Equipment Long-Term Loans

This page is a draft of a new policy being discussed by the maintainers. Ignore all the content below until otherwise notified

In general it is always better for LHS to own its own equipment, via donation or purchase. This gives the general membership complete control over how the tool is stored and used, and avoids the risk of leaving us suddenly lacking if a member decides to withdraw their loan.

However, LHS does recognise the advantage of accepting equipment on a 'long term loan' basis from its members, if it allows us access to equipment or processes we couldn't otherwise get by the preferred routes of donation or purchase.

A few examples of where this might be applicable:

• Member A has a type of expensive machine shop measuring tool. While not an essential machine shop tool that the space would be expected to pay for, it is useful to a number of machine shop users, so member A agrees to loan it to the space
• Member B inherited a woodworking tool from their grandparent. They lack the space to keep and use it at home so they loan it to the space, but maintain ownership for sentimental reasons or so they could withdraw it if circumstances change

Note long term loans are separate to

• storing personal tools in a members box - where it remains entirely the property of the owner or
• storing them temporarily to complete a specific project, via the storage request system.

Rules for Long Term Loans

• Once a tool is loaned, it is treated the same as any other LHS tool. The owner cannot dictate who is or is not allowed to use it, except as covered by training below.
• If a long term loaned tool requires training (as decided by maintainers when the loan is taken out) then the owner must make reasonable efforts to provide training as and when required.
• Owners do not have 'first dibs' on equipment, if it's busy they must wait their turn to use it like everyone else.
• Owners cannot 'borrow' their equipment back e.g. to use at home for a weekend, without specific permission from the maintainers.
• If loaned equipment is worn out, damaged or broken the owner is not entitled to any compensation - donors are reminded of the high levels of 'wear and tear' that LHS equipment receives. Users who damage a machine through their own negligence are encouraged to make amends with the owner in the same way they would with LHS-owned equipment but this is not compulsory or expected.
• All loans must be agreed with the maintainers (see procedure below) and the physical object must be labelled clearly with the owners name.
• If an owner wants to end their loan they must contact the maintainers to inform them of this decision. By default the equipment must remain in the space at least 30 days after notice of removal is given (giving other users fair opportunity to finish any projects they planned to use it for) although maintainers may waive this if there is a valid reason.
• If maintainers need to end a loan (eg. lack of wider interest, shortage of space etc) they must notify the owner and give them a minimum of 30 days leave to arrange removal/ alternative storage etc.
• If an owner ends their membership of LHS and abandons their equipment, it will be considered a donation and not subject to return later, except at the discretion of the maintainers.

Procedure for 'Long Term Loaning' Equipment

1. Consider if a loan is right for you and the equipment you have, after carefully reading the rules above.
2. Contact the maintainer(s) relevant to the particular area your equipment would be stored in to discuss what you have and what it might be used for. This could be in person, or on one of the subject-focused discord channels.
3. Bring the item in for an initial ‘trial period’ via a regular storage request of a set period e.g. a month. This will be a good chance for the wider membership to try it out and decide whether it’s a good fit for the space, and whether a long-term loan is appropriate or we should instead purchase one.
4. If the maintainers approve your loan, they will make a record of it in this wiki page and notify you that it's been approved. It will also get a wiki page of it’s own (if large equipment) or be listed as an accessory to the relevant parent machine.
5. You should then clearly label your item, and bring it into the space storing it in a suitable location.

Active Long Term Loans

Item	Subject Area/ Storage Location	Owner	Maintainer Approving Loan	Date of Loan Start	Notes	Link to Relevant Wiki Page
(example) Large micrometer set	Metal shop	Toby Molyneux	Trustee x	2023-03-21	Large micrometers useful for machine maintenance and precise machining, useful to have at LHS but probably not required often enough to justify purchasing a set of our own