This constitutes a policy under which the space should deal with offers of donations or loans of items that it may find useful. It is intended to keep the space tidy, and prevent the space from having to deal with equipment that it either has no use for, no space for, or both.
Donations are items given to the space, and become the property of the space when the space accepts it under this policy.
Items on loan belong to the person who is loaning them, who is allowing use of them by the members, and is leaving them in the space. They may attach conditions to the loan, which must be agreed with the trustees.
Procedure for donating or loaning items
Small items – screwdrivers, drill bits, thread, wire, collets, small numbers of electronic components, etc:
- Can just be brought in, as long as there is space in a location where similar items are currently kept – screwdriver drawers, sewing boxes, mill cabinet, etc.
- Before bringing in, check we are not accumulating duplicates unnecessarily.
- A message must be sent on the #general slack channel saying that the item is being brought in.
- If it is an add-on to an existing piece of equipment, relevant superusers should be consulted.
- If items need organising by others, such as on a Hack The Space, the donor must ensure there are members willing to organise them, before bringing them into the space
Medium sized equipment – benchtop equipment, power tools:
- A quorum of trustees must decide whether to accept the loan.
- A message must first be sent on the #general slack channel explaining what the item is.
- A quorum of trustees must judge the item on whether it is likely to be of use, in part based on the response of the members in Slack when the item is proposed, and whether there is physical space.
- If the trustees do not approve an item, but there are members who believe the item should still be donated/loaned, the decision may go to a members meeting.
- An item should not be brought into the space until it has been accepted
Large equipment – floor standing equipment:
- Items should not be brought in without the approval of a members meeting, or in cases where this is not practical, the approval of a quorum of trustees.
- Particular types of equipment may be pre-approved by members’ meetings, e.g. a mill, and the conditions on this being loaned or donated may be set by that meeting.
Considerations
The following must be considered before any tool, equipment or consumable is loaned or donated:
- Whether there is space
- Whether the equipment is going to be useful to other members
- Whether it requires a new risk assessment, or changes to an existing one
- The cost of maintenance
- The cost of operation
Additional Rules
A quorum of trustees, or the members in a members meeting, may require that the donator of any item take it back 1 month after it is brought in, and a loaner of an item at any time while it is in the space.
The trustees or the members in a members meeting may require a risk assessment be completed for a new item before members can use it.
Items loaned that are essential parts of critical infrastructure may only be recovered by their owners with a minimum of 2 months notice, or per an agreement with the trustees or relevant team. Critical infrastructure is anything required for the makerspace to be accessible or otherwise operate – primarily water, electricity, locks, doors and network infrastructure.
This is to allow time for the space to replace this. It is generally preferred that the space owns its critical infrastructure.
Items on loan should be maintained by the makerspace at the makerspace’s expense as if they were owned by the space, as long as their condition was reasonable upon being loaned to the space. This may be overruled by an agreement with the owner.
Any modifications to loaned equipment should only be made with the agreement of the owner, unless previously agreed with the owner.
If a person required to remove an item will not remove it within 1 month of being given notice by the trustees, the item shall be treated as abandoned under the member storage policy.