Bakar Labs Move-In Checklist

As you prepare to move into Bakar Labs, there are a number of tasks you will need to complete on both the Business and Science sides. This article gives an overview of this process, complete with explanations and links to other informative articles on specific topics.

If you need help at any point in this process, please reach out to our team via email, or via a ticket on Freshdesk (this website)

If you'd like to download/print a simplified, fillable checklist of this process, please find one here.

Move-In Checklist

• Complete the Onboarding Survey - this will be sent to you via email after you've been invited to Bakar Labs.
  
  

• Tour the building to select Office and Lab space - Please reach out to our team to schedule about 1 hour to see the building and select Lab benches and Office workstations & cubicles from the available space.
  
  

• Start the Biological Use Authorization (BUA) process, if necessary - The BUA process must be fully completed before you can bring any biological materials into the building or start working with biological materials. If you need any assistance with the process or want additional information, please reach out to bakarlabsbua@berkeley.edu.
  
  

• Complete EH&S Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) - This will be completed with the assistance and oversight of Thom Opal (opal@berkeley.edu), and is required before any lab work can begin at Bakar Labs. It consists of two parts, the Hazard Assessment and the Chemical Inventory. If you already have the necessary information together, the MOU itself is usually a quick process. Details on the following action items are provided in the Safety and Compliance Report Thom provides as part of the MOU process.

  • If your company will bring in 200 cubic feet of compressed gas, 500 pounds of solid or 55 gallons of liquid hazardous chemicals, register a Hazardous Materials Business Plan with the City of Berkeley

  • If your company will generate any quantity of hazardous chemical waste: 

    1. Obtain an EPA number EPA I.D. Number When creating your EPA ID Number using the following addressing convention, where “XXX” is your lab room number, “YY” is your two-numeral bay number, and “z” is your range of assigned bench numbers (example #511-01.4-6).  Get room/bay/bench numbers from Bakar Labs Business Operations Manager Minji Huang (minjihuang@berkeley.edu).

    2. Register with the City of Berkeley Toxics Management Division as a Hazardous Chemical Waste Generating Business: TMD Hazardous Waste Generator Application

       1. Upload this to the Facility Information section of CERS under "Miscellaneous State Required Documents." Note: The Hazardous Waste Generator Application form should not be used when submitting a full Hazardous Materials Business Plan.

    3. Open a Clean Earth Hazardous Chemical Waste Disposal Services Account
       

  • If your company will generate any BSL-2 solid biological waste and/or sharps waste (i.e. Medical Waste): 

    1. Register a Medical Waste Management Plan with the CA Department of Public Health

    2. Open a Stericycle Medical Waste Services Account

    
    

• Use the Durant Ave address for all registrations (City of Berkeley, CDPH, CERS, etc.). This helps them keep all our companies organized together, and helps them recognize the building as an active lab space. You will also use this address for any moving companies.

  • 2625 Durant Ave, Berkeley, CA 94720
    
    

• Select a move-in date and sign your lease - Once you have selected your space and chosen a move-in date, we will prepare the lease paperwork and send it to you to be signed.
  
  

• Complete and submit your Certificate of Insurance (COI) for your business - This is required before you can move into the building. Please remember to include "The Regents of the University of California" as a named, additionally insured party in the description of operations section on the certificate.
  
  

• Obtain a City of Berkeley Business License - A business license is required within 30 days of first advertising or promoting your company, and you must obtain a Berkeley certificate even if you have previously operated as a company outside of the City of Berkeley.
  
  

• Pay security deposit and first month's rent - These will be sent to you as an invoice, and are required before you can move in.
  
  

• Employee Roster - Provide Bakar Labs staff with an employee roster, including names, emails, roles, phone numbers, and photos for keycards - This is necessary before you move in so that we can create keycards for your team to access the building. At this time, we will also invite you to an Orientation meeting where we can get your team acquainted with some of the features of the building and the services we offer.
  
  

• Move into the building! - If you will be moving equipment into the building or otherwise using movers, please obtain and submit a COI for your movers. This COI must also list the Regents of the University of California as additionally insured
  
  

• Attend new member orientation to obtain building access - In order to access the building, all keycard holders must first attend a new member orientation (held weekly). Please pay special attention to the access levels and safety requirements to gain access to the building, labs, and special equipment rooms.

  • Familiarize yourself with the building policies - We have created a policy handbook which gives an overview of all our building operational policies. Please read through all the policies listed here and sign this document to attest you have read the policies, understand them, and will follow them while working at Bakar Labs. These policies are subject to change, so make sure to review the policy handbook often to stay up to date.
    
    

• Attend in-person safety training to obtain lab access - In order to obtain permanent access to the open labs in the building, you must attend an in-person safety training session with Thom Opal. These trainings are held once a month, and the date of the next training can be found on the Events @ Bakar Labs calendar. If you need lab access before the next in-person date, you can obtain temporary lab access. Please also have any employees who will be working in lab take a training on blood-borne pathogens and report the training date to our LabOps staff.
  
  

• Complete the BUA site inspection - Once you have moved in and set up your lab space, you should schedule your pre-inspection with our Lab Ops team, who will brief you for the BSO inspection, as well as helping you schedule it with an inspector. Once the formal inspection has been completed, you will receive a letter from BSO with your BUA approval, and you will be able to start using biological materials at Bakar Labs.
  
  

• Additional Access, after initial lab access - If you will need to use the Tissue Culture or Microbial facilities at Bakar Labs, we hold orientations for these facilities every week. If you would like to attend an orientation session, find the link to RSVP and sign the appropriate SOP on the Events @ Bakar Labs calendar. 

• Hiring Additional Employees - As you team at Bakar Labs grows, please inform us of all new hires at least one week before they plan to start so that we can get them set up with a building access card and send them the necessary onboarding information. 

If you have any questions during this process, please reach out to the Bakar Labs team via ticket or email and we will work to guide you along. Welcome to Bakar Labs!