Hotel furniture falls under what the industry calls FF&E, short for furniture, fixtures and equipment. A guidance document from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission describes FF&E as items that are not permanently fixed to a building. For a hotel or resort that covers guest rooms, the lobby, the restaurant and bar, meeting rooms, and the pool and terrace.

What a request can include

  • Guest rooms: casegoods, the term for wood or laminate furniture built as boxes and panels, such as headboards, nightstands, dressers, desks and luggage benches, plus lounge chairs and desk chairs.
  • Lobby and lounge: sofas, lounge chairs, side and coffee tables, and communal tables.
  • Restaurant and bar: dining chairs, bar stools, banquettes (upholstered bench seating built along a wall), and table tops with separate bases.
  • Meeting rooms: stacking chairs, folding or flip-top tables, and lecterns.
  • Pool and terrace: chaise lounges, dining sets, side tables and umbrellas.

Rules that apply to hotel furniture

Upholstered seating for indoor use that is made, imported or reupholstered for sale in the United States has to meet the federal flammability standard in 16 CFR part 1640. That rule adopts California’s Technical Bulletin 117-2013, a test of the smolder resistance of the materials in upholstered furniture. It applies to upholstered furniture made, imported or reupholstered on or after June 25, 2021, and the rule defines upholstered furniture as seating intended for indoor use.

California’s Technical Bulletin 133, an open flame test for seating in public occupancies, was repealed effective January 22, 2019, according to BIFMA, the trade association for business and institutional furniture makers. A specification written before the repeal may still name it, so check before a quote is priced to it.

Guest room dressers can fall under the federal tip-over rule for clothing storage units, 16 CFR part 1261, which covers units made after September 1, 2023. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says clothing storage units intended for hotels and school dormitories are consumer products subject to the rule when they fall within its scope. Ask whether the dressers in a quote are certified to it.

Performance standards to name in a request

BIFMA publishes performance standards for commercial seating, tables and storage. ANSI/BIFMA X5.4 covers public and lounge seating in indoor spaces such as reception areas and restaurant and dining settings. X5.5 covers desks and tables, and X5.9 covers storage units. For people of larger size, BIFMA X5.41 sets requirements for public and lounge seating based on a 400 lb person and, in a second set, a 600 lb person.

For upholstery in busy public areas such as a lobby, the Association for Contract Textiles (ACT) guideline is 30,000 double rubs on the Wyzenbeek abrasion test, in which a machine rubs cotton duck, a heavy cotton fabric, back and forth over the fabric, and each pass back and forth counts as one double rub. Its guideline for low-traffic private spaces is 15,000 double rubs. ACT reports that repeated abrasion tests on some fabrics have differed by 60 percent or more.

Where a hotel restaurant or bar provides dining surfaces, the 2010 ADA Standards require at least 5 percent of the seating spaces and standing spaces at them to meet section 902. The guide to accessible tables, counters and benches covers the dimensions. For pool umbrellas, ASTM F3512 tests the wind safety and durability of market umbrellas, the type ASTM says is used at hotels, restaurants and bars.

What to send with a hotel request

  • A furniture schedule: each item, the quantity, and the room type or area it goes in, such as 120 king rooms with one desk chair each.
  • Any furniture specifications the hotel’s owner or brand requires, with model numbers if a design firm has chosen pieces.
  • Finishes: wood species and stain, fabric grade, and outdoor fabric for the pool.
  • Whether the hotel stays open during installation, the size of the loading dock and the service elevator, and the date the rooms have to be finished.

The checklist for a quote request goes through each detail.