Capital Equipment
Capital equipment is tangible property having an acquisition value of $5,000 or more and a useful life expectancy of more than one year. Group purchases of tangible property that individually have acquisition values of less than $5,000 are not considered capital equipment and will be expensed. Fabricated equipment, which has an aggregate cost of $5,000 or more and a useful life expectancy of at least one year, is considered capital equipment. Repairs, maintenance parts or components, warranty costs, maintenance contracts or annual software licensing fees are not considered capital equipment and will be expensed.
Purchasing Capital Equipment
Faculty can purchase capital equipment using the Life Sciences PO system. If the vendor does not require a signature or the item is under $25,000 the PO will be issued right away. If the vendor requires a signed contract, send an email to life-sciences@northwestern.edu and attach the contract and other supporting documentation to the email. Make sure to acknowledge that you put an order in the Life Sciences PO system already. The materials and contract will be reviewed by the General Counsel office at Northwestern University. Please allow 2 to 3 weeks for review and signature.
Capital Equipment Inventory
Northwestern University maintains its equipment inventory to track capital equipment. The inventory includes capital equipment in many of NU's buildings as well as some off-site locations. Inventory is managed in the departments.
The Assistant Chairs of Molecular Biosciences and Neurobiology are the capital equipment unit representatives.