Contract Bed Safety Standards
Added Friday, November 16th, 2007 at 11:10 am | View Comments
Requirements in the contract bed area are a voluntary standards regime but if specified, by a customer, become subject to Contract Law. Requirements are given by British Standards (BS) but test methods are a mixture of BS and European Standards (Norms) (EN). This is because of differences between European National law and UK law.
The requirements standards are graded, meaning that they have more than one level to cater for different types of use, in some cases there is discretion as to which level can be chosen. Although the fact that fire resistance is a voluntary regime, custom and practice dictates that the accepted standards should be adhered to.
Divans, Mattresses and Bed Bases
The requirements are laid down in BS7177: 1996 Incorporating Amendment No. 1 and provides for the testing of a composite and for testing of individual fillings of different types. Divans, mattresses and bases can be tested on their own or as a complete bed assembly where the bed coverings are known (which is the normal situation in the contract field). Where the bedding is specified, Section 3 of BS6807 provides the method of testing and where the bedding is not known, Section 2 of BS6807 provides the test method.
The difference is in the detailed positioning of the sources of ignition. Normally the requirements are Medium Hazard, which covers day centers, messes, old peoples’ homes, boarding schools, residential schools, hotels, hostels, holiday camp chalets and halls of residence.
Medium Hazard requires resistance to the ignition sources specified in BS EN597-1 (cigarette), BS EN597-2 (match) and the Ignition Source 5 specified in BS6807 Section 2 or 3. Hotels, hostels and old peoples’ homes can also be High Hazard, in which case they have to be resistant to ignition with Ignition Source 7 of BS6807 Section 2 or 3 in place of Ignition Source 5. The level of hazard required will be dependent on the usage of the premises and it’s individual features. These ignition sources equate to the ignition sources of BS5852 and BS EN1021-1 & 2.
Bedcovers and Pillows
BS7175: 1989 gives test methods for assessing the resistance to ignitions of bedcovers and pillows. It draws on BS5852 and BS6807 for ignition sources. Requirements are not laid down but could be inferred from BS7177. The test results are either a straight pass/fail against each ignition source.
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1 COMMENT
Sagar
July 31st, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Hi,
I bought a matresses recentl. cant check it as tenants are sleeping on it, but are all your matresses fire safety regd.
couldnt find label
thanks,
sagar
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