Within a care home, hotel, or other commercial property, the way furniture is specified, tested, and maintained plays a crucial role in preventing and controlling fire. Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRFSO), the responsibility falls on the Responsible Person to assess these risks and ensure all furnishings meet the necessary standards.

Why Furnishings Matter in Fire Safety

Fire retardant curtains, roman blinds and accessories are part of any fire safety risk assessment and this need to be considered when planning any refurbishments or refreshes of your interiors.

Upholstered furniture, in particular, poses a dual risk: it can ignite quickly and, once burning, produce high levels of heat, smoke, and toxic gases. The fire safety assessment of furniture and furnishings focuses on two broad groups of properties:

Ignition-related properties: Will the furniture catch fire, and under what conditions?

Post-ignition properties: If it does catch fire, how quickly will it develop and how severe will the impact be?

Addressing both stages is essential to create safer environments for vulnerable occupants such as the elderly in care homes or guests in hotels.

Understanding Ignitability

Ignitability is the ease with which an item will ignite and continue to burn after the ignition source is removed. It is a primary concern for risk assessors and is determined by factors such as:

• The size of the ignition source required
• The time needed for the furniture to ignite
• The type of ignition source (smouldering, flaming, or radiant heat)

It’s important to note that resistance to one ignition type does not guarantee resistance to another. For example, furniture that resists a smouldering cigarette may still be vulnerable to open flames or radiant heat. This is why testing across all three ignition types is necessary.

By controlling ignitability, ensuring items can resist the most common ignition sources in a given environment, the likelihood of fire is drastically reduced. This is essentially fire prevention at source.

Post-Ignition Behaviour

If prevention fails, the focus shifts to how the fire develops. Furniture and furnishings contribute significantly to fire growth, producing heat, smoke, and gases that endanger both occupants and staff. Key post-ignition factors include:

• The rate of fire development
• The rate of heat and smoke release
• The volume and toxicity of gases produced

In the UK, the use of combustion-modified urethane foam in upholstered furniture is a standard control measure and the BS 5867 standard focuses on Curtains and other soft furnishgings.

The Role of the Responsible Person

The RRFSO makes it clear that the onus is on the Responsible Person, usually the care home manager, building owner, or operator, to carry out a full fire risk assessment. This assessment should take into account the furniture in use, the ignition risks present, and the fire behaviour that could follow. The Responsible Person then informs specifiers and purchasers of the required ignition resistance level for furniture in that particular environment.

This shift in accountability highlights a common misunderstanding: designers and architects may influence aesthetics and layouts, but the legal duty for fire safety compliance rests firmly with the purchaser.

Standards for Furniture Fire Safety

To help align manufacturers, specifiers, and end users, standards such as BS 5867 (Soft furnishings), BS 7176 (upholstered furniture) and BS 7177 (mattresses and bed bases) provide a clear framework. These standards classify items based on the resistance to specific ignition sources and match those classifications to hazard levels expected in different environments.

For example, furniture destined for a healthcare setting such as a care home will require a higher level of ignition resistance than furniture for low-risk environments. By referencing these standards, purchasers can make informed decisions and manufacturers can produce standardised ranges rather than bespoke products for every building.

Conclusion

Furniture and furnishings should never be overlooked in fire safety planning. By focusing on both ignitability and post-ignition behaviour, Responsible Persons can significantly reduce fire risks in care homes and other commercial premises. Compliance with recognised standards like BS 5867, BS 7176 and BS 7177 not only protects residents, staff, and guests but also provides assurance that the furniture specified is suitable for its intended environment.

In the end, proactive risk assessment, correct specification, and ongoing compliance checks are the keys to ensuring that furniture contributes to a safe, not hazardous, living and working space.