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B-215108 1 (1984-07-23)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadlul0001 and id is 1 raw text is: THE COMPTROLLER NENEAL DECISION OP THE UNITED ETATlE WAS HINQT0N. 0. 0. 2054U FILE: B-215108 DATE: July 23, 1984 MATTER OF: Office of Personnel Management - Purchase of Air Purifiers DIGEST: Purchase of 10 air purifiers for a large open space office area at Office of Personnel Management does not violate rule against pur- chasing equipment for personal benefit of individual employees, since the purifiers will benefit all individuals entering that area of the building. This is in response to a request from William M. Hunt, Associate Director for Administration, Office of Personnel Management (OPM), for an advance decision as to whether the purchase of air purifiers for open space offices is a per- sonal expense which may not be paid for with appropriated funds. For the reasons stated below, the proposed purchase is authorized. FACTS The workspace of OPM's Office of Management Support was recently altered from private offices to an open space configuration. As a result, employees who are heavy smokers now occupy the same area as employees who are adversely affected by tobacco smoke. In order to relieve this prob- lem, OPM's Assistant Director of the Office of Management Support has requisitioned 10 air purifiers at a total cost of approximately $300. The Assistant Director recommends that the requisition be approved on the basis that, under these circumstances, the air purifiers are in the same category as air condition- ing, heating, lighting and other equipment which makes an office area habitable. He states that the equipment is ex- pected to improve the overall air quality in a large office area. ANALYSIS We have long applied the rule that items which are classified as personal expenses may not be purchased with appropriated funds without specific statutory authority. 3 Comp. Gen. 433 (1924); B-187246, June 15, 1977. Recently, we applied this rule to the purchase of an air purifier

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