Furniture Safety Solutions

Furniture safety certification for residential and commercial furnishings

Furniture manufacturers face a unique set of market challenges, whether pursuing the residential or commercial furniture markets or preparing products to satisfy both in the new “resimercial” (short for residential and commercial) settings. From complying with regulations to meeting customer and market expectations, the safety of your products remains important.

At UL Solutions, we offer a range of services designed to help manufacturers understand more about the products they design and sell. Our furniture safety testing and certification services can help you save time and money across the product development cycle. Engaging with UL Solutions, a respected third party, to evaluate your products helps strengthen your brand reputation and build trust with your customers.

We offer integrated test plans to assess products to the requirements for multiple countries concurrently, as well as to all industry standards. We help you identify local and national requirements, address customer-specific needs, and understand every test result and finding along the way so you can move forward with confidence.

Our test reports and certifications are globally recognized, and the expertise of UL Solutions' technical team is respected around the world by governmental and regulatory bodies, industry associations and supply chain partners at every level. In addition to building trust with your direct customers, our testing services can help you build a stronger, more transparent supply chain.

Residential and commercial furniture safety testing

We all rely on a countless number of furniture pieces every day. From desks and office chairs to sofas, dining tables, and mattresses, furniture is part of almost every daily activity, and the safety of each piece is important.

We remain committed to helping furniture manufacturers and retailers make and sell safe products that help build trust and confidence with their customers. Our furniture safety certification and testing solutions provide a comprehensive review of important safety issues such as electrical shock, fire hazards, mechanical stability, strength and integrity for products such as office panel systems, retail fixtures, commercial furnishings, and residential furniture and bedding.

We test and certify furniture products according to UL safety standards including:

• UL 962, the Standard for Safety of Household and Commercial Furniture
• UL 1286 the Standard for Safety of Office Furnishings
• UL 2999 the Standard for Safety of Individual Commercial Office Furnishings
• UL 970 the Standard for Safety of Retail Fixtures and Merchandise Displays
• UL 4041 the Outline of Investigation for Safety of  Outdoor Furniture
• UL 962A the Standard for Safety of Furniture Power Distribution Units
• UL 410 – Slip Resistance testing that we perform in our group
• UL 1315 – Metallic Wastepaper Containers
• UL 242 – Nonmetallic Wastepaper Containers
• UL 2040 – Folding Rollaway Tables
• UL 2442 - Standard for Wall- and Ceiling-Mounts and Accessories
• UL 1294 – Composite Panels
• UL 2305 – Exhibition Display Units
• UL 1678, Household, Commercial, and Institutional-Use Carts, Stands and Entertainment Centers for Use with Audio and/or Video Equipment

With our BIFMA Performance Certification Program, we can certify BIFMA performance for a wide range of product standards, including:

• ANSI/BIFMA X5.5-2014 Desk Products
• ANSI/BIFMA X5.9-2019 Storage Units
• ANSI/BIFMA X5.1-2017 Office Seating
• ANSI/BIFMA X5.4-2012 Lounge and Public Seating
• ANSI/BIFMA X5.6-2016 Panel Systems
• ANSI/BIFMA X6.1-2018 Educational Seating
• ANSI/BIFMA S6.5-2008 Small Office/Home Furniture
• ANSI/BIFMA X5.11-2015 Large Occupant Office Chair

Annual follow-up testing helps detect changes in your supply chain that could affect product performance. 

We partner with furniture manufacturers and retailers to help you ensure the furniture you produce and sell demonstrates compliance with both national and local regulations for safety.  Whatever market you are pursuing, we can guide you through the certification process. From California’s Proposition 65 to national requirements for flammability supported by testing methods from the National Fire Protection Association, American National Standards Institute, ASTM International and International Organization for Standardization, UL Solutions' experts will help you every step of the way.

Our global team and worldwide network of accredited laboratories also allows us to work closely, and often locally, with you and your team, making the entire process as seamless as possible.

Furniture certification to protect the health of people and our planet

Different furniture products may require different tests to demonstrate user safety, but manufacturers’ commitment to the environment is universal, steadfast and growing.

Our sustainability experts can help you pursue several sustainability programs and certifications, including:

• UL GREENGUARD Certified for low chemical emissions
• Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA): Volatile organic compound testing and LEVEL® certification for environmental, health and wellness, and social impacts
• European Office Furniture Federation (FEMB): Certification for environmental and social sustainability
• California Proposition 65 Compliance Solutions

Committed to the future of furniture safety

With our extensive expertise in other markets and steady focus on product innovation, we have kept pace with the changing furniture landscape. We are equipped to test furniture products with integrated luminaries, electrical outlets, motors, actuators and IoT connectivity.

As technology evolves, commercial furniture moves into the residential spaces and the safety of furniture products grows to include additional needs related to power, connectivity and interoperability, UL Solutions remains at the forefront of those changes. We help shape the future of safety through our involvement with regulatory bodies and industry organizations, and our experts are ready to partner with you to help your innovative furniture products come to market as safely as possible.