S.I. No. 298/1980:

INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH AND STANDARDS (FIRE SAFETY REQUIREMENTS FOR UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE) ORDER, 1980.

INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH AND STANDARDS (FIRE SAFETY REQUIREMENTS FOR UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE) ORDER, 1980.

I, DESMOND O'MALLEY, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Tourism, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 44 of the Industrial Research and Standards Act, 1961 (No. 20 of 1961), and the Industry, Commerce and Energy (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order, 1980 ( S.I. No. 10 of 1980 ), hereby order as follows:

1. (1) This Order may be cited as the Industrial Research and Standards (Fire Safety Requirements for Upholstered Furniture) Order, 1980.

(2) This Order with the exception of paragraph 5 shall come into operation on the 1st day of October, 1980.

(3) Paragraph 5 of this Order shall come into operation on the 31st day of December, 1982.

2. (1) In this Order--

"arms" (in relation to furniture) means any part of furniture which is designed or intended for a person sitting on the seat of that furniture to rest his arms on;

"back" (in relation to furniture) means any part of furniture which is designed or intended for a person sitting on the seat of that furniture to rest his back against;

"I.S. 244: 1980" means Irish Standard 244: 1980;

"seat" (in relation to furniture) means any part of furniture which is designed or intended to be sat on.

(2) For the purposes of this Order, a detachable cushion which forms an integral part of furniture shall be treated as part of that furniture.

3. (1) This Order applies to upholstered furniture designed or suitable for domestic use which has an upholstered seat, an upholstered back or upholstered arms, including furniture which is intended to be assembled after it has been supplied.

(2) This Order does not apply to--

( a ) furniture designed or intended for use wholly or mainly as a bed,

( b ) music stools,

( c ) furniture of which the seat is not upholstered and is not in immediate juxtaposition to any upholstered part of either the back or the arms,

( d ) furniture with no back and no arms and with a seat the surface of which has an area of not more than 2,600 square centimetres and either is square or circular or, if it is rectangular, has no side more than 60 cm in length or, if it is triangular, has no side more than 78 cm in length or, if it is of any other shape, has no dimension in any direction more than 60 cm in length,

( e ) furniture designed or intended for use wholly or mainly out-of-doors,

( f ) furniture that is so designed and constructed that it would normally be considered suitable for use by children only, and,

( g ) furniture which has previously been supplied to any person who acquired it otherwise than for the purposes of a business of dealing in furniture.

4. (1) On or after the 1st day of October, 1980, it shall be unlawful to manufacture, assemble or sell upholstered furniture to which this Order applies unless--

( a ) the upholstery is resistant to smouldering cigarettes as defined by Clause 3 of I.S. 244: 1980 and is flame resistant as defined by Clause 4 of I.S. 244: 1980, or

( b ) the furniture bears two labels one of which (the "display label") complies with the provisions of paragraph 4 (3) of this Order and the other of which (the "permanent label") complies with the provisions of paragraph 4 (4) of this Order.

(2) Where upholstered furniture to which this Order applies is placed on sale as part of a set or suite together with the other parts thereof, the requirements imposed by subparagraph (1) of this paragraph that the furniture shall bear a display label which complies with the provisions of subparagraph (3) of this paragraph shall be deemed to be satisfied if one of the other parts of the set or suite (also being upholstered furniture) bears the required display label.

(3) Every display label required by subparagraph (1) of this paragraph shall--

( a ) be in the form of an equilateral triangle with each side not less than 90 mm long, but account shall not be taken of any rounding of the corners of the triangle where the length of each side between the rounded corners is not less than 70 mm nor less than seven ninths of that which it would be if the corners were not rounded,

( b ) bear on one face on a red background the word "CAUTION" in white roman or sanserif upright letters of 20 point in upper case and a triangle containing within it on a white background the appropriate symbol or symbols specified in subparagraph (5), (6) or (7) of this paragraph coloured black (except that the flame of the burning match specified in subparagraph (5) shall be coloured red), all set out substantially as indicated in Part I, II, or III of the Schedule to this Order,

( c ) bear on the other face the word "CAUTION" in white roman or sanserif upright letters of 20 point in upper case on a red background and the appropriate additional words prescribed in subparagraph (5), (6) or (7) of this paragraph in red roman or sanserif upright letters of 14 point in upper and lower case on a white background, all set out substantially as indicated in Part IV, V or VI of the Schedule to this Order and so arranged that the word "CAUTION" is parallel to the same side as that to which the word "CAUTION" is on the other face,

( d ) bear nothing on the face referred to in clause (b) of this subparagraph which is not specified in that clause, and nothing on the face referred to in clause (c) of this subparagraph which is not specified in that clause, and

( e ) be attached to the furniture in such a way that at all times when the furniture is exposed for retail sale either both faces are visible and legible or, if only one of them is visible and legible, the other may readily be made so by reversing the label by hand.

