Revised 09/07

1. General
2. Responsibilities and Approvals
   1. Laboratory Director, Deputy Director, Associate Laboratory Director for Operations, and Director's Action Committee
   2. Facilities Division
   3. Berkeley Lab Divisions
   4. Environment, Health, and Safety (EH&S) Division
   5. Office of the Chief Financial Officer
   6. Project Coordinating Committee
   7. GPE Review Committee
   8. Department of Energy/Federal Project Director
3. Process and Schedule
   1. Candidate Project Identification
   2. Institutional Review and Prioritization
   3. Communication of Project Funding Status
4. Mid-Year Changes to GPP, NCA, and GPE Projects
5. Definitions
   1. Line Item Projects (LIPs)
   2. General Plan Projects (GPPs/Institutional General Plan Projects (IGPPs))
   3. Non-Capital Alterations (NCAs)
   4. General Purpose Equipment (GPE)
   5. Capitalization Criteria
   6. Betterments
   7. Risk-Based Priority Model Score
   8. Capital Asset Management Plan Score
   9. Laboratory Corrective Action Tracking System
6. References

A. GENERAL

Berkeley Lab's Unified Project Call Process:

• Provides programmatic and infrastructure organizations with the opportunity to examine their operational needs and to submit prioritized candidate Line Item Project (LIP), General Plant Project (GPP), Non-Capital Alteration (NCA), and General Purpose Equipment (GPE) proposals in the budget process.
  
• Serves as a vehicle for implementation of the Laboratory’s mission as expressed by Laboratory management and documented in Berkeley Lab's Ten-Year Site Plan and Institutional Plan.
  
• Facilitates Laboratory-wide coordination of divisional project proposals, Laboratory Corrective Action Tracking System (LCATS) project proposals, and Laboratory infrastructure improvement and expansion project proposals.
  
• Identifies sources of funding to adapt facilities to new or improved production techniques, effect economies of operations, and reduce or eliminate health, fire, and security problems.
  

B. RESPONSIBILITIES AND APPROVALS

1. Laboratory Director, Deputy Director, Associate Laboratory Director for Operations, and Director's Action Committee

• At the inception of the annual Unified Project Call, the Laboratory Director, Deputy Director, and Associate Laboratory Director for Operations—in consultation with the Planning and Strategic Development Director, the EH&S Division Director, the Facilities Division Director, the Information Technology Division (ITD) Director, and the Chief Financial Officer—establish funding goals and priorities for the Call. The Director's Action Committee (DAC) provides final review and approval of these goals and priorities.
  
• The Laboratory Director, upon recommendations from the Deputy Director, the Associate Laboratory Director for Operations, and Associate Laboratory Directors, appoints five research division deputies (one from each Laboratory area) to serve on the Project Coordinating Committee.

2. Facilities Division

• Issues the Unified Project Call. This invitation to submit candidate projects will outline the goals and priorities established by Laboratory management.
  
• Schedules meetings at which a member of the Architectural and Engineering (A/E) staff and a member of the Facilities Planning staff discuss potential candidate projects with the division deputy of each Laboratory division. The division deputy may invite others at the division deputy’s discretion.
  
• Schedules a meeting during which each division deputy presents his or her division’s top three to five projects to the Project Coordinating Committee or, for overhead-supported divisions, the GPE Review Committee.
  
• Schedules a meeting with the Budget Officer to ensure that the appropriate funding source has been identified for all candidate projects that are likely to be approved during the institutional review process.
  
  NOTE: Major changes to project scope must be reviewed by the Budget Officer to ensure that the previously identified funding source is still appropriate to the new scope.
• Reviews all submittals to resolve conflicting or duplicate project requests.
  
• Provides initial Risk-Based Priority Model (RPM) and Capital Asset Management Plan (CAMP) scores for all candidate projects and obtains cost estimates, as needed.
  
• Serves as staff to the Chair of the Project Coordinating Committee and Chair of the GPE Review Committee.
  
• Communicates project funding status and changes to division directors and division deputies on an as-needed basis, but not less frequently than quarterly.
  
• Continuously updates the project call database to ensure that Berkeley Lab management has the most accurate information to make funding decisions.
  
• Obtains the Federal Project Director’s approval to start design and construction for all GPPs on Project Management’s Planning List and for NCAs with an estimate over $500,000.

3. Berkeley Lab Divisions

• Under the direction of its division deputy, each division compiles a list of candidate projects and reviews them, with assistance of Facilities Division staff, for eligibility.
  
  NOTE: The Facilities Division and the Budget Officer will identify funding type. Divisions are to submit candidate projects without regard to the potential funding source.
• Prioritize project requests in order of importance to the division, regardless of funding type.

4. Environment, Health, and Safety (EH&S) Division

• Reviews project requests that can be tracked and possibly funded through the Laboratory Corrective Action Tracking System (LCATS).

5. The Office of the Chief Financial Officer

• The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) appoints a representative, currently the Budget Officer, to serve on the Project Coordinating Committee and the GPE Review Committee.
  
