Procurement

Important Notes Before Creating a Furniture Requisition

• Restrictions: Chairs and furniture from Amazon, Home Depot, Uline, and Ikea will not be approved for purchase.
• Fire & Safety Compliance: Chairs must be fire-rated to TB-117 and must not have a CA Prop 65 label, which indicates the presence of chemicals known to cause cancer or harm.

Required Document Uploads

• Upload the quote and approved Building Permit under the Category "Miscellaneous" instead of "Internal to Requisition."
• If these documents are uploaded under "Internal to Requisition," they will not transfer to the PO.
• Incorrect Example: The image below shows an incorrect upload to "Internal to Requisition."
  
  

Additional Requirements 

3. Ensure taxable lines on the quote are marked as taxable on the requisition (design hours are non-taxable).
4. Follow the guidance in the dropdown menus below for various types of furniture purchases.
5. 📢 Once your furniture arrives, "receive-in" the lines on the PO so the vendor’s invoice can be processed for payment.
6. Alternative Option: Campus Business Services’ ScotSurplus offers used but functional furniture for campus use.

Contacts for approved furniture suppliers  

The office furniture quote must be from an approved furniture dealer.  The Herman Miller brand is only available through G/M Business Interiors, and Steelcase brand is only available through BKM.  

Steelcase brand, and other brands: through BKM 

UC Agreement #: 2019.001899
Sales Contact: Thomas Gallagher
Email: tgallagher@bkmsd.com and phone:  858.220.4108
Email purchase orders to:  Anthony Reese, areese@bkmsd.com
BKM furniture returns will be assessed a 35% restocking fee.

Herman Miller-Knoll Brands; *Certified woman and minority-owned business*

UC Agreement #:  2019.001890 
Dealer is G/M Business Interiors
Office Phone: 800-686-6583
Sales Contact:  Alan Hernanadez  
Email: ahernandez@gmbi.net
Inside Sales / Job Captain: Cindy Ramirez; cramirez@gmbi.net

Bluespace Interiors

UCR Agreement #: 2757
Bluespace Interiors provides office furniture to UC Riverside and UC Irvine, and other universities. Bluespace Interiors is a dealer for: Kimball, KI, HON, Teknion, Sit On It, and other brands.
Bluespace also carries healthcare and laboratory furniture. Ken Gordon and Jeannette Barber are the primary sales contacts for furniture projects.
Email: ken@bluespaceinteriors.com and jeannette@bluespaceinteriors.com 
Bluespace’s sales rep /project coordinator manage quotes for smaller transactional orders, such as 1-30 chairs.  
Contact the Bluespace UCR quote team at: ucr@bluespaceinteriors.com

Kimball –brand through dealer, Quality Office Furnishings

UC Agreement #: 2019.001896
Sales Contacts:  Jason Sullivan
Email:  jsullivan@qualityofficefurn.com
Email purchase orders to: cs@qualityofficefurn.com
Office Phone:  714-692-6667

Looking for a Task chair?  

University of California has ergonomic task chair agreements with these brands:  Steelcase, AMQ, Herman Miller, Ergonomic Comfort Design (ECD), Sitmatic, SitOnIt, and Office Master.  These brands have 10-12 year warranties on components, parts, and labor.  Task chairs with arms, should have arms that are 4-way adjustable (up and down and in and out).   Task chairs that have fixed-height, non-adjustable armrests are not recommended, and will not be approved for purchase. 

For individual task chairs, please contact our campus ergonomist, Jansen Cunanan for an ergonomic assessment, at Jansen.cunanan@ucr.edu.  He may have $200.00 - $250.00 to contribute to an approved task chair.    

Notes for obtaining a furniture quote

• All fabrics (chairs, fabric panels between desks) must be meet fire rating TB-117.  Our UC dealers have furniture that meets TB-117.
• Height adjustable desks must adjust from 22” – 48” high, and the minimum desk/table width is 48”.   The height adjustability of 22 -  48” usually means that the 3-stage legs are required.   
• Task chairs with arms, should have arms that are 4-way adjustable.
• If you quote is for a room that will only have a couple chairs and a desk, you can create the requisition without the Building Permit.   
• If you are ordering more than one desk and a task chair, ask the furniture dealer for the dimensioned drawing, which shows the inches for aisle space and ADA compliance.    

