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Tagging and Identification of Equipment

(Approved by the Executive Vice President by authority of Executive Order No. 5)

University departments must immediately tag all acquired equipment upon receipt. Equipment too small or impractical to tag will be assigned a number and listed on the inventory record as a "NOTAG" item.

Tagging equipment requires the following steps:

Failure to tag equipment and enter the information in Web OASIS (or complete the Equipment Information Card) in a timely manner will result in entry of only accounts payable invoice data to the inventory system. Notification of a department's pending assets are indicated on the Departmental Asset Control Sheets sent to departments; in "Equipment Needing Tags (PTEs)" in the Asset Search Screen on Web OASIS; or located at the end of the annual Physical Inventory Listing. Pending assets must be cleared immediately by tagging equipment and entering the information on the Asset Entry/Inquiry Screen in Web OASIS (or sending in the Asset Control Sheet).

Note: It is important to have complete information entered into the inventory system so that entries can be reconciled with the disbursement records. Do not wait for receipt of an Asset Control Sheet before tagging and recording new assets, as payment can occur significantly later than receipt of the asset. Assets that are missing data will remain in a pending status, which could pose a liability risk to the department.

3.   Federally Owned Equipment

Equipment furnished or loaned to the University from the federal government, for periods extending longer than six months and costing $2,000 or more, must be tagged and inventoried in Web OASIS upon receipt. Items received costing less than $2,000 must be monitored and accounted for separately by the receiving department. The Equipment Inventory Office can supply each department with "federally owned" labels to be affixed next to the state equipment tag applied by University departments.

4.   Sensitive Items

All weapons and firearms of any value must be tagged and inventoried. Only weapons and firearms costing less than $2,000 should be coded 05–10 (see Administrative Policy Statement 61.2, Section 1.a, for the definition of sensitive items). Weapons and firearms costing more than $2,000 should be coded 06–90 or 06–91. It is recommended that other items of a sensitive nature that are not included in Administrative Policy Statement 61.2, Section 1.a, be internally inventoried, inscribed or marked with indelible ink as property of the University of Washington, or affixed with a barcoded noninventorial tag.

5.   Noninventorial Assets

Equipment items which are not inventorial, but appear to be, may be tagged with noninventorial tags supplied by the Equipment Inventory Office. These items should be tracked by the department internally on Web OASIS, as they will not be tracked by the Equipment Inventory Office.

6.   Personal Computers

Affix the inventory tag to the base unit of the computer workstation (i.e., the CPU). (See Administrative Policy Statement 61.2, Section 1.d, for a definition of a personal computer workstation.) Only the CPU (with the workstation's total price) will be part of the University's official property records and physical inventory requirements. Workstation components may contain separate property tags and may be separately tracked within Web OASIS for insurance and maintenance purposes. Purple noninventorial tags should be affixed next to existing inventory tag labels on computer workstation peripherals. Computer items are noninventorial and should be tagged with noninventorial tags. It is also recommended that significant components be inscribed or marked with indelible ink as property of the University of Washington, along with the department name (or federal government/private agency identification), or affixed with barcoded noninventorial tags.

7.   Additional Information

For further information contact the Equipment Inventory Office:

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