An office request can be as small as chairs for one conference room or as large as a full floor of workstations, meeting rooms and a work café. BIFMA, the trade association for business and institutional furniture makers, publishes standards for office furniture. Naming them in a request means each quote can be compared on furniture tested the same way.
What a request can include
- Task chairs for desks and workstations, and side or guest chairs.
- Workstations and desks, including benching (rows of shared desks on one frame) and height-adjustable desks.
- Panel systems and privacy screens.
- Conference and training room tables and chairs.
- Work café and lounge seating, and outdoor break area furniture.
- Filing and storage, lockers, and mobile pedestals (small drawer units on casters that fit under a desk).
BIFMA standards for office furniture
| 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 X5.5-2021 | 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 the components that hang on them |
| ANSI/BIFMA X5.9-2019 | Freestanding, mobile and wall-mounted storage units |
| ANSI/BIFMA X9.2 | Privacy pods |
| BIFMA X10.1-2024 | Dimensional requirements for furniture designed for computer use, based on ISO ergonomics principles |
| ANSI/BIFMA X7.1-2011(R2021) | Formaldehyde and total VOC (volatile organic compound, the chemicals that off-gas from materials) levels that define low-emitting office furniture and seating |
| ANSI/BIFMA e3-2024 | Furniture sustainability criteria, which BIFMA ties to its LEVEL certification |
In BIFMA’s names, 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.
Accessibility and other rules
The 2010 ADA Standards require at least 5 percent of work surfaces provided for use by people other than employees, such as a writing surface in a lobby, to meet the height and clearance rules in section 902. The U.S. Access Board’s advisory note says the rule does not cover work surfaces used only by employees, and that employers may need to provide or adjust work stations for employees with disabilities as a reasonable accommodation. Ask the company’s human resources or facilities staff when a workstation has to meet an employee’s needs.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission lists office furniture among the products outside its tip-over rule for clothing storage units. Upholstered office seating for indoor use has to meet the federal flammability standard in 16 CFR part 1640.
What to send with an office request
- Headcount and the number of each workstation type, with sizes, such as desks 60 by 30 inches.
- Whether new furniture has to match a panel system or finishes already in the office.
- Power and data needs at each desk, and any furniture that has to be height-adjustable.
- Whether installation has to happen after hours or over a weekend, and the building’s rules for deliveries and elevator use.
The checklist for a quote request goes through each detail.