Policy 38

Furnishing Standards

Approved Executive Committee of the Board of Governors 67.23

FURNISHING STANDARDS

OBJECTIVE

  1. The purpose of this policy is to establish principles governing the purchase of office furniture. Furniture must meet the needs of users, be functional and aesthetic, of modest cost and harmonize with the premises.

  2. Furnishing standards are described in Procedure No. Materials Management 4-1.

    The standards described were established on the basis of quality, comfort and security necessary to the execution of the work. They also provide a certain degree of cohesion in the purchase of furniture, resulting in significant savings as well as a higher level of adaptability in different surroundings. However, in particular circumstances (such as furniture bought through research grants), the Director of Materials Management Services may authorize an exception to the policy or procedure.

POLICY

  1. Furniture purchases are not decentralized. They are exclusively performed by Materials Management Services.
  2. The Director of Materials Management Services may, under exceptional circumstances, bypass the present policy to authorize the purchase of used furniture if the request is justified.
  3. Standards adopted for ergonomic chairs and workstations are the ones set forth by Info Pro, a Division of Bell Canada, in the book "Ergonomic Guidelines for Visual Display Terminals".

  4. Furniture shall be purchased in agreement with standards established for the following categories of staff members.

    GROUP 1: Assistant vice-rectors, deans, vice-deans, associate deans, directors of services and directors of departments in the academic section.

    GROUP 2: Teaching staff, division heads or the equivalent, administrative officers or similar positions having 380 points or more.

    GROUP 3: All other support staff up to levels of 379 points.

IMPLEMENTATION

  1. This policy and the standards of Procedure No. Materials Management 4-1 apply to all existing/future buildings, as well as rented facilities.
  2. Special requests for furniture, including made to measure furniture, are analyzed by Materials Management Services and Physical Plant Services. Should the requester disagree with the recommendations obtained from Materials Management Services and Physical Plant Services, a request may be presented to the Comptroller, Financial Resources who will bring a final decision on the subject.

COSTS

  1. In considering trade-off between costs, quality and aesthetic, priority will be given to the product having the most favourable "life-cycle cost".
  2. The cost of moving and/or purchasing furniture/equipment must be included in the total estimated cost of all renovation/refurbishing projects.

MOVING

  1. Furniture and equipment must not be moved unless required by the present user in the new location. The person responsible for the area concerned must study the financial impact of the move and/or the replacement costs of furniture/equipment before deciding what course of action to take.
  2. The manager of the Administrative Division of the Materials Management Services will participate in discussions as to what furniture will no longer be used.
  3. All surplus furniture/equipment must be sent to Materials Management Services as stipulated in Policy No.65 and Procedure No. Materials Management 4-5, Use or Disposal of Surplus or Obsolete Furniture and Equipment.

EXCEPTION

  1. No exception may be made to this policy without the written consent of the Administrative Committee.

Revised January 31, 1990

(Materials Management Services)