Section 1816 - Furniture and Equipment Standards(a) Furniture and equipment within the meaning of Section 16014 of the Act means any article for furnishing and equipping a school plant which: (1) Meets all the following criteria (to distinguish from supplies) (A) It retains its original shape and appearance in use.(B) It is nonexpendable; that is if the article is damaged or some of its parts are lost or worn out, it is usually more feasible to repair it than to replace it with an entirely new unit.(C) It does not lose its identity through incorporation into a different or more complex unit or substance.(D) It represents an investment of money which make it feasible and advisable to capitalize the item.(E) Any item which cannot readily be classified as equipment rather than supplies according to the preceding criteria, shall be deemed to be an item of supplies.(F) It is not built-in and fixed equipment as determined by the Director of General Services.(G) It is not classified, pursuant to the Board's direction, as an item, the cost of which is to be paid out of the building cost allowance, irrespective of whether the item in any given instance is a part of the construction contract or is purchased separately from the construction contract.(b) For the purpose of making apportionments for furniture and equipment and to establish cost standards therefor, the term "classroom or pupil station" as used in Section 16034 of the Act means any space or other facility ordinarily utilized by students, and any auxiliary or general service facilities of the district that the Board determines should be equipped to facilitate proper functioning of instructional facilities or to provide for the health and welfare of the pupils.(c) Cost standards for furniture and equipment established by the Board shall be based upon the kinds, quality, quantities, unit costs, and total costs of furniture and equipment usually or most commonly supplied by non-State-aided school districts for comparable facilities, and shall include the effect of cost differentials due to location and periodic changes in the cost of such typical furniture and equipment.(d) The Director of General Services shall consult with the Department of Education and may independently, or jointly with the Department of Education, make such studies as may be appropriate for the purpose of developing suitable cost standards and revisions thereto. He shall report to the Board thereon once each calendar quarter and at such other times as he may deem warranted.(e) After the initial adoption of furniture and equipment cost standards by the Board, each such standard shall be reviewed by the Board and continued in effect or revised once each calendar quarter, except that in the event of a substantial omission or error, or in the event of a rapid change in the cost of furniture and equipment, the Board may, at any time, revise the cost standards so affected.(f) In the event the district has usable equipment on hand, or has encumbered district funds for furniture and equipment in sufficient quantity to equip all or a part of any eligible construction project, the Director of General Services shall determine the value of such furniture and equipment and the amount thereof shall be deducted from the amount otherwise allowable for furniture and equipment. In determining such deduction, the value assigned shall be based on the current value of commonly used new items of average quality and cost which have essentially the same general classification or function. The value assigned to any article may be deemed to be as computed in determining cost standards for furniture and equipment. Where the foregoing is deemed not to be feasible or good practice, alternate methods may be used for determining the adjustment for existing furniture and equipment, provided such methods conform to the intent of this paragraph.(g) Applications for furniture and equipment shall be submitted to the Board by including such furniture or equipment as may be necessary to: (1) Furnish or equip facilities appearing in an application for construction filed pursuant to the Act, or to furnish or equip (though not necessarily with the same articles) facilities previously constructed, the furniture or equipment for which will be utilized in whole or in part for the construction applied for; or(2) Furnish or equip facilities which have been constructed with funds under a grant from the Federal Public Works Act of 1976, where the district would have been eligible for an apportionment of funds for construction of such facilities under the Act.(h) Apportionments may be made by the Board for furniture and equipment that are substantially in accord with the quality, quantities, unit costs, and total costs of furniture and equipment utilized by the Board in determining cost standards. If any space or function is not equipped, or is equipped on a substantially lesser standard than is prescribed by this paragraph, the Director of General Services shall delete or reduce the allowance approved for such space or function, and shall reduce the project budget and any applicable apportionments accordingly.(i) The district shall submit a preliminary and a final cost estimate for furniture and equipment requested in an application, complying with the cost standards and allowances established by the Board and containing such detail as the Director of General Services and the Department of Education may require.(j) The preliminary cost estimate shall accompany the application of the district. A final cost estimate shall be submitted before the final plans and specifications for a construction project are approved by the Director of General Services unless the application is a separate application for furniture and equipment, or the Director of General Services determines that there is good cause for submitting the final cost estimate at a later time. Such final cost estimate shall detail the specific items the district proposes to acquire and the estimated cost thereof. The Director of General Services may approve the final cost estimate and authorize the district to proceed with acquisition of the items therein to the extent that the items in such estimate conform with law and with cost standards and with all requirements of the Board. Such approval shall further be contingent upon first receiving the approval of the Department of Education with respect to the items contained in the final cost estimate, which approval specifies the relative importance or necessity of the items contained in the estimate.(k) The Director of General Services may approve expenditures for items in order according to their importance or necessity as shown by the final cost estimate, and shall proceed no further than the point where the amount approved equals the amount provided by the cost standards. In the event the total amount approved or expended is less than the amount permitted by the cost standards, the amount of the project budget and the amount apportioned to the district may be reduced accordingly in the manner prescribed by Section 1826 of these regulations.(l) The Director of General Services shall not authorize the use of funds apportioned for furniture and equipment which he may deem to be for the use of school attendance in excess of the estimated average attendance allocated to the construction project unless he determines, on the basis of a supplemental estimate of average daily attendance submitted by the district within two years of the date of the original estimate approved with the application, that the apportionment for such furniture and equipment is justified by reason of the increased attendance shown by such estimate.(m) Other provisions of this regulation notwithstanding, the Director of General Services may, prior to the time he approves the final plans for a construction project, authorize the purchase of all or a portion of the tables, desks, and chairs requested in the application for such construction project, provided such furniture, because of increased attendance in the district, is required for temporary use in classrooms unit said furniture can be installed in the completed construction project.(n) Nothing in this regulation shall be construed as a prohibition on the Board or the Director of General Services from requiring competitive bids in any case where, in the judgment of the Board or of the Director of General Services, competitive bids would result in a lower cost for furniture and equipment than would other methods of purchase permitted to school districts.Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 2, § 1816
1. Repealer of subsection (g)(2) and amendment of subsection (j) filed 5-29-75; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 75, No. 22).
2. Amendment of subsections (a) and (b) and NOTE filed 4-29-77; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 77, No. 18).
3. Amendment of subsection (g) filed 4-4-78 as an emergency; effective upon filing (Register 78, No. 14). Note: Authority cited: Section 16009, Education Code. Reference: Sections 16014 and 16034, Education Code.
1. Repealer of subsection (g)(2) and amendment of subsection (j) filed 5-29-75; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 75, No. 22).
2. Amendment of subsections (a) and (b) and NOTE filed 4-29-77; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 77, No. 18).
3. Amendment of subsection (g) filed 4-4-78 as an emergency; effective upon filing (Register 78, No. 14).