Upholstery and furnishing materials

Upholstered furniture and furnishings such as hard chairs, fabrics and curtains installed in premises subject to fire-prevention regulations need to be tested to determine their fire resistance properties.

The Italian classification is based on Ministerial Decree dated 26/06/84 as amended and supplemented.

Italian classification of upholstered furniture, settees, mattresses and sofa beds with or without headboards always requires performance of the same UNI 9175 test, building a small settee mock-up with the filling materials, any interliner and the cover. These fire resistance test lead to assignment of a fire reaction class ranging from 1 IM to 3 IM.

Each upholstery composite on an item of furniture has to be tested if located within the first 75 mm, but the rules covering the composition of the mock-up are extremely complicated and it is always preferable to contact the laboratory in order to decide on the test strategy.

Istituto Giordano is also authorised to certify upholstered furniture, curtains and bedding components in general used for maritime applications (Directive 2014/90/EU MED), in accordance with IMO 2010 FTP CODE.

Tests are also performed for the European classification of curtains and drapes according to EN 13773, using EN 1101, EN 1102 and EN 13772 methods.

Istituto Giordano uses other test methods to classify upholstered furniture and furnishing materials, such as standards EN 1021-1 and EN 1021-2, EN 597-1 and EN 597-2, British Standards BS 5852, BS 7176 and BS 7177 and American TB 117, but please contact the laboratory for other test methods or test studies and research.