The Importance Of BIFMA Certified Office Furniture

Standards regulate the quality of products and services and make them better, safer, and easier to use.

For example, when you eat out, you want the restaurant to have its own standards in terms of customer service, cleanliness of the premises, and food quality.

Unfortunately, not all standards are required by law. This is true in many industries, including the office furniture industry. Even though, the office furniture industry still different standards to regulate the production and use characteristics of furniture.

Next, we will introduce the one of the standards for office furniture — BIFMA Standards.

What are the BIFMA standards?

This standards for the office furniture industry are managed by the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer’s Association (BIFMA). Their job is to ensure that the office furniture is commercial grade and can be used for more than 8 hours a day.

However, these standards are voluntary, so large stores like Staples and Office Depot don’t have to comply with them. This may not matter for desks and bookshelves, but it is important for office chairs.

Ignoring these standards means that cheap office chairs produced by these companies can only be used for a few hours, making users feel painful.

What BIFMA Standards Include?

When deciding whether to certify office furniture, BIFMA can address many problems. These include:

Safety
Sustainability and social responsibility
Durability and strength
Recyclability and recycled content
Chemical content and emissions
Reliability
Overall quality
Flammability and electrical components
Material and energy efficiency
Environmentally conscious design
Waste and water management

What a BIFMA Test Entails?

The BIFMA tests are very strict. In order to let you know what their testing process is like, the following are some examples of tests performed on office chairs:

Base stability
Seat drop
Back pull
Swivel cycling
Tilt mechanism testing
Arm and back durability
Caster durability, swivel, and rolling

Only after a chair passes all of these tests (and more) will it be BIFMA certified.

Most of our standard chair parts has passed the BIFMA test and obtained the certificate. And the article “Inspection Standards for Armrests of Office Chairs“, shows us some specific standards for armrests.

Benefits of BIFMA Certified Furniture

Choosing BIFMA certified products has many advantages besides safety, for example:

Knowing that you have purchased a high-quality and carefully tested product will give you peace of mind.
BIFMA certification ensures that the product is durable and can be used for many years.
These products promote a healthy working environment, thereby increasing productivity and reducing workplace injuries.
The warranty period for most BIFMA certified products is 5 years or more