# Grant-funded equipment: a checklist before external workloads

Questions for equipment owners and grant coordinators before connecting GPUs to an external service: authority, approvals, access, costs and usage accounting.

Author: Retrivium team
Updated: 2026-11-01
Canonical URL: https://retrivium.ai/journal/grant-checklist/
Language: en

It is easy to discuss an idle server in technical terms and overlook authority. Who can decide? Which conditions remain after the project? This checklist puts approvals before connection rather than after it.

For each item, record the answer, supporting evidence, responsible person and unresolved questions. The absence of an explicit prohibition is not sufficient confirmation of permission.

## Ownership and authority

- Who owns the equipment, and where is it recorded?
- Who is authorized to approve external workloads?
- Is a decision required from management, the coordinator, partners or funder?
- Who can sign documents and receive payments?

A researcher’s personal server access answers none of these questions. If several parties must decide, record each approval separately.

## Conditions of the specific program

Review the agreement, annexes and amendments. Check what they say about equipment purpose, third-party use, income and post-project obligations. Do not apply another laboratory’s conditions to your program.

For European programs, the [official guidance on grant project management](https://commission.europa.eu/funding-and-tenders/managing-your-project/managing-your-project-under-grant-agreement_en) can be a starting point. Applicable requirements depend on your agreement, program and jurisdiction. If interpretation is unclear, consult an authorized specialist or the funder.

## Technical access and data

Determine which permissions the operator receives, which resources are used and how access is revoked. Check whether external workloads can be separated from research data. Agree on logging, updates and incidents in advance.

Share a general configuration for the first conversation. Complete agreements, confidential documents and access keys should not become routine attachments to preliminary proposals.

## Costs and accounting

Allocate power, cooling, network and maintenance costs. Decide which metrics to record and who reconciles the report. If income is expected, separately check how it can be received and recorded in the organization’s accounts.

Do not substitute a profit calculation for these answers. Economic attractiveness does not establish the right to use an asset.

## The pilot decision

The resulting document should define permitted work, duration, responsible people, stopping criteria and restoration. If any required approval is missing, commercial workloads should not start.

After the organization decides, prepare the [technical pilot](/journal/pilot-checklist/) and [spare-resource map](/journal/lab-idle-capacity/).