Flame Retardant Upholstery Fabrics: Label Basics

Always verify whether the declaration refers to fabric alone or to a full assembly with foam and backing. Do not substitute ratings across markets without matching standards.

For upholstered furniture the EN 1021 series is the baseline: part 1 covers ignitability from a smouldering cigarette, part 2 from a match-flame equivalent. These two tests are the minimum referenced in most specifications for publicly accessible buildings in the EU.

Individual markets have their own, stricter requirements. The United Kingdom relies on BS 5852 with the Crib 5 test, Germany on DIN 4102 with its building-material classification, France on the M classes under NF D 60-013, and Italy on Class 1 IM. On cross-border projects you have to confirm which standard applies at the place of installation, not the place of manufacture.

Inherently flame-retardant fibres, marked IFR, carry the property in their chemical structure. It cannot be washed out or rubbed off, and it survives cleaning, abrasion and years of use. Such materials cost more, but on hotel projects they are often the only solution an investor will accept.

An FR surface finish is applied to the finished fabric and performs just as reliably at the moment of testing, but weakens over time through washing, solvent cleaning and heavy use. The data sheet should state explicitly which variant you are dealing with and how many cleaning cycles the manufacturer guarantees.

Usually not. Testing is carried out on the upholstery assembly, that is the combination of cover fabric and filling, because behaviour in a fire is determined by the whole system. The same fabric over foam of a different density and composition can produce a different test result.

So on contract orders it is worth establishing early what kind of document the investor expects: a certificate for the fabric alone, or a test report for the complete assembly. The second route requires the filling to be agreed in advance and takes longer.

On special request, we apply a flame-retardant treatment to fabrics from the TIM Collection range. It is a surface finish (FR), so the caveats above apply: cleaning affects its durability, and building sign-off usually relies on testing the complete upholstery assembly.

The required standard, scope and lead time are agreed individually when ordering — tell us what kind of venue and which market the fabric is for.

• Ask about flame-retardant treatment