A. General. In protecting and maintaining excess and surplus properties, the adoption of the principle of "calculated risk” is considered to be essential. In taking what is termed a "calculated risk," the expected losses and deteriorations in terms of realizable values are anticipated to be less in the overall than expenditures to minimize the risks. In determining the amount of protection to be supplied under this procedure, a number of factors should be considered; such as, the availability of, and the distance to, local, public, or private protection facilities; the size and value of the facility; general characteristics of structures; physical protection involving fencing, number of gates, etc.; the location and availability of communication facilities; and the amount and type of activity at the facility. Conditions at the various excess and surplus properties are so diverse that it is impracticable to establish a definite or fixed formula for determining the extent of protection and maintenance that should be applied. The standards or criteria set forth in B and C, below, are furnished as a guide in making such determinations.

B. Protection Standards. The following standards are furnished as a guide in determining the amount and limits of protection. 1. Properties not Requiring Protection Personnel. Fire protection or security personnel are not needed at:

(a) Facilities where there are no structures or related personal property;

(b) Facilities where the realizable or recoverable value of the improvements and related personal property subject to loss is less than the estimated cost of protection for a one-year period;

(c) Facilities of little value located within public fire and police department limits, which can be locked or boarded up;

(d) Facilities where the major buildings are equipped with automatic sprinklers, supervised by American District Telegraph Company or other central station service, which do not contain large quantities of readily removable personal property, and which are in an area patrolled regularly by local police; and

(e) Facilities where agreements can be made with a lessee of a portion of the property to protect the remaining portions at nominal, or without additional cost.

2. Properties Requiring a Resident Custodian. A resident custodian or guard only is required at facilities of the following classes:

(a) Facilities containing little removable personal property but having a considerable number of buildings to be sold for off-site use when (a) the buildings are of low realizable value and so spaced that loss of more than a few buildings in a single fire is improbable, or (b) the buildings are so located that water for firefighting purposes is available and municipal or other fire department services will respond promptly;

(b) Small, inactive industrial and commercial facilities which must be kept open for inspection and which are so located that public fire and police protection can be secured by telephone;

(c) Facilities where the highest and best use has been determined to be salvage; and

(d) Facilities of little, or salvage, value but potentially dangerous and attractive to children and curiosity seekers where the posting of signs is not sufficient to protect the public.

3. Properties Requiring Continuous Guard Service. One guard on duty at all times (a total of 5 guards required) is required at facilities of high market value which are fenced; require only one open gate which can be locked during patrols; all buildings of which can be locked; and where local police and fire protection can be secured by telephone.

4. Properties Requiring High Degree of Protection. More than one firefighter-guard will be required to be on duty at all times at facilities of the classes listed below. The number, and the assignment, of firefighter-guards in such cases should be determined by taking into consideration all pertinent factors.

(a) Facilities of high market value which are distant from public assistance and require an on-the-site firefighting force adequate to hold fires in check until outside assistance can be obtained.

(b) Facilities of high market value which can obtain no outside assistance and require an on-the-site firefighting force adequate to extinguish fires.

(c) Facilities of high market value at which the patrolling of large areas is necessary.

(d) Facilities of high market value not fenced and containing large quantities of personal property of a nature inviting pilferage.

(e) Facilities of high market value at which several gates must be kept open for operating purposes.

5. Standards for All Protected Properties.

(a) All facilities within the range of municipal or other public protection, but outside the geographic limits of such public body, should be covered by advance arrangements with appropriate authorities for police and fire protection service, at a monthly or other service fee if necessary.

(b) Patrolling of all facilities with large areas to be protected should be accomplished by use of automotive vehicles.

Firefighter-Guards.

Firefighters

and

(c) At fenced facilities, a minimum number of gates should be kept open. 6. guards are the normal means for carrying out the fire protection and security programs at excess and surplus real properties where both such programs are required. The duties of firefighters and guards should be combined to the maximum extent possible in the interest of both economy and efficiency. Such personnel would also be available in many cases for other miscellaneous services, such as, removing grass and weeds or other fire hazards, servicing fire extinguishers, and

other activities related to general protection of property.