Building Permit

The drawing for Furniture other than one desk and a chair must be submitted to CitizenServe for the building permit process. The dimensioned drawing will be reviewed for compliance with California fire code regulations and ADA compliance, and a Building Permit will be created.

These items must be submitted for a building permit.

• Installing/ Anchoring glass writing boards on walls.  *This is important because a glass writing board can potentially fall forward, causing an injury.    
• A marker board/ tackboard that sticks out more than 4” from a wall
• Panel systems - Partition Walls/Privacy walls, or partitions with doors
• A Bookshelf or cabinet over 60” high must be anchored to the wall

How to Submit a Drawing for Review in the Building & Safety Portal

1. Visit the Building & Safety Portal.
2. Log in or register to create a username and password.
3. Click "Apply for Review or Permit," then select "Campus Building Permit" and choose "Furniture" as the subtype.
4. Complete the application and upload all required documents, including the furniture dealer’s dimensioned drawing showing the spacing between furniture (in inches).
5. List the UCR department contact on the application.

Notes for creating a furniture requisition

• Upload the approved Building Permit under Category ‘Miscellaneous.’
• Match the total dollars on the quote to the total dollar of the requisition.
• Design hours are non-taxable.
• Labor is generally taxable.
• For BKM orders: Add a line for BKM’s ‘Administrative/Inflation surcharge’ and mark it taxable.  When the line is left off, the requisition total doesn’t match the quote total.  

• When creating the requisition, paste the Part number shown on the quote into the Supplier item box. Paste the furniture description line from the quote into the Description box, per the image below.  All the lines can be under the Category Name: Furniture Non-Inventorial. 

Furniture Orders Under $10K – Process Overview

Furniture orders under $10K should be created and sent to the dealer by the transactor.

If your order is under $10K and the building permit has been uploaded under Attachments, the transactor can proceed with sending the PO.

Process:

1. The transactor submits the requisition for approval.
2. Procurement reviews the requisition to ensure:
   • The building permit is attached.
   • The total quote value matches the requisition value.
3. The requisition flows back to the transactor to:
   • Add the furniture email contacts.
   • Send the order to the dealer.

Patio Furniture Guidelines & Approval Process

Patio furniture must be reviewed by the Exterior Space Committee (ESC) and include ADA-compliant pieces. The ESC oversees modifications to exterior campus spaces to ensure compliance with standards and aesthetic considerations.

Committee Oversight: 
The campus architect chairs the ESC and includes Facilities Services, Campus Planning, and Building & Safety representatives.

Approved Patio Table Brands for UCR

• Maglin – Ordered directly from Maglin.
• Emu America – Available through approved dealers.
• Source Furniture (Vienna Brand) – Based in Florida, available through approved dealers.
• Via Seating (Tahoe.h24 Collection) – Based in Nevada, available through approved dealers. More details at viaseating.com/outdoor.

Approval Process:

To request approval, submit the Exterior Space Request Form with detailed information about the proposed use and specific requirements.

Learn more: Exterior Space Request Process | R’Projects (ucr.edu)

If stools are needed for chemistry, we usually purchase the National Public Seating (NPS) stools. The NPA brand is available from Grainger, Fisher Scientific, and Bluespace Interiors.

We purchase laboratory seating and workbenches from Genesee Scientific, Fisher Scientific and VWR.  The furniture must have a fire rating.   

Fisher Scientific contacts: 

Tables and other products in the Fisher portfolio here: https://fisherlabfurniture.com/
Danielle Pente, Danielle.pente@therofisher.com  
Sharon Sun, Sharon.sun1@therofisher.com

VWR contacts:

Jenna Cantu-Colgan, jenna.colgan@avantorsciences.com
Richard Medina, richard.medina@avantorsciences.com
BreAnne Custodio, breAnne.custodio@avantorsciences.com

Genesee Scientific contacts

Your local Genesee sales representative:
Erik Lawson, elawson@geneseesci.com / 858-357-2032

Grainger carries folding chairs and tables, which are approved by the National Public Seating (NPS) brand.   

• Chairs: https://www.grainger.com/product/NATIONAL-PUBLIC-SEATING-Folding-Chair-Plastic-Seat-793EK6
• Folding Table for events: https://www.grainger.com/product/ICEBERG-Folding-Table-Rectangle-Table-45TW88