Note: This policy, effective July 1, 2005, is provided as a courtesy for University staff planning future equipment purchases. For equipment purchased before July 1, return to the current V-12.2 Definition of Equipment.

The Federal Government defines equipment, in both OMB (Office of Management and Budget) Circulars A-21 and A-110, as an item of non-expendable, tangible personal property, having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost which equals or exceeds the lesser of the capitalization level established by the recipient organization for financial statement purposes, or $5,000. Since the University's definition of equipment must conform to the federal government definition, it has established a capitalization level of $5,000 and a useful life of more than one year (including fabricated equipment, purchased computer software, and computer software developed internally) for all departments other than University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics (UIHC) departments in the range of department numbers 7000 through 8699. The capitalization level for UIHC departments 7000 through 8699 continues to be $2,000 and a useful life of more than one year.

Each item of equipment acquired will be assigned a serially numbered University tag. Non-capitalized items (valued at less than the appropriate University threshold) may be identified with an unnumbered tag furnished by the Property Management Office. These tags will be marked "Property of The University of Iowa." University equipment that is federally titled must also be tagged with a government label that indicates federal ownership and the applicable federal agency.
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