A specification for commercial furniture can name voluntary performance standards written by industry groups, and some federal rules apply whatever the specification says. This page lists the ones a quote request is likely to name, as their publishers describe them on October 5, 2026. Standards are revised, so check the edition a project’s specification calls for.
Seating, tables and storage
BIFMA, the trade association for business and institutional furniture makers, publishes performance standards for commercial seating, tables and storage. ANSI in a name marks a standard approved as an American National Standard. The year is the year the standard was published or last revised, and an R with a year marks the year it was reaffirmed without changes.
| Standard | What it covers |
|---|---|
| ANSI/BIFMA X5.1-2017(R2022) | General-purpose office chairs, side and guest chairs, stacking chairs, tablet armchairs and stools |
| ANSI/BIFMA X5.11-2015(R2020) | Large occupant office chairs, tested on a 400 lb (181 kg) basis |
| ANSI/BIFMA X5.4-2020(R2025) | Public and lounge seating in indoor spaces such as waiting and reception areas, visitor seating in patient rooms, and restaurant, dining and cafeteria settings |
| BIFMA X5.41-2021 | Large occupant public and lounge seating, with one set of requirements based on a 400 lb person and one based on a 600 lb person |
| ANSI/BIFMA X5.5-2021 | Desks and tables, including benching, height-adjustable tables, tilt-top tables, keyboard tables and monitor arms |
| ANSI/BIFMA X5.6-2016(R2021) | Panel systems, screens and their components |
| ANSI/BIFMA X5.9-2019 | Freestanding, mobile and wall-mounted storage units |
| ANSI/BIFMA X6.1-2018 | Educational seating, for students from pre-school through adult education |
| ANSI/BIFMA X6.4-2021 | Occasional-use seating in waiting, reception, dining and other gathering areas |
| BIFMA X8.1 | Furniture surfaces and how they hold up to cleaners and disinfectants |
| ANSI/BIFMA X9.2 | Privacy pods |
| BIFMA X10.1-2024 | Dimensional requirements for furniture designed for computer use |
| ANSI/BIFMA X7.1-2011(R2021) | Formaldehyde and total VOC (volatile organic compound) levels that define low-emitting furniture |
| ANSI/BIFMA e3-2024 | Furniture sustainability criteria, which BIFMA ties to LEVEL, its certification program for furniture |
A test report from a manufacturer or a lab names the standard and the edition the product passed. Ask for it when a specification requires a standard.
Flammability of upholstered seating
Upholstered seating made for indoor use in the United States has to meet 16 CFR part 1640, the federal flammability standard for upholstered furniture. It adopts California’s Technical Bulletin 117-2013, which tests the smolder resistance of the cover fabrics, barriers and fillings used in upholstered furniture, with a lit cigarette as the ignition source. The standard applies to upholstered furniture made, imported or reupholstered on or after June 25, 2021, and since June 25, 2022 each piece has needed a label that reads “Complies with U.S. CPSC requirements for upholstered furniture flammability.” The rule defines upholstered furniture as seating intended for indoor use.
California’s Technical Bulletin 133 was an open flame test for seating in public occupancies. BIFMA reported that it was repealed effective January 22, 2019. A specification that still names it should be updated before a quote is priced to it.
Health care buildings can have further rules. In the federal survey checklist for existing health care buildings under the 2012 Life Safety Code, newly introduced upholstered furniture has to meet Class I or char length criteria, which measure resistance to a smoldering cigarette, and heat release criteria, which limit how much heat a piece gives off as it burns, unless the building is fully sprinklered. The National Fire Protection Association’s report on the next edition of the code ties the Class I requirement to NFPA 260, a classification system for upholstered furniture components, and a char length of no more than 1½ inches to NFPA 261, a test of mock-up furniture assemblies. The page on health care furniture covers these rules.
Upholstery fabric
The Association for Contract Textiles (ACT) publishes voluntary performance guidelines for contract fabrics, set by the fabric’s construction, its use and where it is used. Abrasion, how well a fabric resists wearing through, is measured two ways. The Wyzenbeek test rubs cotton duck, a heavy cotton fabric, back and forth over the fabric, and each pass back and forth is a double rub. The Martindale test rubs the fabric with worsted wool in a figure-eight motion and counts cycles. ACT notes that the results of one test do not predict the other.
| Test | Low traffic or private spaces | High traffic or public spaces |
|---|---|---|
| Wyzenbeek, ASTM D4157, double rubs | 15,000 | 30,000 |
| Martindale, ASTM D4966, cycles | 20,000 | 40,000 |
For indoor woven upholstery ACT also sets minimums for colorfastness to light, crocking (color rubbing off onto another fabric or surface), pilling (small balls of fiber that form on the surface with wear), breaking strength and seam slippage (fabric pulling apart at a seam), and lists California TB 117-2013 Section 1 as the flammability test. For woven outdoor fabric, its lightfastness guideline is Grade 3 minimum after 1,000 hours on the AATCC 169 or AATCC 16.3 test. ACT reports that repeated abrasion tests on some fabrics have differed by 60 percent or more, and says abrasion results above its guidelines do not indicate how long a fabric will last.
Outdoor furniture
ASTM International’s standard F1838 sets performance requirements for adult and children’s plastic chairs for outdoor use, covering weathering, impact, static load and rear leg tests. It replaced ASTM F1561, which ASTM withdrew in 2019. ASTM F3512 sets procedures for testing and rating the wind safety and durability of market umbrellas, which ASTM says are used at theme and water parks, hotels, restaurants and bars.
The federal flammability standard for upholstered furniture covers seating intended for indoor use, so furniture made only for outdoor use falls outside it.
Dressers and other clothing storage
The federal tip-over rule for clothing storage units, 16 CFR part 1261, applies to freestanding units intended for storing clothing, typical of bedroom furniture, made after September 1, 2023. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says units intended for hotels and school dormitories are consumer products subject to the rule when they fall within its scope, and it lists office furniture and dining room furniture among the products outside it.
Accessibility
The 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design cover tables, counters and benches in new construction and alterations of state and local government facilities, public accommodations and commercial facilities. The guide to accessible tables, counters and benches lists the dimensions.