Contract versus domestic furniture: the build checklist

At a glance

Questions for the maker, not minimum builds: no frame, joint, foam or warranty figure is given because none was found in a primary source.

What ‘contract’ means, and what it does not

‘Contract’ comes from the commercial contract market: hotels, restaurants, bars, offices and public buildings. We found no legal definition of ‘contract grade’ in the sources read, and no certificate that carries the name. What does exist sits in three layers, and the checklist works at all three: the standard the product was tested to, the fire law that applies, and the construction choices that a specifier can write into a quote.

Two things follow. First, the standards are not interchangeable: BS EN 12520 and BS EN 16139 both test adult seating, and the BSI listings for the two give the same 110 kg adult basis, but a domestic report is a report to a different standard, so it does not show a seat has passed the non-domestic one. Second, a piece in a restaurant is chosen by use of the premises, not by looks: ask the client whether the room is a home, a business or both, as in a serviced apartment or a members' club with residential rooms, before settling the standard. The tests and levels for non-domestic seating are explained on our BS EN 16139 sheet, and a map of the other furniture types is on the strength and durability standards map.

Fire: why Crib 5 is not the dividing line

Contract and domestic furniture are both fire-tested, and ‘Crib 5’, the trade name for ignition source 5 of BS 5852, appears on both sides of the line. What changes is what the test is run on, and who sets the level.

• Domestic: the tests are in the Regulations. Under the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988, upholstery must pass the smouldering cigarette test (regulation 5, Schedule 4), and no furniture may include a filling that fails the relevant ignitability test (regulation 6(1)). For polyurethane foam in slab or cushion form that test is Schedule 1 Part I, which places “an ignition source 5 crib” on the foam under a standard test cover (paragraphs 2 and 4). A treated interliner is tested using ignition source 5 under Schedule 3, and the match test is in Schedule 5. So source 5 is part of the domestic foam and interliner tests, run on the filling or the interliner with prescribed materials.
• Non-domestic: the level comes from the fire risk assessment. Hotels, restaurants and offices are dealt with under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, and the level is set by the Responsible Person through the risk assessment. BS 7176 sorts upholstered seating into four hazard categories. The FIRA and British Furniture Confederation guide gives Medium as the typical level for hotel bedrooms, restaurants and bars, and Medium adds ignition source 5 to the cigarette and match tests on the finished composite: the real cover, any interliner and the filling together.

So the dividing line is not ‘Crib 5 or not’. It is whether source 5 is applied to parts made to a prescribed recipe (the domestic foam and interliner tests) or to the finished composite (BS 7176 Medium and above), and whether the level is fixed by the Regulations or by a fire risk assessment. Ask for the hazard category and a composite test report, never for ‘Crib 5’ alone. The categories, the label and the re-testing rules are on the BS 7176 hazard categories sheet, and which certificate belongs to which item is in the FF&E fire documentation matrix.

The build, element by element

The numbered points on the drawing show where each item sits on a chair; the line numbers in brackets are the checklist lines in the table above. Each is a question for the maker, with the evidence that answers it.

• Frame (point 1; line 3). Ask for the material, grade and moisture content in writing on the shop drawing. Timber choice is covered in our wood species guide. A cut-away or unfinished frame shows what is inside.
• Joints and corner blocks (points 2 and 3; line 4). The junction of a leg and a rail carries the racking load of a chair. A corner block, glued and screwed across the inside of a corner, is one common way of stiffening it; ask whether the design uses one and how it is fixed. The joint types are explained in our furniture joints guide.
• Fixings and hardware (points 4 and 9; line 5). Ask what holds the legs and arms on, and whether it can be re-tightened. Castors, swivels and recline mechanisms are outside EN 16139, so each needs its own evidence or warranty.
• Seat base, foam and cover (points 5, 6 and 7; lines 7, 8 and 9). The base carries the load under the foam; the foam data sheet should give density and hardness with the test method, and fatigue evidence (see foam, feather and fibre). The cover supplier should state abrasion by a named method and give light fastness, pilling and cleaning information. Thresholds depend on the use and are for the designer to set, so none is given here.
• Finish (point 8; line 10). Surface-resistance test methods for furniture exist for cold liquids, wet heat, dry heat and scratching (the EN 12720, EN 12721, EN 12722 and EN 15186 family). Ask which was used, on what sample, and which cleaning agents the finish tolerates.
• Feet and glides (point 9; line 11). Glides, castors and levellers are replaceable parts: ask what they are and whether spares are available.

