Tests for furniture – Clients who use Goodada’s inspection services for Furniture products often inquire as to what types of laboratory tests are available for furniture.
While the vast majority of orders will not require specific tests as the buyer will have used Goodada’s Factory Audits to inspect and verify that the Manufacturer already hold the necessary certifications.
There are instances where the Buyer wants separate testing to be carried out after inspectors have conducted their visual inspections. The purpose for this may be to confirm that that product achieves a certain grade or specification required by a customer of the buyer.
The testing standards that can apply to furniture are:
E N12520 – This standard focuses on
- Chair Seat and Back Load ( For domestic seating)
- Seat front edge fatigue
- Chair Leg load
EN12521 – This standard focuses on
- Vertical Static Load of a chair
- Horizontal fatigue of furniture
BIFMA – The American Standards for Office furniture is also applicable.
ANSI/BIFMA X5.1 – is intended to provide manufacturers and users with a common basis for evaluating the safety, durability, and structural adequacy of general-purpose office chairs. General-purpose office chairs are normally used in an office environment and may include, but are not limited to those seating styles typically referred to as: executive/management, task/secretarial, side/guest chairs, stacking chairs, tablet arm chairs and stools.
ANSI/BIFMA X5.1 includes the following tests:
5 Back Strength Test – Static – Type I
6 Back Strength Test – Static – Type II & III
7 Base Test – Static
8 Drop Test – Dynamic
9 Swivel Test – Cyclic
10 Tilt Mechanism Test – Cyclic
11 Seating Durability Tests – Cyclic
12 Stability Tests
13 Arm Strength – Vertical – Static
14 Arm Strength – Horizontal – Static
15 Back Durability Test – Cyclic – Type I
16 Back Durability Test – Cyclic – Type II and III
17 Caster/Chair Base Durability Test – Cyclic
18 Leg Strength – Front and Side Application
19 Footrest Static Load Test – Vertical
20 Footrest Durability Test – Vertical – Cyclic
21 Arm Durability Test – Cyclic
22 Out Stop Tests for Chairs with Manually Adjustable Seat Depth
23 Tablet Arm Static Load Test
24 Tablet Arm Load Ease Test – Cyclic
The fabric of the furniture should also need to be tested after an inspection, areas include:
- Performance of the Fabric Coverings
- Flammability tests for upholstered furniture Products
For Children’s furniture tests for toxicity and heavy metals such as Lead will need to be considered.
Packing tests can also apply. Information for inspection and testing of packaging is available on another Goodada blog.