• The CFO and Budget Officer review and provide written approval of the appropriateness of the funding type for each committee-selected project.

6. Project Coordinating Committee

The Project Coordinating Committee provides institutional review and prioritization of LIP, GPP, and NCA requests, and is composed of the following members:

• A division deputy from each Laboratory organizational area, i.e., Computing Sciences, Physical Sciences, Energy Sciences, Biosciences, and General Sciences.
  • One of these five division deputies will serve as chair to the committee for a one-year term.
  • This is a rotating assignment, with three division deputies being replaced as Project Coordinating Committee members each year. No division deputy will be asked to serve more than three consecutive years.
• Planning and Strategic Development Director
• Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) representative (identified by the Chief Financial Officer)
• EH&S Division Deputy
• EH&S Division Environmental Protection Group Leader
• Engineering Division Deputy (identified by the Engineering Division Director)
• Facilities Division Deputy
• Facilities Division Space Planning Lead (staff to committee)
• Budget Officer (staff to committee)

7. GPE Review Committee

The GPE Review Committee provides institutional review and prioritization of GPE requests and is composed of the following members:

• Facilities Division Director (Chair)
• The Chief Financial Officer
• EH&S Division Director
• Engineering Division Director
• Facilities Division Space Planning Lead (staff to committee)
• Budget Officer (staff to committee)
• ITD Deputy

8. Department of Energy / Federal Project Director

The Federal Project Director authorizes the GPP Planning List (created by the Facilities Division) for all GPPs, all GPEs, and for NCAs with a Total Estimated Cost (TEC) of greater than $500,000. This authorization also includes approval of proposed funding type. The Federal Project Director then approves project-specific Construction Directive Authorizations for GPPs and GPEs with a total estimated cost (TEC) greater than $500,000.

C. PROCESS AND SCHEDULE

1. Candidate Project Identification

2. Institutional Review and Prioritization

3. Communication of Project Funding Status

D. MID-YEAR CHANGES TO GPP, NCA, AND GPE PROJECTS

Changing conditions throughout the year necessitate that changes be made to the projects selected by the Project Coordinating Committee and GPE Review Committee. These changes include such things as reduced program funding, reprioritization of research activities, etc. To ensure institutional support of the proposed mid-year change, the following must take place:

1. Facilities Planning, the appropriate committee chair, and the Facilities Division Deputy:
   • Review the programmatic implications of the change with the division originally requesting the project and the financial implications of the change with the division responsible for completing the project.
   • Identify projects to be added to or removed from the list or projects that can have their funding allocation adjusted to accommodate the proposed change.
2. The Budget Officer reviews the requested change and provides written approval of the appropriateness of the funding type.
3. Facilities Planning prepares documentation of the reasons for and scope of the proposed change and forwards it, along with a revised funding list, to the chair of the appropriate committee and the Facilities Division Deputy.
   • Funding adjustments that do not involve adding or removing projects from the list may be approved by the Facilities Division Director, with the concurrence of the chair of the appropriate committee and the appropriate Deputy Laboratory Director.
     • Institutional Committee members will be informed of the changes.
   • Changes to the project list that either fund projects not previously selected by the institutional committee or remove funding for previously selected projects must be approved by the appropriate committee.
     • The appropriate institutional committee will review the proposed changes through either a convened meeting or e-mail poll.
     • The Facilities Division Director will implement the changes approved by the appropriate committee.
4. Following approval as outlined above, the Facilities Division will notify division directors, division deputies, and others identified by division deputies.

E. DEFINITIONS

1. Line Item Projects (LIPs)

• LIP funds are used for institutional infrastructure project activities that are specifically reviewed and appropriated by Congress through a process managed by DOE. These projects should be submitted at least three years prior to the desired construction start. LIPs are then submitted to DOE for approval two years prior to the requested start date. LIPs have no project scale or schedule limit, and no specific cost cap.
• LIPs should be consistent with the Laboratory's Ten-Year Site Plan and Institutional Plan.
• LIPs include design and construction of large new facilities, such as:
  • Equipment installed in and made part of a facility
  • Related site preparation including excavation, filling, and landscaping
  • Other land improvements
• Multiple LIPs may be developed and funded to address related aspects or phases, or a particular need or concern
• LIPs are capitalized, and result in betterments to land or facilities

2. General Plant Projects (GPPs)/Institutional General Plant Projects (IGPPs)

• GPPs/IGPPs are miscellaneous minor new construction projects of a general nature, the total estimated costs of which may not exceed the congressionally established limit (currently $5 million). GPP funds come directly from DOE. IGPP funds are derived from the conversion of Laboratory operating funds to capital funds under certain strict provisions.
  NOTE: Overhead rates may not be increased for the sole purpose of generating additional funds to convert to IGPP.
• GPP/IGPP projects provide for design or construction (or both), additions and improvements to land, buildings, and utility systems, and they may include the construction of small new buildings, replacements or additions to roads, and general area improvements.
• GPP/IGPP funds are not intended to be used in incremental segments to construct larger facilities. Care should be exercised to ensure that each specific project is a discrete, stand-alone entity. Each project is to result in the delivery of a complete and usable facility, including the initial complement of equipment required for the facility to meet its intended purpose.
• GPPs/IGPPs are capitalized and result in betterments to land or facilities.
• The U.S. Comptroller General has established as federal policy that, in general, the federal government may not make permanent improvements to land or buildings not federally owned. Therefore, GPP funds cannot be used for projects involving off-site leased and University of California campus facilities.

