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APRIL 17, 1943 WAR PRODUCTION BOARD Part 4500—Electric, Gas, Water, and Steam Utilities—Materials [Utilities Order U-l, as Amended April 17, 1943] § 4500.1 Utilities Order U-l—(a) Definitions for the purpose of this order: (1) “Producer” means any individual, partnership, association, corporation, governmental corporation or agency, or any organized group of persons, whether incorporated or not, located in the United States, its territories, or possessions, en­gaged in, or constructing facilities for the purpose of engaging in, one or more of the following services, whether or not such producer has applied the preference ratings herein assigned: (1) Supplying electric power directly or indirectly for general use by the pub­lic. (ii) Supplying gas, natural or manu­factured, directly or indirectly for gen­eral use by the public, exclusive of the production and transmission of natural gas up to the point of its entry into gas transmission lines from field gathering lines. (iii) Supplying water directly or indi­rectly, for general use by the public, other than exclusively for irrigation pur­poses. (ivj Supplying central steam heating directly or indirectly for general use by the public. (y) Supplying any of the foregoing services but not for general use by the public, provided that a specific direc­tion from the War Production Board, entitles such person or agency to apply the ratings herein assigned. Application for such a specific direction should be made by letter to the War Production Board, Washington, D. C., Ref.: U-l. (2) “Producer" also means any pro­ducer, as defined in paragraph (a) (1), but located in the Dominion of Canada’ to whom and in whose name a copy of this order has been specifically issued by the War Production Board. (3) “Material” means any commodity, equipment, accessory, part, assembly or product of any kind. (4) “Controlled material” means con­trolled material as defined in Schedule I of CMP Regulation 1. (5) “Maintenance” means the upkeep of a producer’s property and equipment in sound working condition. (6) “Repair” means the restoration of a producer’s property and equipment to sound working condition after wear and tear, damage, destruction of parts, or the like have made such property or equip­ment unfit or unsafe for service. (7) “Operating supplies” means: (i) Material which is essential to the operation of any of the industries or services specified above and which is generally carried in a producer’s inven­tory and charged to operating expense accounts. (ii) Material for an addition to or an expansion of property or equipment (in­cluding a minor extension of lines), pro­vided that such addition or expansion shall not include any work order, job, or project in which the cost of material shall exceed $1,500 in the case of under­ground construction and $500 in the case of other construction, and provided that no single construction project shall be subdivided into parts in order to coine below these limits. (8) Material for “maintenance,” “re­pair,” and “operating supplies” includes only material which is essential to mini­mum service standards, and does not in­clude material for the improvement of a producer’s property or equipment through the* 1 2 replacement of material which is still usable in the existing in­stallation with material of a better frinH quality, or design. (9) “Supplier” means1 any person with whom a purchase order or contract has been placed for delivery of material to a producer or to another supplier. (10) “Calendar quarterly period” means the quarterly period commencing On the first day of the' first, fourth, sev­enth, and tenth months of the caipnHqr year and ending,* respectively, on the last day of the third, sixth, ninth, and twelfth months of the calendar year, or the producer’s customary accounting pe­riod closest to such period. (11) “Inventory” means all new or sal­vaged material in the producer’s pos­session, unless physically incorporated in plant, without regard to its accounting classification, excluding, however, appli­ances, merchandising supplies, and ma­terial in the producers possession which is segregated for use in additions and expansions specifically authorized (a) under paragraph (e) (2) of this order, or (b) by an operative order in the P-19 series, or (c) by an operative preference rating certificate issued by the War Pro­duction Board. After construction of such an addition or expansion is com­plete, however, any material remaining shall be included in “inventory”, even though the rating therefor is still op­erative. (12) “Construction” means any addi­tion to or expansion of property or equipment having a dollar value for ma­terial in excess of the dollar values speci­fied for “operating supplies” in para­graph (a) (7) (ii) of this order. (13) “Class” means any one of those categories of material established as a basis for the classification of inventory in Schedule A of this order. (14) “Short item” means any item of material which the producer estimates he will require for use in maintenance, repair, or as operating supplies during the ninety-day period following its de­livery date. (b) Preference ratings, (1) For maintenance, repair, arid operating sup- plies, a preference rating of AA-1 is hereby assigned to orders to be placed by a producer for material, including controlled material, Class A products^ Class B products, and Other products or material. ~ ' . ? —~ (2) For construction of transmission, switching and distribution facilities necessary to serve rated projects or to serve rated equipment, the lowest rating assigned to such prolect or to the delivery of such equipment, is hereby assigned^ subject to the provisions of paragraph (e) (2), to orders to be placed by a pro­ducer for material, including controlled material, Class A products, Class B prod­ucts, and other products or material. (c) Restrictions on use of rating. The preference ratings hereby assigned shall not be-applied or extended by a pro­ducer or supplier: (1) To obtain deliveries of scarce ma­terial, the use of which could be elimi­nated without serious loss of efficiency by substitution of less scarce material or by change of design, (2) To obtain deliveries of material which can be purchased without the use of such ratings, (3) To obtain any item listed in Sched­ule E hereof. ~ ~ ? ! r (d) Assignment of CMP allotment symbol. (1) The CMP allotment symbol MRO-U is hereby assigned to orders to be placed by a producer for controlled material, Except aluminum, for use in GPO— War Board 4991— p. 1