In the UK, there are legal fire safety standards for upholstered furniture to help reduce the risk of fires starting and spreading. You don’t need to understand the technical test details — but you do need to make sure the products you buy or specify comply with these standards.

The tests involve the fabric being exposed to different ‘ignition sources’ essentially stimulating possible real-life causes of domestic fires.

There are 8 different types of ignition sources, but for upholstery purposes there are only 3 we need to be concerned with.
Source 0 = Cigarette (smouldering cigarette)

Source 1 = Match (simulated match)

Source 5 = Crib (wooden crib)

The Cigarette & Match Tests fall under BS5852 and are fire retardancy tests for Residential Upholstery. For example, you might see a compliant fabric labelled as passing BS5852 Source 0+1.

Source 5, or Crib 5 as it is commonly known, is usually required for Contract Upholstery. In Contract Upholstery, you might also have come across the term BS7176. In simple terms, BS7176 covers all 3 of the above tests.

Whilst Crib 5 is the highest standard of the 3 tests, it does not always follow that a fabric which passes Crib 5 will also pass the Cigarette and Match Test (although there is a high likelihood it should).

Special points for Residential Upholstery:

To meet the standards set by UK British Law for Residential upholstery, all furniture must pass the Cigarette & Match Tests. There are no exceptions here.

However, this does not mean all fabric needs to pass the Cigarette & Match Test as standard:

• If the fabric passes Cigarette only, and is made up of over 75% natural fibres (cotton, silk, viscose, wool), then a Schedule 3 interliner can be used to meet the Match Test standard.
• If the fabric passes Cigarette only, and is below 75% natural fibres, then it must go for treatment.
• If a fabric doesn’t pass any of the above tests (or the fabric supplier hasn’t had it tested) then it must go for treatment.

At Sedilia, we have worked hard to avoid adding FR chemicals where we can. We are pleased to say all our house fabrics pass BS5852 sources 0+1 inherently without the need for treatment. The majority also pass Crib 5 inherently too.

However, we are aware that there will always be times when treatment is needed in order to comply with the law, especially when working in COM. In these instances, we advise the fabric to be treated with a ‘Duraflam®’ treatment, offered by Fabric Flare Solutions Ltd. If working in COM, then this will need to be arranged prior to the fabric arriving with us at the workshop (unless agreed with Sedilia).

Please note, we cannot work with fabrics that have had a backing applied as this inhibits the stretch, drape and nature of the fabric – all essential to making the type of sculptural furniture we are known for.