Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1988/1324 |
1988 No. 1324
CONSUMER PROTECTION
The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988
Made 26th July 1988
Laid before Parliament 28th July 1988
Coming into force in accordance with regulation 1(2)
Whereas the Secretary of State has, in accordance with section 11(5) of the Consumer Protection Act 19871consulted such organisations as appear to him to be representative of interests substantially affected by these Regulations and such other persons as he considers appropriate:
Now, therefore, the Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 11 of the said Act, hereby makes the following Regulations:–
Citation and Commencement
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988.
(2) These Regulations shall come into force as follows:–
(a)
(a) this regulation and regulations 3 and 4 shall come into force on 1st November 1988;
(b)
(b) subject to subparagraph (i) below, regulation 6 (insofar as it relates to foam), 11 (insofar as it relates to foam-filled furniture), 12 (insofar as it relates to foam-filled furniture) and 13 (insofar as it relates to foam-filled furniture) and 15 shall come into force as regards the duties of manufacturers and importers, on 1st November 1988;
(c)
(c) regulation 2, insofar as it relates to the revocation of that part of the Upholstered Furniture (Safety) Regulations 19802as amended by the Upholstered Furniture (Safety) (Amendment) Regulations 19833which imposes requirements with respect to permanent labels for certain furniture (insofar as those requirements apply to manufacturers and importers), shall come into force on 1st November 1988;
(d)
(d) regulation 7 (insofar as it relates to foam filling materials) shall come into force on 1st November 1988 and (insofar as it is not already in force) shall come into force on 1st March 1989;
(e)
(e) regulation 2, insofar as it relates to the revocation of that part of the Upholstered Furniture (Safety) Regulations 1980 as amended by the Upholstered Furniture (Safety) (Amendment) Regulations 1983 which imposes requirements with respect to display labels for certain furniture, shall come into force on 1st March 1989;
(f)
(f) subject to subparagraph (i) below, regulations 5, 6 (insofar as it relates to non-foam fillings), 11 (insofar as it relates to furniture), 12 (insofar as it relates to furniture) 13 and 15 shall come into force as regards the duties of manufacturers and importers (insofar as they are not already so in force) on 1st March 1989;
(g)
(g) subject to subparagraph (i) below, regulations 5, 6, 10, 11 (insofar as it relates to furniture), 12 (insofar as it relates to furniture) and 15 shall come into force as regards the duties of retailers on 1st March 1989;
(h)
(h) regulations 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 15 (insofar as they are not already in force) shall come into force on 1st March 1990;
(i)
(i) insofar as regulations 5, 6, 10, 11, 12 and 13 apply to or in respect of–
(i) furniture (whether ready-assembled or in component form) which is ordinarily intended for private use in the open air but which is also suitable for use in a dwelling;
(ii) furniture which is ordinarily intended to be affixed to and form part of a caravan;
they shall come into force on 1st March 1990;
(j)
(j) regulation 14(2) shall come into force on 1st March 1993; and
(k)
(k) otherwise, on 1st March 1990.
Revocation
2. The Upholstered Furniture (Safety) Regulations 1980 and the Upholstered Furniture (Safety) (Amendment) Regulations 1983 are hereby revoked.
