Maintenance Agreement/Service Contracts and Repairs
The purchase of maintenance agreements, service contracts, or repair services is an allowable charge to a project only if it can be shown as a direct, allocable cost. In order to provide a consistent method for showing that these costs are directly allocable to a sponsored project, principal investigators must complete and submit a "Maintenance/Repair Cost Allocation Documentation Form" (PR-040) with an OSU "Requisition Form" (1303) requesting the purchase of a maintenance agreement, service contract, or repair.
If the cost of a maintenance agreement or repair benefits two or more projects or university departments proportionately or, if the repair benefits activities that cannot be initially determined because of the interrelationship of the work, the initial cost charged to each project should be based on estimated usage. For maintenance agreements or repair, actual usage should be documented (e.g. by keeping a log book) during the period of use. The cost of that usage should then be transferred to the benefited project(s) at the end of the usage period. This transfer must be based on the actual, documented usage costs. This transfer may be accomplished by revising the "Maintenance/Repair Cost Allocation Documentation Form" and using the expenditure transfers procedures.
