Fire marshals push Calif. upholstery safety regs
Gary Evans -- Furniture Today, September 5, 2005
Washington — The National Assn. of State Fire Marshals has asked the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission to consider adopting a proposed California regulation as the national standard for preventing upholstered furniture fires.
The NASFM, in a letter to the CPSC, said that current proposals before the panel are confusing and would be difficult to comply with, and include tests that may not reflect real-world conditions.
The fire marshals group is backing a regulation known as TB 117+, developed by the California Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation. It is a proposed revision of TB 117, and was put on hold while the California bureau focused on a more stringent standard aimed at preventing open-flame ignition of mattresses. The latter standard went on the books in California this year.
CPSC has been working on a mandatory national standard for upholstery fire safety for 30 years. Most of the upholstery made in this country complies with voluntary standards forged by the furniture industry and accepted by the CPSC some 20 years ago. The voluntary standards cover ignition by smoldering cigarettes, but not by small open flames such as matches, lighters and candles.
The NASFM long has pushed for tougher flammability regulations than most furniture industry experts believe is feasible and/or cost-effective.
The CPSC again appears stalled in its rule-making efforts. Interested groups, including the American Home Furnishings Alliance, the big manufacturers trade group, had agreed to support a law in which upholstery fabrics would withstand a five-second open-flame test, foam would meet the requirements of TB 117+, and polyester cushion wraps would meet the United Kingdom's stringent open-flame requirements, with some approved alternatives.
But the CPSC staff is now proposing to eliminate tests for fabrics and strengthen foam requirements beyond TB 177+. In addition, the staff wants to regulate all blown polyester fill, particularly where it's used in horizontal cushions, something that hadn't received much attention previously.
The fire marshals, in their letter to the CPSC, said that TB 117+ would require compliance with tests for both coverings and filling materials, thus providing "safety redundancy."