7. Operating Requirements of Protection Units. Firefighter-guards or guards, should be required to make periodic rounds of facilities requiring protection. The frequency of these rounds would be based upon a number of factors; such as, location and size of the facility, type of structures and physical barriers, and the amount and type of activity at the facility. There may be instances where some form of central station supervision, such as American District Telegraph Company, will effect reduction in costs by reducing the number of firefighter-guards, or guards, required to adequately protect the premises.

8. Watchman's Clock. To insure adequate coverage of the entire property by the guards, or firefighter-guards, an approved watchman's clock should be provided, with key stations strategically located so that, in passing from one to the other, the guards will cover all portions of the property.

9. Protection Alarm Equipment. Automatic fire detection devices and allied equipment and services may materially assist in minimizing protection costs. However, use of devices of this type, like guards, are purely secondary fire protection and are primarily a means of obtaining fire and police protection facilities at the property in an emergency. There are various types of devices, each of which can be considered separately or in combination as supplementing guard patrols, which may assist in reduction of costs and, in some instances, it may be possible to eliminate all guards.

10. Sentry Dogs. Frequently there are facilities of high market value, or which cover large areas, or are so isolated that they invite intrusion by curiosity seekers, hunters, vagrants, etc., which require extra or special protection measures. This has usually been taken care of by staffing with additional guards so that the “buddy system” of patrolling may be used. In such cases, the use of sentry dogs should be considered in arriving at the appropriate method of offsetting the need for additional guards, as well as possible reductions in personnel. If it is determined to be in the Government's interest to use this type of protection, advice should be obtained as to acquisition (lease, purchase, or donation), training, use, and care, from the nearest police department using sentry dogs. When sentry dogs are used, the property should be clearly posted "Warning— This Government Property Patrolled by Sentry Dogs."

C. Maintenance Standards. The following standards or criteria are furnished as a guide in connection with the upkeep of excess and surplus real properties:

1. Temporary Type Buildings and Structures. Temporary buildings housing personal property which cannot be readily removed to permanent type storage should be maintained only to the extent necessary to protect the personal property. Vacant temporary structures should not be maintained except in unusual circumstances.

2. Permanent Type Buildings and Structures. (a) No interior painting should be done. Where exterior wood or metal surfaces require treatment to prevent serious deterioration, spot painting only should be done when practicable.

(b) Carpentry and glazing should be limited to: work necessary to close openings against weather and pilferage; making necessary repairs to floors, roofs, and sidewalls as a protection against further damage; shoring and bracing of structures to preclude structural failures; and similar operations.

(c) Any necessary roofing and sheet metal repairs should, as a rule, be on a patch basis. (d) Masonry repairs, including brick, tile, and concrete construction, should be undertaken only to prevent leakage or disintegration, or to protect against imminent structural failure.

(e) No buildings should be heated for maintenance purposes except in unusual circumstances.

3. Mechanical and Electrical Installations. These include plumbing, heating, ventilating, air conditioning, sprinkler systems, fire alarm systems, electrical equipment, elevators, and similar items.

(a) At facilities in inactive status, maintenance of mechanical and electrical installations should be limited to that which is necessary to prevent or arrest serious deterioration. In most cases, personnel should not be employed for this work except on a temporary basis at periodic intervals when it is determined by inspections that the work is necessary. Wherever possible electrical systems should be deenergized, water drained from all fixtures, heat turned off, and buildings secured against unauthorized entry. Sprinkler systems should be drained during freezing weather and reactivated when danger of freezing has passed.

(b) At facilities in active status, such as multiple-tenancy operations, equipment should be kept in reasonable operating condition. Operation of equipment to furnish services to private tenants, as well as the procurement of utility services for distribution to tenants, should be carried on only to the extent necessary to comply with lease or permit conditions, or in cases where it is impracticable for tenants to obtain such services directly from utility companies or other

sources.

(c) At facilities where elevators and/or high-pressure boilers and related equipment are in operation, arrangements should be made for periodic inspections by qualified

and licensed inspectors to insure that injury to personnel, loss of life, or damage to property does not occur.

(d) Individual heaters should be used, when practicable, in lieu of operating heating plants.

