Equipment
Tangible property with a useful life over one year and a per-unit cost at or above the equipment threshold ($5,000 for NIH awards, up to $10,000 under the 2024 Uniform Guidance): excluded from the F&A base.
Under the 2024 Uniform Guidance, equipment is tangible personal property lasting more than a year whose per-unit acquisition cost meets the lesser of the institution's own capitalization level or $10,000 (raised from $5,000). NIH rescinded the higher threshold for its awards in April 2026, so NIH awards still use $5,000. Anything below the threshold is treated as a supply.
The distinction drives budgeting: equipment is excluded from the Modified Total Direct Cost base, so it carries no F&A, and it comes with inventory, use, and disposition requirements the institution must track for the life of the award.
Classifying a purchase as equipment vs. supply changes both the F&A recovered and the tracking obligations that follow.
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