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Furnishing the benefits of workplace noise reduction

By researching the use of acoustically advanced composite technology in the design and manufacture of office furniture, a consortium led by FIRA International Ltd (Furniture Industry Research Association) hopes to help reduce noise in the working environment. The work is designed to identify materials suitable for use in office partitions, desks, cupboards, drawers and filing cabinets, to build prototypes and test their structural and acoustic performance.

What do I need to know about selecting foam interiors?

Foam interiors for furniture are required to be of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose. This means they are expected to adequately support a user throughout the life of the furniture. Selection of the wrong foam can result in excessive cushion softening which manifests itself as cushion hollowing, loss of comfort, bottoming out, cushion collapse and cover bagging.

What do I need to know to sell domestic seating in the UK?

All domestic seating products must be fit for purpose, of satisfactory quality and safe. The fire safety of domestic upholstered seating is controlled by legislation – not discussed here for more information click on ‘Upholstered furniture regs intro’ The General Product Safety Regulations acts as a catch all relating to other safety issues or concerns and as such the producer must be able to demonstrate he has taken steps to ensure the product is safe

What do I need to know to sell domestic storage units in the UK?

All domestic products must be fit for purpose, of satisfactory quality and safe. The General Product Safety Regulations acts as a catch all relating to other safety issues or concerns and as such the producer must be able to demonstrate he has taken steps to ensure the product is safe.

What do I need to know to sell mattresses, divans and bed bases in the UK?

Domestic mattresses, divans and bed bases are required to be of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose. The fire safety of these items is controlled by legislation - not discussed here but for further information click on Fire safety controls - domestic beds

Upholstered Furniture Fire Safety Regulations – labelling, identification and record keeping

All new furniture must carry a display label at the point of sale. It is the retailer’s responsibility to ensure that furniture on display carries the correct label. A collection of furniture items such as a three-piece suite or set of dinning chairs must wear the display label on each individual item.

Fire Safety Controls – non-domestic or contract upholstered seating

There are no mandatory regulations in the non-domestic/contract furniture sector that detail precisely the ignition resistance requirements for furniture. However, the fire safety of the premises in which the furniture is used is controlled by the Fire Precautions Act.

COSHH (Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations) Data sheet

This data sheet outlines the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations with reagrd to timber and wood based products.

Joinery performance: work with wood, not against it

There are two ways of looking at wood as a manufacturing material. One can select appropriate species and exploit its properties through good component design or, as happens all too often, one can consider wood's unique properties as a nuisance and a hindrance to the manufacturing process. This route leads to failures which could easily be avoided through greater understanding and care.

Moisture content

Wood will always contain some water. 'Green' wood, as felled, may be saturated, with the cell cavities full of water or sap, and water chemically bound in the cell walls.

Timber treatments and finishes: An introduction

Timber can be physically altered and chemically engineered through the application of various treatments and finishes to meet demanding performance requirements. Covers preservation, treatments to improve performance in fire and various finishing treatments.

Edge sealants for wood-based boards

Protecting board edges is a vital part of board performance in humid conditions. This wood information sheet gives guidance on suitable materials.

Introduction to wood-based panel products

Outlines the types available, their manufacture and general performance.

Virtual furniture could make real money

The concept of virtual worlds is becoming an increasing reality. Many large commercial organisations are becoming actively involved in virtual communities such as "Second Life". They are not doing this for fun, but feel that these worlds present real business opportunities, an issue recently debated on the BBC's Money Programme. This article summarises virtual worlds and identifies some of the potential opportunities - if only we are brave enough to embrace what, on the surface, seems slightly ridiculous.

Standardisation of electronic communications within the furniture manufacturing industry

Electronic communication software is more prevalent than ever within today’s increasingly global furniture supply chain. Without doubt, these systems enhance efficiency and improve competitiveness. They can however, create confusion as different systems attempt to “talk to each other” whilst not necessarily using the exact same language. INNOVAFUN, a European wide collaborative project, aims to advance the use of the new FunStep standard (ISO 10303-236) for electronic communications in the furniture industry so that these problems can be eradicated.