Warranty and service life, without invented years

A durability claim in years is only worth the paper if it says what it covers. We give no figure here because none was found in a primary source: ask the maker to propose the warranty and judge it on the scope. Ask for it in writing, before the order, and check:

• What is covered, component by component: frame, joints, mechanism, foam, cover and finish usually have different lives, so a single number for “the chair” hides which part it describes.
• The period for each, and when it starts: from delivery, from installation or from handover.
• The exclusions: fair wear and tear, misuse, unsuitable cleaning agents, and repairs by others.
• The remedy and who attends: repair or replace, on site or at the workshop, and the response expected.
• Spares and repair: can covers be replaced and foam renewed, and will parts stay available? As an example of what a client can require, the Government Buying Standard for office furniture (version 4.0, June 2014) asks that furniture is designed for disassembly and that spare parts are available for at least 5 years after sale. It is an example, not a norm for hospitality.

Checking a quote against the list

1. Send the twelve questions to every supplier with the same drawing, and ask for the answers in writing.
2. Put the answers side by side. A blank, or an answer of “contract grade”, is a gap, not an answer.
3. Ask for the test report for the exact model, and for the composite fire reports, before comparing prices. A cheaper quote that leaves out the reports is not the same product.
4. Where a bespoke piece has no existing report, agree who arranges and pays for a representative sample to be tested, and when, before the order is released.

Comparing quotes line for line is the subject of comparing bespoke quotes like for like, and why they differ is in why bespoke quotes differ.

Before order the supplier is to provide a written build statement for each item, stating: frame material, grade and moisture content [or metal section, joining method and finish]; joint type at each junction and any reinforcement; fixings and hardware, and whether they can be re-tightened; seat base; foam type, density and hardness with the test method; cover fabric abrasion result with the method; finish system and its tested resistance to [liquids, heat and scratching] with the methods used. The statement is to match the approved shop drawing [ref, revision].

Seating to be tested to [BS EN 16139:2025 Level 1 / 2], supplied with the full signed test report from an accredited laboratory for the exact model and variants. Upholstered items to comply with BS 7176 for [Medium] Hazard as set by the fire risk assessment dated [date], with a test report for each upholstery composite, the foam producer's certificate and a photograph of the label. Reports to a superseded edition, or for a different model, are not accepted.

The supplier's written warranty is to be submitted before order and to state, for each of [frame, mechanism, foam, cover, finish], the period, its start date, what is covered, what is excluded and who attends. The period is for the supplier to propose and the client to approve before the order is placed. The supplier is to confirm that covers can be replaced and foam renewed without replacing the frame, and that spare parts and [replacement covers] remain available for not less than [ ] years after handover.

Standards and sources

• Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 (SI 1988/1324): revised text read 5 November 2026: regulations 5 to 7, Schedules 1 to 5.
• BS EN 16139:2025: non-domestic seating; BSI listing, current.
• BS EN 12520:2024 and BS EN 15372:2023: domestic seating and non-domestic tables; seller listings (BSI shows the 2015 and 2016 editions withdrawn).
• BS EN 12521:2023, BS EN 14749:2016+A1:2022, BS EN 16121:2023: domestic tables and storage, non-domestic storage; BSI listings.
• Fire Safety Order 2005; FIRA and British Furniture Confederation guide (2010, updated 2011): via our BS 7176 sheet.
• Government Buying Standard for Office Furniture, version 4.0, June 2014: Appendix A, example only.

Questions we are asked

What makes furniture ‘contract grade’?

Nothing certifies it. The term is shorthand for furniture made and evidenced for use in hotels, restaurants, offices and similar premises: tested to a non-domestic strength standard such as BS EN 16139, fire-tested by the route the fire risk assessment sets, and built so that the frame, joints, fixings, foam, cover and finish can be stated and proved.

Is there a legal definition of contract furniture?

We found none in the sources read. The law that applies depends on the premises: the 1988 fire regulations for furniture for private use in a dwelling, and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 for most non-domestic premises. Ask a fire consultant if the premises are mixed.

Does contract furniture have to pass Crib 5?

Not as a blanket rule. Ignition source 5 is also part of the domestic foam test in the 1988 Regulations. In non-domestic premises the level is set by the fire risk assessment; BS 7176 Medium, the typical level for hotel bedrooms, restaurants and bars in the guidance read, applies source 5 to the finished composite. Ask for the hazard category.

Can domestic furniture be used in a hotel or restaurant?

That is for the Responsible Person and the supplier to decide. The FIRA and British Furniture Confederation guide says BS 7176 allows furniture that complies with the 1988 Regulations in certain non-domestic places and treats it as meeting Low Hazard, but a domestic report to BS EN 12520 is a report to a different strength standard. Ask which standard the piece was tested to and why that suits the use.

What warranty should I ask for?

Ask the maker to propose it in writing, component by component (frame, mechanism, foam, cover, finish), with the period, the start date, the exclusions and who attends. Judge it on the scope, not on a single number of years.

Can a bespoke piece be contract grade without a test report?

Only if its evidence is created. A report on another model does not cover a new design, so agree early who arranges and pays for a representative sample to be tested, to which standard and level, before production.