Property and Equipment

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

3. Property and Equipment

Property and equipment at December 31, 2012 and 2011 consist of the following:

	2012			2011

Property and equipment at cost:
Land	$	60,544		$	53,492
Buildings and improvements		633,248			606,130
Equipment		343,832			325,569
Computer hardware and software		460,931			360,389
Furniture, fixtures & leasehold improvements		110,106			102,768
Construction-in-progress		87,227			128,575

		1,695,888			1,576,923
Less: Accumulated depreciation and amortization		(804,569	)		(727,372	)

Property and equipment, net	$	891,319		$	849,551

Depreciation and amortization expense aggregated $115.6 million, $103.4 million and $101.8 million for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

Covance reclassified land in Manassas, Virginia, which was identified as held for sale in 2010, from other current assets to property and equipment on the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2012. Although Covance intends to sell the Manassas property, it continues to hold the property due to current real estate market conditions. See Note 13.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, Covance completed the wind-down and transition of services at its toxicology facility in Vienna, Virginia and initiated actions to sell that property. As a result, the related carrying value of $27.0 million was reclassified from property and equipment to other current assets on the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2011.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for long-lived, physical assets that are used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale. Examples include land, buildings, machinery and equipment, and other types of furniture and equipment including, but not limited to, office equipment, furniture and fixtures, and computer equipment and software. This disclosure may include property plant and equipment accounting policies and methodology, a schedule of property, plant and equipment gross, additions, deletions, transfers and other changes, depreciation, depletion and amortization expense, net, accumulated depreciation, depletion and amortization expense and useful lives, income statement disclosures, assets held for sale and public utility disclosures.

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