Flame Retardancy – Contract & Hospitality Applications

All fabric specified and supplied for a contract environment must comply with the relevant FR regulation based on its location and end use. In the UK British Standards are required, Europe wide generally use EN codes however individual countries will have their own norms too. The US and AUS/NZL also have their own codes and testing criteria.

 

Sunbury Design specialise in fabrics for contract & hospitality, all our qualities are supplied meeting FR and durability standards covering broad market sectors with no need for additional treatments.

 

UK FR Requirement for Contract Upholstery (non-domestic seating)

BS7176 Medium Hazard a foam and fabric rig simulating the seat and back of a chair is subjected to different burning sources. Fabric rated as Fail, Low Hazard, Medium Hazard, High Hazard.

Low Hazard – meets EN 1021 parts 1 & 2 as European standard. Assessed as suitable for colleges, day centres, exhibitions, museums, offices, schools, universities…

Medium Hazard – meets EN 1021 parts 1 & 2 plus BS 5852 crib 5 burning source. Assessed as suitable for casinos, hospitals, hostels, places of public entertainment, public buildings, public halls, public houses and bars, restaurants, services’ messes etc..

High Hazard – As above but subject to crib 7 instead of crib 5 burning source. Assessed as suitable for locked psychiatric accommodation, prison cells.

Our FR testing is predictive and customers must ensure their complete furniture meets the necessary standards.

Normally a back-coat lamination is required on our 100% polyester fabrics to pass BS7176 Medium Hazard. If using FR yarns it is possible to have inherent qualities. If a fabric has an FR treatment including a back-coating then a water soak is required prior to testing. This is not required for inherent FR qualities.

BS 5852 crib 5 test can be performed on its own however BS7176 Medium Hazard is required for hospitality upholstery. EN1021 parts 1 & 2 and BS5852 must all be tested over the same foam, normally CMHR35 (combustion modified foam).

 

European FR Requirement for Contract Upholstery

Classe Uno Italy – UNI 9175 a burner is placed along the joint of the seat and back of the test chair. A flame is applied to it 3 times for a certain time, first 20 seconds, then 80 seconds and finally 140 seconds. Combustion, flaming and glowing are observed. Rated Classe 1 (best) to Classe 3.

EN 1021 parts 1 & 2 – European standard, a foam and fabric rig simulating the chair make up is subjected to a cigarette (part 1) and butane flame (part 2). Fabric is assessed for smouldering or flaming with a pass or fail rating.

 

UK FR Requirements for Contract Drapery

BS 5867 Part 2 Type B – For hotels, theatres, public buildings, schools and offices. A vertical flame test applied to face of fabric, the fabric must not spread the flame, reach edge of test sample, or produce flaming debris.

BS 5867 Part 2 Type C – For hospitals and healthcare environments. A vertical flame is applied to face and back of sample, 50 wash pre-conditioning for any non-inherent FR fabric. The fabric must not spread the flame, reach edge of test sample, or produce flaming debris. After flame to extinguish within 2.5sec.

 

European FR Requirements for Contract Drapery

EN 13773 – European wide standard, combined with EN1101 and EN13772. A radiant heat source is applied to a vertically orientated sample. Rated Class 1 (best) to 5.

M1 France – Testing to NF P92-503 to 505 the fabric can be categorised as NF P92-507 and classified M1 to M4 with M1 being the highest standard.

B1 Germany – DIN4102 vertical ‘fire shaft’ test measures flame spread and burning droplets. Ratings: B1 ‘not easily flammable’, B2 ‘flammable’, B3 ‘easily flammable’.

Classe Uno Italy – UNI 9177 The spread of flame is measured along the sides of a vertical or horizontal surface of a specimen exposed to a flame and a radiant panel. The after-glow, damaged zone and dripping are also observed. Rated Classe 1 (best) to Classe 3.

 

Fabrics designed to pass drapery or vertical flame spread tests would be inherent FR or include a surface FR treatment however these treatments are not always durable.

 

FR Requirements for Contract Bedding and Bed Bases

BS7175 – For bed covers, throws and pillows. A vertical flame test where three ignition sources; cigarette (0), match (1) and crib 5 (5) are placed on the edge of the fabric.

BS7177 – For bed bases and mattresses. Three levels of hazard; high, medium and low.

 

USA FR Requirements

NFPA 260 – Upholstery, testing to cig and match ignition sources

CAL TB 117 – Upholstery, tests the smouldering resistance of upholstered furniture materials by exposing them to a lit cigarette in a controlled environment, measuring the extent of charring and assessing if the material ignites or continues to smoulder beyond a specified time frame. Evaluates how quickly a flame spreads across the fabric when ignited by a cigarette source.

NFPA 701 – Drapery test used to measure the flame propagation of a fabric by exposing a sample to a controlled flame and assessing the resulting char length, flaming residue, and after-flame duration

 

Marine IMO FR Standards

Maritime has its own regulations and standards all under International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

IMO part 7 – Edge and face ignition test for drapery and decorative fabrics.

IMO part 8 – For upholstery & headboard fabrics. This is a cig and match test very similar to EN1021 parts 1 & 2 over a non-FR foam.

IMO part 9 – For bedding fabrics.

 

Our fabrics meet many different specifications and worldwide standards,  Please refer to individual fabric specifications for more details or contact us for further information:

Durability

BS EN ISO 12947-2 : 2019 – The Martindale abrasion test, also known as the Martindale rub test, measures how durable a fabric is. It’s a globally recognised method used to assess the abrasion resistance of fabrics, particularly upholstery and simulates natural wear of a seat cover by ‘rubbing’ a fabric sample against a standard abrasive surface with a specified force. The test works in intervals of 5000 cycles until the fabric is deemed to be worn. This can be a number of yarn breakages, loss of texture etc.

+40 000 rubs severe contract upholstery use +30 000 rubs general contract upholstery use, however this can vary between fabric types eg flock, velvet.

ASTM D4157 – A common test in North America for upholstery fabrics, Wyzenbeek abrasion test measures how resistant a fabric is to abrasion. It’s . The test is named after Andrew Wyzenbeek, who invented the machine.  The fabric is rubbed back and forth against a cotton duck or wire mesh material until the fabric shows noticeable wear, such as pilling or yarn breakage. The number of double rubs (back-and-forth motions) the fabric can withstand before showing wear is recorded as the abrasion rating.
woven fabrics 15 000 double rubs is suitable for low-traffic residential use, 30 000 double rubs or more is suitable for heavy-duty commercial use
coated fabrics 50 000 double rubs or more is suitable for heavy-duty commercial use

Care & Cleaning.

All of our fabric qualities have a relevant care guide available to download from each fabrics ‘technical specification’ (for logged in users only). Or please contact us to request. Care guides are also included with every fabric shipment.

Widths.

Our upholstery fabrics are available in +/- 140cm (55inch) as standard but some qualities can be supplied double width for special orders. Certain drapery qualities will be double width as detailed on the individual specification. Please contact us for further information.

Colour Matching.

Due to the inherent nature of textiles slight shade and other minor variations can occur but are within acceptable trade tolerances. As with all of our patterning material, images on this website are just a guide and we cannot guarantee to match shades exactly.