Do refurbished antique chairs need fire proofing label?

[Guest AngelChamb]

I was wondering whether antique upholstered furniture also needs to comply with the legislation.

For example, an edwardian chair that was upholstered in the last 10 years.

Does it need to have a fire resistant label to be sold in a shop?

[Tom Sutton]

The guidance says " The Regulations do not apply to furniture intended for export and furniture manufactured prior to 1950." As the furniture was manufactured before 1950 I would say it is exempt from the regulations therefore I would suggest you download the guide to the regulations for domestic furniture and confirm it for yourself.

Download the guide at http://www.fira.co.u...mability-guides

[Guest LorainneFl]

Good morning
I have recently had 2 old arm chairs professionally re-upholstered including replacing all the old foam. Are you able to advise if my chairs should now carry any appropriate labels? I'm not sure if I should be directing my enquiry to your site so apologies sent if this is the case.

[Tom Sutton]

The Regulations apply to the re-upholstery of furniture manufactured after 1 January 1950, to the extent that all filling material and cover fabric, supplied by the re-upholsterer, used in refurbishing such furniture must meet the levels of fire resistance defined within the Regulations. However you can get more definitive advice from http://www.fira.co.uk/ and download their guidance.

[Guest Jonno]

Hi, does anyone know how fire safety regulations would apply to a restored / reupholstered chair that is displayed in a public place i.e museum?

Would be very interested if anyone knows how to get info on this..

[Tom Sutton]

You are not subject to The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations because it is not a domestic situation but you are subject to  The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 which requires you to conduct a fire risk assessment. Part of the risk assessment is to identify fire hazards and remove them or lessen the risk. This can be achieved by following the guidance in the Fire safety of furniture and furnishings in the contract and non-domestic sectors.

This would work fine if you were procuring a number of pieces of upholstery furniture by ensuring they carried the low hazard label. In your case having a single chair re-upholstered is not covered therefore I would suggest you have the chair upholstered in accordance with the FFFSR which would I am sure meet the requirements of the contract sector.

Check out Fire safety of furniture and furnishings in the home - A Guide to the UK Regulations

 

 

 

[Guest Spud]

On 27/02/2012 at 20:04, Tom Sutton said:

The guidance says " The Regulations do not apply to furniture intended for export and furniture manufactured prior to 1950." As the furniture was manufactured before 1950 I would say it is exempt from the regulations therefore I would suggest you download the guide to the regulations for domestic furniture and confirm it for yourself.

 

Download the guide at http://www.fira.co.u...mability-guides

I'm afraid you are incorrect. The item has been re-covered in the last 10 years so there is a requirement for it to be labelled IF it is to be sold through a business. 

[Tom Sutton]

The guide states "The Regulations apply to the re-upholstery of furniture manufactured after 1 January 1950," my interpretation would be the item was manufactured before Jan 1950 and having it reupholstered later date does not change the date of manufacture. We will have to leave it to the courts to decide.

[Guest Spud]

If you alter any item in any way you effectively become the manufacturer. (The same for all safety legislation) irrespective of when the item was originally manufactured. 

[Tom Sutton]

I would disagree because you alter an item, you become the manufacturer and where in fire safety legislation does this rule apply. As I have said, we will have to wait for the courts to decide.

[Guest Advice please]

I am re upholstering an old sofa the new  top fabric which I am going to use is fire retardant, but I am wondering about the base coat that will cover the F R foam. The base cover will be calico does that also need to be FR too. I was also thinking of putting a fire retardant label on the sofa.

[Tom Sutton]

You say the cover material is fire retardant but is it match resistant and/or cigarette resistant this will decide if the interliner has to be FR (schedule 3 standard).

Check out Fire safety of furniture and furnishings in the home - A Guide to the UK Regulations guide 2.

[Charity Shop]

How do charity shops ensure that they remain compliant with legislation if re-upholstering furniture items to sell in their shops?

[AnthonyB]

Most seem to avoid this issue by not accepting items unless they are in good condition & fire labelled.