Specifying leather for furniture

Leather has been used as an upholstery cover for centuries and present-day furniture styles and designs, coupled with modern leather finishing techniques and types, have increased its market share considerably in recent years. However, the attractiveness and popularity of today’s leather upholstery must not detract from the fact that the leather, like any other material, must be of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose

What are the General Product Safety Regulations and how do they affect me?

The General Product Safety Regulations originally published in the UK in 1994 have been revised to reflect the changes introduced by the revised Directive published across the EU in 2004.

What do I need to know to sell office seating in the UK?

Office seating must be safe and suitable for use. Defining characteristics for performance and safety include: stability, strength, durability, fire safety.

Introducing wood

Provides information on the properties of timbers and the terminology used.

What do I need to know to sell domestic tables in the UK?

All domestic table products must be fit for purpose, of satisfactory quality and safe. The General Product Safety Regulations acts as a catch all relating to other safety issues or concerns and as such the producer must be able to demonstrate he has taken steps to ensure the product is safe.

Upholstered Furniture Fire Safety Regulations. Introduction

The UK Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations is a legal document designed to ensure that fabrics and foams used in the UK are safe.

Recycling wood

An introduction to wood recycling

Upholstered Furniture Fire safety regulations – measurement of ignitability

The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations contain a series of Schedules which detail the method by which upholstery materials are to be tested to demonstrate compliance.

Upholstered Furniture Fire Safety Regulations – filling requirements

Any filling material, whether foam or non-foam, intended for use in furniture, must meet specified ignition tests. This means any material included for the purpose of filling or stuffing the upholstered parts of the furniture.

Leather types, characteristics and maintenance

Leather can be made from the skin of any animal. Most leather is grain leather finished by various methods to produce different effects. Leather furniture in a normal domestic environment should need little attention, cleaning should only be carried out when necessary.

Adhesives for furniture

The rapid development of synthetic adhesives over the last few decades has virtually eliminated the natural animal glues used for centuries. Each adhesive type is now engineered to a particular operation – be it laminating, edgebanding or jointing. These new adhesives have had a marked effect on today’s furniture industry. In particular, the development of particle boards for cabinet making followed by the introduction of urea formaldehyde (UF) adhesives which are much better suited to automatic high speed production processes. Along with UF, the most widely used products are polyvinyl acetate (PVAC) and hot melt adhesives and within each range there are those best suited to different applications

Health, safety and environmental legislation increases

Manufacturers are struggling to keep abreast of health, safety and environmental legislation. FIRA can provide the solution

Chain of custody – procurement of wood and wood based products

The procurement of timber and wood based items from well managed sources is now paramount, Chain of Custody (FSC or PEFC) should be high on the agenda of all companies.

Recycling MDF

The amount of MDF waste produced at the furniture production stage is in the region of 180,000 tonnes per annum. The vast majority of this waste, almost 99%, is directed towards landfill. Unlike particleboard, which may be recycled to some extent to produce fresh particleboard, there are production problems concerning the recycling of MDF to produce fresh MDF board. Consequently, MDF is not currently recycled in order to produce fresh MDF.

Waste minimisation

The creation of waste involves buying a raw material then spending time, money and energy processing it, before paying someone else to take it away. Wood waste is the specific issue which is associated with the timber and furniture industries, but there are other important sources of waste such as solvent, energy, packaging and transport fuel.

Are you part of the furniture sector’s sustainability strategy?

Sustainability is the guiding concept for European environmental management. The furniture sector sustainability strategy is designed to help companies progress towards more sustainable manufacture

The fabric to furniture supply chain

The fabric to furniture supply chain project will review the supply of fabric within four furniture supply chains. It aims to examine and identify the measues, relations and practices employed within and across these supply chains.

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