Equipment and Vendor Screening Requirements on Federal Awards
The U.S. Government restricts the purchasing and use of certain equipment and vendors on certain federally funded projects.
To help ensure George Mason does not purchase or use prohibited equipment, those responsible for purchasing must screen vendors against U.S. Government restricted party lists before completing equipment purchases on federal awards. Note that purchases made through the Purchasing Office are screened by the Purchasing team.
This screening requirement applies specifically to equipment purchases (including equipment under $5,000) using federal funds. A specific definition of “equipment” has not yet been provided for purposes of these restrictions, nor has it been stated that the definition of equipment in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) applies. Therefore, this guidance takes a broad approach and includes items that could reasonably be considered equipment, regardless of cost.
Examples of purchases that require screening are provided in the P-Card Purchase – Research Security Screening Table. This table is an effort to identify potential categories that purchasers may see, but it should not be viewed as complete. Updates will be provided as new federal guidance is published. When in doubt about whether a purchase may be considered equipment, please screen the vendor in Visual Compliance.
Questions regarding federal research security screening requirements should be directed to [email protected].
Role-based Guidance and Access to Visual Compliance Screening
- A new question has been added in RAMP regarding equipment and supplies.
- Respond “yes” to this question if the proposal budget includes a line item for equipment or supplies.
- The “supplies” category is included only to capture items under $5,000 that could reasonably be considered equipment. It excludes consumable laboratory supplies and basic office equipment, such as computers, laptops, or printers. Examples of items that may be considered equipment are provided in the table provided here.
- If you respond “yes:”
- This will not impact proposal submission process or timeline.
- Please make the PI aware that vendor screening may be required before purchases are made on the award.
- Unless required by the sponsor, you do not need to provide an itemized list of equipment or supplies or identify a vendor at the time of submission. If the sponsor does require this information, please contact [email protected] to ensure screening is conducted in advance of submission.
- P-Cardholders or those making equipment purchases with federal funds (funds beginning with 20XXXX) must ensure vendors are screened in Visual Compliance before making the equipment purchase. This helps ensure that purchases made with federal funds comply with applicable federal research security restrictions.
- The screening requirement applies to equipment purchases—including equipment under $5,000—on federal awards. Please review the table for examples of purchases that require screening.
- Visit the Export Compliance Restricted Party Screening page to identify a screener in your college, department, or unit. Send the vendor information to the screener in your college, and request a Visual Compliance Screening.
- If no screener is listed for your college, department, or unit, please contact [email protected] for screening assistance or to request access and training for the Visual Compliance screening tool.