4. Grounds, Roads, Railroads, and Fencing. (a) Maintenance of grounds should be confined largely to removal of vegetation where necessary to avoid fire hazards and to control poisonous and noxious plant growth in accordance with local and State laws and regulations; plowing of fire lanes where needed; and removal of snow from roads and other areas only to the extent necessary to provide access for maintenance, fire protection, and similar activities. Wherever practicable, hay crops should be sold to the highest bidders with the purchaser performing all labor in connection with cutting and removal. Also, agricultural and/or grazing leases may be resorted to, if practicable, as other means of reducing the cost of grounds maintenance. Any such leases shall be subject to the provisions of § 101-47.203-9 or §101– 47.312.

(b) Only that portion of the road network necessary for firetruck and other minimum traffic should be maintained. The degree to which such roads are to be maintained should be only that necessary to permit safe passage at a reasonable speed.

(c) Railroads should not be maintained except as might be required for protection and maintenance operations, or as required under the provisions of a lease or permit.

(d) Ditches and other drainage facilities should be kept sufficiently clear to permit surface water to run off.

(e) Fencing, or other physical barrier, should be kept in repair sufficiently to afford protection against unauthorized entry.

5. Utilities. (a) At inactive properties, water systems, sewage disposal systems, electrical distribution systems, etc., should be maintained only to the extent necessary to provide the minimum services required. Buildings or areas not requiring electrical service or water should be deenergized electrically and the water valved off. Utilities not in use, or which are serving dismantled or abandoned structures, should not be maintained. (b) At active properties, water supply, electrical power, and sewage disposal facilities frequently must be operated at rates much below designed capacities. Engineering studies should determine the structural and operating changes necessary for maximum economy. Where leakage is found in water distribution lines, such lines may be valved off rather than repaired, unless necessary for fire protection or other purposes.

(c) Where utilities are purchased by contract, such contracts should be reviewed to determine if costs can be reduced by revision of the contracts.

6. Properties to be Disposed of as Salvage. No funds should be expended for maintenance on properties where the highest and best use has been determined to be salvage.

D. Repairs. Repairs should be limited to those additions or changes that are necessary for the preservation and maintenance of the property to deter or prevent excessive, rapid, or dangerous deterioration or obsolescence and to restore property damaged by storm, flood, fire, accident, or earthquake only where it has been determined that restoration is required.

E. Improvements. No costs should be incurred to increase the sales value of a property, and no costs should be incurred to make a property disposable without the prior approval of GSA. (See § 101-47.401-5.)

[29 FR 16126, Dec. 3, 1964, as amended at 30 FR 11281, Aug. 2, 1965]

Subpart 101-48.49-Illustrations of Forms

the frame or receiver of any such weapon or any firearm muffler or firearm silencer; or any destructive device. This term does not include an antique fire

arm.

§ 101-48.001-5 Forfeited property.

Forfeited property property means personal property acquired by a Federal agency either by summary process or by order of a court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to any law of the United States.

§ 101-48.001-6 Malt beverages.

Malt beverages, as defined in the Federal Alcohol Administration Act (27 U.S.C. 211), as now in force or hereafter amended, means beverages made by the alcoholic fermentation of an infusion or decoction, or combination of both, in potable brewing water, of malted barley with hops or their parts or products and with or without other malted cereals; and with or without the addition of unmalted or prepared cereals, other carbohydrates, or products prepared therefrom; and with or without the addition of carbon dioxide; and with or without other wholesome products suitable for human food consumption.

§ 101-48.001-7 Property.

Property means all personal property, including but not limited to vessels, vehicles, aircraft, aircraft, distilled spirits, wine, and malt beverages.

§ 101-48.001-8 Voluntarily abandoned property.

Voluntarily abandoned property means personal property abandoned to a Federal agency in such a manner as to vest title thereto in the United States.

§ 101-48.001-9 Wine.

Wine means any of the wines defined in sections 5381 and 5385 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (26 U.S.C. 5381, 5385), as now in force or hereafter amended, and other alcoholic beverages not so defined, but made in the manner of wine, including sparkling and carbonated wine; wine made from condensed grape must; wine made from agricultural products other than the juice of sound, ripe grapes; imitation