Progress update issued on review of furniture fire safety regulations

While the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 have “contributed significantly” to protecting consumers for more than three decades, asserts the Government, they are now deemed to be “out of step” with modern approaches to product safety and are increasingly a potential barrier to innovation and the circular economy.

Since 1988, evidence has also emerged of the risks associated with the chemical flame retardants used to pass flammability tests.

The Government’s policy paper addresses six core themes within the furniture fire safety policy space, while in parallel setting out the Government’s intentions for the implementation of a new regulatory approach. Further, the document highlights the challenges to be addressed over the next 12 months in order to finalise the reforms that will continue to protect consumers and “provide the certainty businesses need” to invest in this important sector.

The most recent consultation on the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 took place between 2 August and 24 October 2023. In the “interests of transparency”, the Government has chosen to issue a summary of the responses received alongside the policy paper itself.

Core themes

Core themes addressed include defining responsibilities, scope and definitions, product compliance requirements, information provision (ie product labelling and technical documentation), the re-upholstery of (and second-hand) furniture, implementation, enforcement and statutory review and the impacts of the changes to be brought forward.

The policy paper end with an assessment of next steps to be taken.

In the Ministerial Foreword, Justin Madders states that any Government-led reforms “must be ambitious and reconcile complex and competing challenges” in order to keep consumers safe. He comments: “Later this year, following further stakeholder engagement, I intend to go further, setting out final positions and clear timelines for implementing a new regulatory approach in full and for the publication of new British Standards in order to support businesses with their compliance.”

Successive Governments have worked with stakeholders to build a substantive evidence base supporting and informing change. This includes an increasing body of evidence to support action to reduce the volume of chemical flame retardants, which are used to ensure that upholstered furniture passes the necessary flammability tests.

The ongoing review of furniture fire safety represents a first step in a series of sector reviews the Government is planning to undertake in order to update and streamline the UK’s product safety framework with a view towards ensuring it can address the challenges faced both at present and in times ahead.

Building on scope proposals

The Government will build on scope proposals set out in the 2023 consultation. The product scope will be set by an overarching definition of domestic upholstered products supplemented by a list of excluded products. This will ensure that there’s “greater clarity” for businesses about which products fall in scope, to ensure consistent compliance.

Further consideration will be given to the status of natural materials to ensure that products made with them are fire-safe, while obligations and testing requirements are proportionate and evidence-based.

The proposed size cut-offs for certain products, such as scatter cushions and modular mattresses, will also be given further consideration to ensure that where size cut-offs are used, they are clear to businesses, are based on any easily understandable rationale and best address the fire risk posed by those products.

Product compliance

The Government will give more thought to the merits of introducing a Flame-Retardant Technology Hierarchy as part of a package of measures to support a reduction in chemical flame-retardant usage and facilitate innovative ways of producing fire-safe furniture.

While the majority of stakeholders support the principle of a Flame-Retardant Technology Hierarchy, some feel it should go further to better encourage a reduction in the use of chemical flame-retardants and question how much impact it would have on manufacturer choice. Conversely, others have expressed concern about how much of a burden it places on businesses and whether it’s appropriate to steer manufacturers away from using chemicals where they are being used in accordance with wider UK chemical legislation.

As such, the Government will consider the objectives and likely effectiveness of the Flame-Retardant Technology Hierarchy in the context of feedback received to ensure that, if retained, it contributes effectively to reducing the use of chemical flame-retardants, while also supporting innovation.

Information provision

The Government believes that provision of compliance and traceability information to consumers, enforcement authorities and to waste disposal operatives should be improved. Implementing that will support more informed consumer choices and more effective enforcement as well as the circular economy and second-hand sales.

Current labelling requirements will be simplified in the longer term, thereby consolidating labelling to a single new permanent label that will provide clear supply chain information to better enable enforcement officers to trace a product back to its place of manufacture, via importers, distributors and further suppliers.

Officials in the OPSS will continue to work closely with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA ) regarding the provision of chemical information, including through digital means, and will provide an update later this year. DEFRA is considering more broadly how best to improve the availability and communication of information on chemicals in products across supply chains. 

The change that the Government is bringing forward now to remove display labels will represent “an immediate simplification” of the requirements for second-hand products. Beyond that initial change, further consideration will be given to second-hand product requirements in order to ensure the correct balance is struck in support of the second-hand market and ensuring that products remain fire-safe when they’re resupplied.

Implementation and enforcement

The Government will bring forward amendments to the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 early on this year to extend the enforcement window to 12 months. Strong arguments to extend the enforcement window beyond 12 months, and to start the clock from the discovery of an offence, were actively presented by stakeholders but, at present, reforms are limited by the legal powers granted in the Consumer Protection Act 1987. This is another area where new powers in the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill will enable the Government to act.

Going forward, the Government will consider further extending the enforcement window available under new regulations.

Next steps

The Government will be taking immediate action to amend the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 based on evidence collected in consultation responses. Changes to the existing legislation will be made as soon as Parliamentary time allows and will take effect six months later, in line with obligations under the UK’s World Trade Organisation commitments.

The amendments are as follows:

*Remove certain baby and children’s products from the scope of the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 where evidence supports this. This will reduce babies’ and children’s exposure to chemical flame-retardants where the risk of exposure to potentially harmful chemicals is greater than the fire risk posed by those products

*Remove the requirement for manufacturers to affix a display label to new products, reflecting the limited value of the display label

*Extend the timeframe for instituting legal proceedings from 6 to 12 months, thereby providing “the right tools” for effective enforcement.

*Read the Government’s policy paper entitled ‘The Fire Safety of Domestic Upholstered Furniture’ in full online