insurance charges. Vehicles from Transportation Services
should also be coordinated through ICESS.
8. General Administrative office supplies are now
considered appropriate to "A-21" funds or departmental funds only and cannot be
purchased using extramural funds (with few exceptions). If you would like
additional information on A-21 requirements, please let us
know.
9. Reprint and book orders must be submitted to
ICESS for processing.
INSURANCE:
University insurance only covers UC
equipment (value of over $5,000 as of 7/1/05). If there are signs of forced entry, there is a $1,000 per occurrence
deductible; otherwise the deductible is raised to $5,000 (non-forced entry). If
you would like to purchase additional coverage, the forced entry deductible can
be lowered to $250 while the non-forced entry can be lowered to $1,000. Please
contact the ICESS purchasing assistant at x4885 to purchase the additional
insurance. The request for additional insurance necessary for reducing the
deductible for equipment leaving campus must be submitted at least five working days
prior to the exit date for domestic shipping and at least three weeks in advance for
foreign shipping.
Please inform us of ANY UC Equipment
being shipped OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY. It is not necessary to purchase additional
insurance for items going to foreign locations. The equipment, however, will not
be covered during transit by UC insurance if it is not listed on the quarterly
report provided to Office of the President. Please provide us with the UC tag
number, destination, and dates the equipment will be in the foreign location(s).
This same requirement applies to domestic shipments with an aggregate
value of $100,000 or more.
EQUIPMENT:
Disposal of any equipment must be
coordinated through ICESS. If a piece of equipment is old,
surplus, or lost, please send an email to the ICESS purchasing assistant
(ipurchase@icess.ucsb.edu) or Kathy (kathys@icess.ucsb.edu) describing the
circumstance and nine digit UC Tag# for the item. We can then officially remove
the item from the departmental inventory. DO NOT simply throw something away
without notifying us first. It is equally important to notify us if you are
planning to loan or transfer a piece of equipment to another institution or
house the piece off-campus.
NOTE
(DEFINITIONS):
An
AUTHORIZED PURCHASE is a purchase transaction in accordance with
UC purchasing regulations. Generally, such a transaction is based on a purchase
requisition for a specific item (or items) submitted to the Department for
authority to acquire items from a specific vendor or a variety of
vendors.
An
UNAUTHORIZED PURCHASE is a purchase transaction made without
proper clearance/authorization which is intended to be charged to
University-controlled funds. An unauthorized purchase generally becomes evident
after the fact through an invoice from the vendor. At that point, a confirming
order must be submitted, accompanied by a statement explaining the circumstances
of the purchase, together with an account of steps taken to avoid a repetition
in the future.
Any
individual who makes an unauthorized purchase is personally
responsible for payment of the charge incurred, unless: a) The purchase
does not exceed $2,500 and b) in the opinion of the material manager the price
is reasonable and the circumstances relating to the purchase are justifiable. If
the material manager does not consider the price reasonable or the circumstances
justifiable, he/she may request the responsible person to return the item and
have the charge canceled or he/she may ask that the individual pay the
charge.
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