CSP Inventory & Equipment

Club Societies and Project's (CSP's) often require equipment, machinery, assets or items in order to carry out their activities and events. Anything owned by a CSP is classed as Union property. Both CSP leaders and the Union have a legal responsibility to ensure we have accurate records of what is owned, that anything being used is safe, that appropriate storage is in place and if necessary maintenance schedules are upkept.  To ensure that these legal requirements are met student groups must follow the processes outlined below: 

  • 1. Complete the Annual Inventory Process
    Step 1: Review what your group owns

    All student groups must review what equipment, assets, machinery or items they own before the start of term and before their activities start. Hopefully this information and all equipment was handed over from the previous committee, but if not, you can start over easily. If your CSP owns anything, you must follow all the steps below. If your CSP does not own anything, you can skip to Step 4 and simply complete the form noting your doesn't own anything.

    As part of this review, if you notice that you need additional storage space, the form has a section which will allow you to make a request for additional new storage. It will also give you space to raise any concerns with the current storage spaces you have. 

    Step 2: Complete the Equipment Inventory Template

    If your CSP has equipment, you will be asked to complete and attach the equipment inventory template. This template records lots of important details regarding what you own. It is important you fill this out to the best of your abilities. There are lots of fields however not all questions will apply to each piece of equipment you own (i.e does this item have a serial number).

    As part of the inventory, you will be asked to let us know whether you think each item is of low, medium or high risk. If you have any medium or high risk equipment you will need to complete the extra section at the end of the inventory outlining how you are going to manage those risks. 

    Download an inventory template here

    Step 3: Submit your Inventory and Storage Form 

    Please use the button below to open and fill in a inventory and storage form. The activities team will mark your e-Activities Inventory flag as complete or exempt and keep a record of your inventories. We will work on making these available to you in the near future once approved. If you have requested any additional or new storage, we will be emailing those successful within 10 working days. If you do not hear back, you unfortunately have not been successful in acquiring storage space. 

    Submit an Inventory and Storage Form Here

  • 2. Usage of CSP-Owned Equipment

    Equipment which belongs to your Group should only be used by your members. We highly advise that groups have a process of managing members borrowing equipment for personal use to ensure it returned properly.

    If another CSP or an external group wishes to use your equipment, an agreement should be drawn up between them detailing any payment and conditions of hire. Hiring out CSP equipment out is a good way for groups to generate SGI, as long as the procedure is clear in the event that the items get lost, stolen or broken.

    We will be creating a template hire agreement form and attaching it here in the near future to help you reach these agreements.

    Before agreeing to hire equipment to any group that is not a Club, Society or Project, email a copy of your hire agreement to the Activities Team to be signed off by a member of staff.

  • 3. Maintenance and Equipment Safety

    It is important that all equipment, assets, machinery and items used by your members is safe for use. 

    Please ensure any items that require a trained professional or committee member for use is kept locked and safe, making sure that members cannot use it without that individual present. 

    If any of your items require professional maintenance and or sign off for use, please ensure you have a regular update schedule listed in your inventory and that you have kept signed copies of maintenance logs to submit with Inventories otherwise the Union will ask you to discontinue use until you have these.

    The condition of your items is an important part of safety, please ensure that if any items have fallen into disrepair or are broken that you cease use of these items and store them safely until the item can be repaired or disposed of. 

  • 4. Disposing of Items Properly

    Any item owned by Clubs, Societies, and Projects is the property of the Union – if you wish to sell or dispose any equipment with a total current value of more than £500 you must first obtain permission from the Students' Union. You can do this by completing an Item Disposal Request Form below. Most items can be recycled through the College waste system, take a look at the waste directory website for guidance. 

    Any item under the value of £500 you can dispose of yourself as long as it is done safely and appropriately. If it is under £500 and you cannot dispose of the item safely or if it is an electrical item, please complete an Item Disposal Request Form.

    To assist groups in continually managing their inventories, we will arrange skips for the disposal of items up to 3 times per year including once at the beginning of Term 1. Once you have disposed of an item, please ensure you remove it from your inventory. 

    Item Disposal Request Form Coming Soon

  • 5. Replacement of Lost or Damaged Items

    Replacing loss or damage of CSP equipment worth less than £10,000 is normally covered by the Activities Development Fund if funds are available, whilst anything over £10,000 in value will go through our insurance process.

    Having an inventory and proper management processes for the use of your equipment is important as if the an item is lost, damaged or stolen but not on an inventory or managed properly the insurance company or the Union will not pay out for a replacement.

Insurance

The college has an insurance policy which supports CSP equipment, assets, machinery and items. However the policy only covers the items if they are on an inventory and managed properly. The excess on the policy is high so it is important to manage your items appropriately. Further details on inventory insurance will be added here in the near future. 


Equipment Policy

For more information please see our CSP Equipment Policy. This policy is due for review in over the coming months, some of this page already contradicts some of the policy as it has grown out of date. If you have any thoughts on this policy, please email activities@imperial.ac.uk and this will be fed up to the Deputy President Clubs and Societies as well as into the policy review.


FAQ's

  • My Student Group has its own digital system to manage our inventory. What should we do?

    There is a space on your inventory and storage request form for you to let us know that you have a digital platform, unless you can download an easy report and attach it to the form - don't worry. Our team will reach out to you to discuss this in more depth and support you to ensure you are meeting your legal requirements. 

  • We have brought an new item or disposed of an item in the middle of the year, do we need to update the Union?

    Your legal requirement would require you to update your inventory yourself and keep a record of it.

    If the item is low risk and under £500, other than update your inventory, there is nothing else you need to do. You should then hand this inventory over to the next committee and then they will use the annual process to update the Union. 

    If a new item is of a medium or high risk or over the value of £500, then please drop an email to you activities@imperial.ac.uk to let us know about the item and attach an updated copy of your inventory. This will allow us to support appropriately.

  • The PAT test renewal date has passed? What should we do?

    The Union runs regular PAT testing opportunities for CSPs and their equipment. You should have received communications for this. We advise that you stop using this item and contact the Union on activities@imperial.ac.uk and they can confirm when the next PAT testing session is. If not, your group can arrange and pay for a PAT test yourselves out of the CSP account and just update your inventory. 

  • I can see there is an inventory tab in my E-Activities Documentation, do I have to do anything with this?

    No, we are moving away from using that module on E-Activities, there is just a delay in removing it from the system.