   

3. Non-Capital Alterations (NCAs)

• Alterations are adjustments to interior arrangements or other physical characteristics of an existing facility so that it may be more effectively adapted to or used for its designated purpose. Alterations do not result in betterments. Examples of alterations are as follows:
  • Removal or installation of interior walls for purposes of rearranging the layout of an office building, and incidental heating and ventilation ducting system modifications that do not significantly extend the capacity of the system;
  • Construction of a door or passage through an interior structural wall;
  • Installation of new lighting fixtures that do not significantly increase the lumens emitted but may result in energy or maintenance savings.
• NCA or operating funds may be used for "improvements to the property of others" such as projects in off-site-leased and University of California Campus facilities.
• NCAs are not capitalized.

4. General Purpose Equipment (GPE)

GPE funds are designated for institutional project support. Research-oriented equipment, which is normally funded with programmatic funds, may not be purchased with GPE funds. The following limits apply to GPE purchases:

• Equipment must exceed $25,000 and two years of useful life.
• Equipment installation costs should not exceed $2 million or 20% of the total equipment cost (construction funds should be used to pay for installation costs exceeding those amounts).
• Equipment must not be permanently affixed to the real estate and must be removable without seriously damaging or diminishing the functional value of either the real estate or the items themselves, for example:
  • Heavy equipment, including vehicles, processing or manufacturing machinery, and shop machinery;
  • Automated data-processing equipment includes computers, printers, operating system software, and interface peripherals.
• GPEs are capitalized.

5. Capitalization Criteria

Individual plant and capital equipment (P&CE) items that are purchased, constructed, or fabricated in-house (including major modifications or improvements—e.g., betterments—to any of these items) are capitalized if they have an anticipated service life of two years or more and if they cost $25,000 or more. The only exceptions are items that are inherently experimental, used as special tools, or, by nature of their association with a particular scientific experiment, not expected to have an extended useful service life or an alternative future use. Further detail can be found in the DOE Accounting Handbook, Chapter 10: Plant and Capital Equipment, Paragraph 1d.

6. Betterments

Betterments are improvements to P&CE that result in better quality work, higher capacity, extended useful life, or work required to accommodate regulatory changes. Betterments are capitalized. Determining when and to what extent an expenditure should be treated as a betterment requires judgment. When a minor item is replaced in each of a number of similar units, the effect of the replacement as related to each unit, rather than to the cumulative costs, is the proper basis for determining whether or not a betterment is effected. Although a particular project may meet the characteristic of a betterment, if the capitalization criteria are not met or the improvement added is insignificant, then the project should be expensed. Listed below are the various terms that are commonly used to describe various categories of betterments.

• Construction is the erection, installation, or assembly of a new plant facility; the addition, expansion, improvement, or replacement of an existing facility; or the relocation of a facility. Construction includes equipment installed in and made part of the facility and related site preparation; excavation, filling, and landscaping, or other land improvements; and design of the facility. Examples of improvements to an existing facility include the following types of work:
  • Replacing standard walls with fireproof walls.
  • Installing a fire-sprinkler system in a space that was previously not protected with a sprinkler system.
  • Replacing utility system components with significantly larger-capacity components (e.g., replacing a 200-ton chiller with a 300-ton chiller) and converting the functional purpose of a room (e.g., converting an office into a computer room).
• Conversion is a major structural revision of a facility that changes the functional purpose for which the facility was originally designed or used.
• Replacement is a complete reconstruction of a facility or equipment item that has deteriorated or has been damaged beyond the point where its individual parts can be economically repaired.

7. Risk-Based Priority Model Score

Derived by a risk-analysis scoring method weighted toward environment, health, and safety concerns, the Risk-Based Priority Model (RPM) score is calculated for all projects as an aid to ranking.

8. Capital Asset Management Plan Score

Derived by a risk-analysis scoring method weighted toward infrastructure concerns, the Capital Asset Management Plan (CAMP) score is calculated for all projects as an aid to ranking.

9. Laboratory Corrective Action Tracking System

The Laboratory Corrective Action Tracking System (LCATS) is administered by the EH&S Division to track and record deficiencies and corrective actions identified through divisional self-assessment inspections.

F. REFERENCES

1. LBNL's Ten-Year Site Plan
2. LBNL’s Institutional Plan
3. DOE O 430.1B: Real Property Asset Management
4. DOE Accounting Handbook