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The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire)(Safety) Regulations 1988 (amended 1989, 1993, 2010 & 2025)

(Consumer Protection Act 1987)

Commencement:

The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 came into force on 1st March 1993 for new lettings with the regulations subsequently amended in 1993, 2010 and 2025.

Scope:

The regulations set new levels of fire resistance for domestic upholstered furniture, furnishings and other products containing upholstery, acting as secondary legislation under the Consumer Protection Act 1987. Many domestic fires start with soft furnishings catching fire and many deaths are attributed to the highly poisonous fumes that are given off by the man-made foams and coverings. The regulations include sensible measures to improve the fire safety of materials used in their construction.

Landlords and letting agents are also included under the scope of the Regulations.  The 1993 Amendment Regulations draw specific attention to the responsibilities of letting agents and those engaged in the ‘letting of accommodation’  The Regulations refer to the ‘supply’ of furniture and furnishings and it has been established that in many cases, a letting agent or commercial landlord is deemed to be ‘supplying in the course of business’ when these types of items are included within a property.  The 1993 Amendment Regulations also introduced a transition period for furniture and furnishings included in properties let prior to 1st March 1993, and these had to meet the new standards when the property was first let on a new tenancy after 31st December 1996.

The bulk of the regulations deal with the duties of manufacturers (and importers if manufactured abroad) in producing and supplying domestic furniture and furnishings to the required new standards for fire resistance.  These standards include two tests; the match test and the cigarette test.   The 2010 Amendment Regulations revised the specification for the test fabric to be made of 100 per cent flame retardant polyester fibre and specified that the construction of the fabric should be woven to a plain weave. This amendment was introduced on 1st October 2010 due to difficulties at the time with manufacturing fabric to meet the existing specification commercially.  

More recently, there have been revisions to the labelling requirements under the regulations which have been introduced under the 2025 amendment regulations. These regulations remove the requirement to attach a display (or swing) label to new products from 30th October 2025. The permanent label is still required and carries all necessary compliance information. The 2025 regulations also exclude certain baby and children’s products from the scope of the 1988 regulations. Government guidance at the time of writing claims that ‘this will reduce the risk of exposure to chemical flame retardants of babies and young children at a significant stage in their development where the fire risk is lower than the chemical exposure risk.’

Although certain products will be outside of the scope of the regulations, they will still need to meet the requirements of the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (GPSR) to ensure the product is safe before it is supplied or placed on the market.

Scope: 

For new furniture, the net effect of the regulations is that any such products which have been manufactured after 1st March 1989 or sold by a retailer after 1st March 1990 must be to the standards and labelling requirements accordingly (see section entitled ‘Identification’).

Since 1st March 1993 landlords letting residential property have been expected to ensure that any soft furniture complies with the regulations. Most properties today are let unfurnished and are unlikely to include soft furniture supplied by the landlord but there will be some occasions where a property may be part or fully furnished and landlords should be aware of the requirements. The main provisions are:

  • upholstered articles (i.e. beds, sofas, armchairs etc.) must have fire resistant filling material
  • upholstered articles must have passed a match resistance test or, if of certain kinds (such as cotton or silk) be used with a fire resistant interliner
  • the combination of the cover fabric and the filling material must have passed a cigarette resistance test
  • furniture purchased after 1st March 1990 must be labelled appropriately.  See ‘Identification’ for more detail on the appropriate labelling requirements.

Articles Covered:

The regulations apply to:

  • Beds, headboards of beds and mattresses
  • Sofa-beds, futons and other convertibles
  • Garden furniture which is suitable for use in dwelling
  • Scatter cushions and seat pads
  • Pillows
  • Loose and stretch covers for furniture
  • Extra or replacement furniture purchased for rented accommodation

The regulations do not apply to:

  • Antique furniture or any furniture made before 1950
  • Bed-clothes (including duvets)
  • Loose covers for mattresses
  • Pillowcases
  • Curtains
  • Floor coverings (including mats and carpets)
  • Sleeping bags
  • Certain baby and children’s products

See Regulation 3 for full detail of included and excluded items.

Properties should be inspected for non-compliant items before letting and letting agents should insist that any non-compliant furniture is removed or replaced prior to letting.

Letting agents should inform landlords of the requirements under the regulations and check that the agency agreement/terms include an adequate indemnity clause. Although an agent may ask the landlord to warrant that the furniture complies with the legislation this will not be a sufficient defence against liability where the agent has failed to provide adequate information or assistance with compliance, particularly if the agent is managing the property. The agent has a duty of care to their client to give proper advice about the regulations.

Exclusions and Indemnity:

Tenant Furniture

The landlord is not responsible for furniture brought in by the tenant. The regulations apply to furniture supplied by the landlord.

Pre-1950 Furniture

Furniture produced prior to 1950 is exempt from the regulations.

Due Diligence

Section 39 of the Act provides a defence of ‘due diligence’. That section provides that it shall be a defence to show that a person took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence to avoid committing the offence. Obtaining proof of the date of purchase (i.e. receipts) of the furniture and furnishings, inspecting the furniture for the appropriate safety labels or making enquiries with the manufacturer for older furniture would be appropriate avenues for verifying the furniture. Where there is lack of clarity the agent should not let the property with such furniture and the landlord or agent should obtain further technical or legal advice.

Enforcement and penalties: 

The officials of the local trading standards office will be responsible for ensuring compliance and initiating any proceedings.   At this stage, it is unlikely that pro-active enforcement will be carried out – their general policy is only to investigate following a complaint or serious incident (e.g. a fire in a rented property).  The penalty for non-compliance with the regulations is a substantial fine set at Level 5 of the standard scale or even imprisonment in serious cases.

Identification:

When buying new or second-hand furniture for a rental property, you should always check to see that there is an appropriate label. Furniture or furnishings purchased after 1st March 1990 from a reputable supplier should all have attached labels. There are two types of labels.

DISPLAY LABELS: – under the 1988 regulations, all furniture had to carry the appropriate display or swing label (see below) at the point of sale. This requirement has now been removed for furniture purchased on or after the 30th October 2025 as it is considered that the permanent label, which remains a requirement, carries all the necessary compliance information.

EXAMPLE DISPLAY LABEL:

Example Label

PERMANENT LABELS: – all new furniture (except mattresses and bed-bases) and covers for furniture purchased after 1st March 1990 must carry a permanent and non-detachable label. At the time of writing there are two types of permitted permanent label. Suppliers can use a full label that contains full details of the supplier or a short label that does not include the supplier’s details. See examples of permanent labels below.

EXAMPLE PERMANENT LABELS:

Previous Regulations:

The regulations revoked the Upholstered Furniture (Safety) Regulations 1980 and the Upholstered Furniture (Safety) (Amendment) Regulations 1983.

Sources for Further Information:

This summary is intended to assist landlords and letting agents to understand the effect of the Regulations. It is not an authoritative interpretation – this is a matter for the courts. For more detail, you should refer to the text of the Regulations themselves.