(4) Every permanent label required by subparagraph 4 (1) (b) of this paragraph shall--

( a ) be rectangular, with each of one pair of sides not less than 75 mm long and each of the other pair of sides not less than 50 mm long,

( b ) bear the word "CAUTION" in white roman or sanserif upright letters of 20 point in upper case on a red background, and the appropriate additional words prescribed in subparagraph (5), (6) or (7) of this paragraph in red roman of sanserif upright letters of 14 point in upper and lower case on a white background, all set out substantially as indicated in Part VII, VIII or IX of the Schedule to this Order and so arranged that the word "CAUTION" is parallel to one pair of sides (if the label is square) or to the shorter pair of sides (in any other case),

( c ) bear nothing which is not specified in clause (b) of this subparagraph, and

( d ) be durable and attached to the furniture in such a way that it cannot easily be removed and either--

(i) attached to the furniture in such a position that it would become visible either if the furniture were tilted at right angles to its normal position or if a detachable cushion forming an integral part of the furniture were removed, or

(ii) attached to such a cushion.

(5) Where the upholstery of upholstered furniture to which this Order applies is such that it is neither resistant to smouldering cigarettes as defined by Clause 3 of I.S. 244: 1980, nor is flame resistant as defined by Clause 4 of I.S. 244: 1980, the appropriate symbols required by subparagraph (3) (b) of this paragraph shall be a representation of a smouldering cigarette and a representation of a burning match, and the additional words required by subparagraphs (3) (c) and (4) (b) of this paragraph shall be "Careless use of cigarettes and matches could set fire to this furniture".

(6) Where the upholstery of upholstered furniture to which this Order applies is such that it is resistant to smouldering cigarettes as defined by Clause 3 of 1.S. 244: 1980 but is not flame resistant as defined by Clause 4 of that Standard, the appropriate symbol required by subparagraph (3) (b) of this paragraph shall be an exclamation mark and the additional words required by subparagraphs (3) (c) and (4) (b) of this paragraph shall be "Careless use of matches could set fire to this furniture".

(7) Where the upholstery of upholstered furniture to which this Order applies is such that it is flame resistant as defined by Clause 4 of 1.S. 244: 1980 but not smoulder resistant as defined by Clause 3 of that Standard, the appropriate symbol required by subparagraph (3) (b) of this paragraph shall be a representation of a smouldering cigarette and the additional words required by subparagraphs (3) (c) and (4) (b) of this paragraph shall be "Careless use of cigarettes could set fire to this furniture".

5. On or after the 31st day of December, 1982, it shall be unlawful to manufacture, assemble or sell upholstered furniture to which this Order applies unless--

( a ) the upholstery of the furniture is resistant to smouldering cigarettes as defined by Clause 3 of I.S. 244: 1980, and

( b ) either the upholstery of the furniture is flame resistant as defined by Clause 4 of I.S. 244: 1980 or the furniture bears the warning labels specified by paragraph 4 (1) (b) of this Order.

SCHEDULE

Labels

Display Labels Paragraph 4 (3)

PART I: Display Label--Both Tests Failed

PART II: Display Label--Flame Test Failed

PART III: Display Label--Smouldering Cigarette Test Failed

PART IV: Display Label--Both Tests Failed

PART V: Display Label--Flame Test Failed

PART VI: Display Label--Smouldering Cigarette Test Failed

Permanent Labels Paragraph 4 (4)

PART VII: Permanent Label--Both Tests Failed

PART VIII: Permanent Label--Flame Test Failed

PART IX: Permanent Label--Smouldering Cigarette Test Failed

GIVEN under my Official Seal, this 30th day of September, 1980.

DESMOND O'MALLEY,

Minister for Industry, Commerce and Tourism.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The purpose of this Order is to prohibit the manufacture, assembly or sale of certain types of upholstered seating furniture unless they comply with the mandatory standards as regards ignitability.

The Order prescribes tests to verify the resistance of the upholstery to ignition by smouldering cigarettes and by lighted matches (simulated in the tests by a butane flame).

On or after 1 October, 1980 the furniture to which the Order applies must bear warning labels if it does not satisfy these tests.

From 31 December, 1982 furniture must meet the smouldering cigarette test.