Scientific Equipment and Furniture

“There shall be four classes of membership in the association -- executive members, advisory board members, sustaining members, and associate members. An executive member is more specifically defined in section 3.2 (infra). An advisory board member must belong to a professional organization for a period of at least ten years and have at least eight years of experience in planning and designing laboratory spaces or buildings. Advisory board members must also have obtained a degree in architecture or engineering from an appropriately accredited college or university and served as a project architect, lab planner, chief engineer or project manager on at least five lab projects. A sustaining member is a company that purchases laboratory furniture and related equipment manufactured by others and enters into subcontract agreements to facilitate laboratory building projects or is a company that installs laboratory furniture and related equipment manufactured by others. Associate members shall consist of architects, lab planners/consultants, facility managers and others as deemeed appropriate by the board section 3.2 eligibility for executive membership members to be eligible for executive membership in the association the applicant shall complete the sefa membership qualification statement. The sefa board of directors shall then determine that the following qualifications have been established: 1) applicant must control the design and manufacture of one or more of the following laboratory grade products: laboratory furniture, fume hoods, laboratory work surfaces, fixtures, or related laboratory equipment control to be defined as conducting actual design and fabrication, internally, at applicant owned/leased and controlled, manufacturing facility fabrication out- sourcing to non-applicant owned or leased facilities does not qualify as eligible work; 2) applicant must have successfully completed at least ten (l0) laboratory furniture projects within three (3) years of submitting its application for executive membership; 3) applicant shall submit two (2) letters of reference - one from a supplier that applicant has a current business relationship with and one from an owner, architect or lab planner that the applicant has worked with. In addition, applicant must provide the name of a sefa member in good standing who will support its application in writing; 4) applicant shall also submit a certified test report from a sefa-approved testing facility, establishing that the applicant manufactures laboratory furniture or related equipment at its manufacturing facility which complies with at least one of sefa's recommended practices in effect at the time the membership application is submitted by the applicant; 5) all companies which are executive memebers as of the date these amended by-laws become effective shall have twelve (12) months from that date to submit their product for testing in accordance with section 3.l(a)(4) above. The member will be given an additional six (6) months to establish that their product is sefa compliant; 6) in determining a member or applicant's qualifications to become or remain an executive member, the board reserves the right to require a factory inspection by a sefa approved testing facility. Such inspection shall be at the expense of the applicant or member.”

“Right to vote, hold office and receive membership benefits each executive member shall be entitled to one vote. Representatives of the executive members shall hold office in the association. There shall be one associate member elected to the board who shall be entitled to vote at board meetings. Each executive member shall designate in writing its official voting representative and an alternate votes, in the general affairs of the association, shall be cast only by the officially designated representative of the executive members, or in his absence, by his designated alternate. The officers of the association shall be a chairman, a vice-chairman and a secretary/treasurer. All of the officers shall serve without compensation. Each officer shall be elected annually by a majority vote of the executive members present and entitled to vote at the annual meeting of the association. They shall be elelcted for a term of two years and thereafter until a successor shall have been duly elected and qualified, provided that no board member shall serve more than four (4) consecutive two (2) year terms in office. In the event of death, resignation, or incapacity to act of any officer in the association, the vacancy so created shall be filled by the board of directors.”

“Voting in the general affairs of the association shall be confined to active executive members, with each such member being entitled to one vote through or by the duly designated voting representative proxies will not be allowed unless specifically authorized by the board unless otherwise provided by these by-laws. A majority of the votes entitled to be cast by members present at a meeting at which a quorum is present shall be required. Any action required or permitted to be taken at a meeting of the members may be taken without a meeting if consent in writing, setting forth the action so taken, is signed by all of the members entitled to vote with respect to the subject matter thereof.”

“A copy of form 990 is reviewed by the board of directors before it is filed.”

“Annually, a conflict of interest declaration for board members, officers, and key employees is required to be signed and any conflict of interest must be disclosed.”

“The association makes its governing documents and financial statements available to the public upon request at its office.”

“To become the organization of choice that enables and supports all involved parties in creating humane, safe and effective laboratory environments. To be the leader in creating laboratory solutions that combine organizational, technological and environmental systems that respond creatively to strategic business issues. To be the premier organization that provides leadership and teaches member and constituent groups how to work together as a coherent group to create laboratory solutions.”