Interpretation
3.—(1) In these Regulations–
“BS 3379” means the British Standard Specification for flexible urethane foam for loadbearing applications BS 3379: 1975 published by the British Standards Institution on 30th May 1975, as amended on 28th April 19784, subject to any further amendments made thereto and approved by the Secretary of State;
“BS 5651” means the British Standard Specification for cleansing and wetting procedures for use in the assessment of the effect of cleansing and wetting on the flammability of textiles and fabric assemblies BS 5651: 1978 published by the British Standards Institution on 29th December 19785subject to any amendments made thereto and approved by the Secretary of State;
“BS 5852: Part 1” means the British Standard for fire tests for furniture BS 5852: Part 1: 1979 published by the British Standards Institution and which came into effect on 30th November 19796subject to any amendments made thereto and approved by the Secretary of State;
“BS 5852: Part 2” means the British Standard for fire tests for furniture BS 5852: Part 2: 1982 published by the British Standards Institution and which came into effect on 31st August 19827subject to any amendments made thereto and approved by the Secretary of State;
“BS 6807” means the British Standard Methods of test for the ignitability of mattresses with primary and secondary sources of ignition BS 6807: 1986 published by the British Standards Institution and which came into effect on 31st December 19868subject to any amendments made thereto and approved by the Secretary of State;
“cigarette test” means the smouldering cigarette test specified in BS 5852: Part 1 as modified in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 4 to these Regulations;
“cushions” (except in (a) of the definition of “relevant ignitability test” in this paragraph) means scatter cushions and cushions of the kind commonly used on the seats of wooden chairs;
“dwelling” includes any caravan, but does not include boats or any other vessels or motor vehicles;
“filling material” means any material used for filling or stuffing the upholstered parts of furniture or for filling, bulking-out or stuffing such articles as cushions, mattresses and pillows;
“furniture” means–
(a) furniture of any description which is ordinarily intended for private use in a dwelling and includes beds and divans (including the bases and headboards of both), sofa-beds, children’s furniture, cots (including carry-cots, playpens, prams and pushchairs and any other article of a like nature and use designed to contain a baby or small child), cushions, high-chairs, mattresses (of any size) and pillows, but does not include bedding or floor coverings (including carpets and mats);
(b) furniture which is ordinarily intended for private use in the open air but which is also suitable for use in a dwelling; and
(c) any collection of components designed or intended to be assembled into any article of furniture defined in subparagraphs (a) and (b) above;
and “furniture” includes furniture mentioned in regulation 14(1) (second-hand furniture)–
in regulations 4, 7 and 15, from 1st November 1988;
in regulations 8(4), 9 and 14, from 1st March 1990;
in regulations 5, 6 and 8(1)–(3) from 1st March 1993.
“match test” means the test specified in Part I or Part II as appropriate of Schedule 5 to these Regulations;
“relevant ignitability test” in relation to any filling which–
(a) consists solely of polyurethane foam in slab or cushion form means the test specified in Part I of Schedule 1 to these Regulations;
(b) consists solely of polyurethane foam in crumb form means the test specified in Part II of Schedule 1 to these Regulations;
(c) consists solely of latex rubber foam means the test specified in Part III of Schedule 1 to these Regulations;
(d) consists of a single filling material other than the materials mentioned in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) above means the test specified in Part I of Schedule 2 to these Regulations;
(e) consists of more than one filling material means either:–
(i) the test specified in Part I of Schedule 2 to these Regulations for each individual filling material tested separately; or
(ii) the appropriate test specified in Part II, III or IV of that Schedule for the filling material tested as a composite:
provided that if the filling material includes foam of any of the kinds mentioned in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) above, the relevant ignitability test for that part of the filling which consists of such foam shall be the test (or tests) specified in paragraph (a), (b) or (c), as the case may be;
“supply”, where the context so admits, includes offering and agreeing to supply and exposing and possessing for supply, and cognate expressions shall be construed accordingly.
(2) For the purposes of these Regulations any references in BS 3379, BS 5651, BS 5852: Part 1, BS 5852: Part 2 or BS 6807 to any other British Standards shall be construed as references to those other British Standards as they had effect on 28th April 1978, 29th December 1978, 30th November 1979, 31st August 1982 and 31st December 1986 respectively or as they had effect on those dates respectively subject to amendments made to them by the British Standards Institution and approved by the Secretary of State.
Exclusion of goods made before 1950 and of supply of materials for re-upholstery of furniture made before that date and of goods for export
4. The requirements of these Regulations do not apply–
(a) in relation to the supply of any goods manufactured before 1 January 1950;
(b) in relation to the supply of materials when the person supplying them knows or has reasonable cause to believe that they will be used for re-covering or re-upholstering furniture manufactured before 1st January 1950; or
(c) in any case where the person supplying goods to which those requirements relate knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the goods will not be used in the United Kingdom.
Upholstery
5.—(1) No furniture to which this regulation applies shall include upholstery which does not pass the cigarette test.
(2) This regulation applies to all furniture (except mattresses, bed-bases, pillows and...
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