Furniture flammability: protecting the fire safety professional

The fire safety of upholstered furniture supplied to the non-domestic market is complex, and generally influenced by the end-use of the premises in which the furniture will be utilised – whether that be offices, hotels, hospitals, education, retail etc. However one thing commonly remains constant; under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (RRFSO) the main responsibility of compliance rests with the designated responsible person for the fire safety of a building. If this is you – are you compliant with the upholstery you’re responsible for?

Fire safety considerations for furniture

Unlike the domestic market, where there is specific legislation requiring furniture to be fire safe – the Furniture & Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988, as amended, there is no similar direct legislation for furniture in the contract market.

Under the RRFSO, furniture forms part of the contents of the building and therefore needs to be assessed in the building fire safety risk assessment.

The risks posed by furniture will be related to the ignitability of a product, i.e. whether any fire retardant treatments are used on fabrics and fillings to slow down ignition, whether there are any sources of ignition present, the volume of furniture present and the ease of escape from a building.

Specifying furniture

In the majority of cases, furniture style and cover are selected by the owner of the premises, or agent, and fire safety is not generally the top priority when selecting. However, the fire safety of upholstery in the facilities is down to the responsible person – not the manufacturer of the furniture. As such, in some cases there could be assumptions made regarding the fire resistance of a product and its actual performance.

It’s advisable for fire safety requirements to be included within the upholstery specification and associated contract terms. Another good way to minimise risk is to the have the responsible person engaged at the outset of furniture specification. This ensures that alongside the overall look, safety will be considered and any gaps between look and safety can be closed.

When specifying for standard product ranges, in standard covers, regardless of where they are purchased it’s important to ensure they will comply with current local and/or international standards. Ask for proof of test results or official compliance, and if in doubt over safety look to another supplier or manufacturer who can give evidence of fire and ignition performance.

If you work to British Standards, then a good route for compliance is to specify that furniture conforms to the relevant British Standards for furniture; BS 7176:2007+A1:2011 ‘Specification for resistance to ignition of upholstered furniture for non-domestic seating by testing composites’ and BS 7177:2008+A1:2011 ‘Specification for resistance to ignition of mattresses, mattress pads, divans and bed bases’. These standards incorporate different levels of fire safety for products based on different hazard levels in different environments.

Environments and requirements

A main message we’ve seen coming from upholstery safety in terms of fire risk is that one-size does not fit all. Risk must be considered within each facility, and steps taken wherever possible to minimise hazards. For the UK, compliance to British Standards at the appropriate hazard level is considered to be best practice which can be adopted for specific environments.

Offices

Generally, for most offices, the fire risk level for furniture is considered as low, primarily as the users of the building should be awake, staff will be aware of their surroundings, visitors are accompanied and fire exits readily available. Therefore, in the UK, most upholstered furniture would generally be expected to comply with the Low Hazard category of BS 7176.

There may be instances, however, such as multi-floor office blocks, where risks may be considered higher to allow for the evacuation of the building. In these cases the building risk assessment should factor in a higher hazard level when specifying furniture.

Hospitality

Unlike offices, the users of hotels may not be so aware of the building and fire exits, will not be accompanied and may be asleep. This means that more time may be needed to evacuate a building. Therefore for most hotels and houses the risk level for furniture is considered as medium and thus when specifying furniture it should comply with the Medium Hazard category of BS 7176 (seating) and BS 7177 (mattresses, divans, and bed bases).

Historically pubs, clubs and restaurants were considered medium hazard environments by the relevant British Standards for furniture. For pubs and clubs this was because often these environments contained a lot of people and ignitions sources (cigarettes). The ban on smoking indoors will have helped alleviate this and so a risk assessment may consider a lower hazard. When carrying out the risk assessment and specifying the correct hazard level for furniture, the responsible person would need to assess the users’ awareness of the surroundings and also whether there are ignition sources, such as kitchen equipment etc. present.

Educational institutions

In general the fire risk in schools, colleges and universities is considered to be similar to offices and so the guidelines for offices should be referred to.

Furniture and furnishings for student accommodation is more difficult. Halls of residence should be treated as hotels and feature higher levels of fire retardancy, i.e. furniture should comply with the Medium Hazard category of BS 7176 (seating) and BS 7177 (mattresses, divans, and bed bases). Care should be taken if students are allowed to bring their own furniture, as this may not feature the same level of fire retardancy.

Private student letting would however be considered as a private let and therefore be covered by the domestic regulations. In this case all furniture must comply with the Furniture & Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations and must carry the correct labels to demonstrate this.

Healthcare

In the UK, the Department of Health provides recommendations, advice and guidance for hospitals and other healthcare premises through the ‘Fire safety measures for health sector buildings (HTM 05-03)’ publication, available for free via www.gov.uk/government/publications/suite-of-guidance-on-fire-safety-throughout-healthcare-premises-parts-a-to-m.

Generally hospitals are classified as ‘medium risk’ and furniture for hospitals should, as a minimum, comply with all requirements of BS 7176 or BS 7177 Medium Hazard.

Letting

Within the UK, all furniture supplied within rented accommodation (including items classified as ‘fixtures and fittings’) needs to meet the full requirements of The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 (available from www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1988/1324/contents/made), these include holiday homes and residential furnished accommodation (such as houses, flats, bed-sits and static caravans).

Furniture for holiday homes and furnished residential properties must also meet the full requirements of the above regulations.

However, furniture within chalet hotels and holiday apartments is a grey area, as their use can straddle the regulations for domestic and non-domestic premises. The best advice is to consult your local fire officer for advice.

Hints and tips

As noted, when specifying upholstered furniture it is best to ensure that the fire safety requirements are specified in any contract, or on the purchase order. The specifying of compliance to the relevant British Standard (BS 7176 for seating and BS 7177 for beds and mattresses), at the appropriate hazard level, is often the best way to do this.

Ask the supplier to prove compliance to the standards in the form of test reports for fabrics and filling materials used in the product. Check that these reports are current, relate to the product being supplied and are for the appropriate hazard rating.

Any furniture for which compliance to BS 7176 or BS 7177 is being claimed must carry a label clearly stating compliance, and the hazard level it complies with. If the label is not there, the product could be non-compliant.

For more information, go to www.fira.co.uk