Class 1 IM or Crib 5? Which certificate hotel furniture actually needs

In short. These are two different systems, not two names for one thing. Italy requires a homologation issued by the Ministry of the Interior on the basis of the UNI 9175 test; the British system requires conformity to a specification, BS 7176, which for hotels adds the crib 5 ignition source. Neither certificate contains the other: on a project that asks for both, both tests are needed, on the same composite.

What does Italy require?

In Italy upholstered furniture is not classified under the same rules as other materials. The reference test is UNI 9175, reaction to fire of upholstered furniture exposed to a small flame, and the classes it yields are 1.IM, 2.IM, 3.IM or unclassifiable. Class 1 IM is the best of them.

The document that counts, however, is not the test report. It is the omologazione, the homologation: the ministerial decree of 26 June 1984 defines it as the technical and administrative procedure by which the Ministry of the Interior authorises the use of a prototype in premises subject to fire-prevention control. It lasts five years, is renewable at the maker's request, and lapses automatically if the product is modified. For new hospitality buildings, the decree of 9 April 1994 requires upholstered furniture and mattresses in Class 1 IM; the Fire Prevention Code of 3 August 2015 accepts 2.IM in some configurations.

And for a bespoke piece, which is not a prototype?

There is a second, less familiar route, and it is the one we normally work with. Article 10 of the same 1984 decree allows certification for limited production runs and specific uses, with a certificate tied to one particular delivery rather than to a prototype.

Our pieces are always bespoke, so on contract work we normally use article 10. We also keep our own lists of combinations already certified, and where the project allows we start from those, because that is the route that saves time. One thing about article 10 is worth knowing at the outset, because people tend to find it out late: the certification covers the commission it was requested for, and it cannot be reused on another one. That is not a quibble: it is why a specification naming article 10 has to be read together with the delivery calendar, not after it.

It is worth having the client name it in the specification, because otherwise suppliers do not offer it: how that line is written is set out in how to write a furniture specification clause for a hotel.

What does the British system require?

The standard is BS 7176:2007+A1:2011, and its title already says a great deal: Specification for resistance to ignition of upholstered furniture for non-domestic seating by testing composites. It covers non-domestic seating and calls for the test to be run on the composite of cover and filling, not on the materials taken one at a time. It does not set a single class: it defines four hazard levels, and for each the ignition sources that must be resisted.

Hazard level	Tests required	Premises
Low hazard	EN 1021-1 (cigarette) + EN 1021-2 (match flame)	offices, schools, universities, museums, exhibitions, day centres
Medium hazard	the above + crib 5 (BS 5852)	hotel bedrooms, public buildings, restaurants, places of entertainment, public houses, hospitals, hostels
High hazard	low hazard tests + crib 7	certain hospital wards, certain hostels, offshore installations
Very high hazard	low hazard tests + sources at the specifier's discretion	prison cells

At every level, fillings must in any case satisfy the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988.

One thing deserves saying, because almost nobody says it: BS 7176 is not law. In the United Kingdom the duty runs through the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, which places a risk assessment on the operator, and the official hospitality guidance says that in medium-hazard premises furniture should comply with BS 7176. In specifications that "should" becomes a contractual requirement, and it is asked for well outside the United Kingdom whenever the project or the operator is British in origin.

Which hazard level does a hotel fall into?

Medium hazard. Hotel bedrooms are named expressly, and with them restaurants, public buildings, places of entertainment and public houses — so the lobby, the bar and the breakfast room fall into the same category. In practice, for a hotel BS 7176 nearly always translates into a request for crib 5.

What exactly is crib 5?

It is not a class and not a certificate: it is an ignition source described in BS 5852. Source 5 is a small wooden crib 65 mm tall, lit with the help of a little alcohol and placed on the specimen. It is far more energetic than a cigarette or a match flame and it burns for longer: it simulates a small fire already under way, not an accidental ignition.

When a specification asks for "crib 5 fabric", it is using shorthand for "a composite conforming to BS 7176 medium hazard". The distinction is not pedantry, and it is the point of the section that follows.

A note on our own experience, since trade pages tend to leave this vague: crib 5 has not yet been asked of us. It is a British requirement, and it has not come up on the commissions we have handled so far. When it does, the route is the one set out above, and it is dealt with at the start of a project rather than at the end.

Does Class 1 IM count as crib 5? And the other way round?

No — in neither direction.

In one direction the answer comes from the Italian institute that runs these tests. Asked whether a European standard exists that satisfies the Italian Class 1 IM requirement, CATAS answers that EN 1021-1 and EN 1021-2 exist, "but they are less severe than the Italian UNI 9175 test". Since BS 7176 low hazard consists of exactly those two tests, a low hazard certificate sits below Class 1 IM: it does not satisfy it.

In the other direction the reasoning reverses. UNI 9175 works with a small flame; crib 5 is a far more severe source, which the Italian test does not contemplate. A piece homologated in Class 1 IM has demonstrated nothing at all about crib 5.

To which is added a difference of kind rather than of severity: in Italy the document is a ministerial homologation, an administrative act attached to a prototype; in the British system it is conformity to a specification, evidenced by laboratory test reports. A British test report, however severe, does not become an Italian homologation. The practical conclusion: on an Italian hotel with a British-derived specification, both routes are needed, and it is worth knowing that before choosing the covering.

What do the two systems have in common?

One thing, and it is the most important: the composite is tested, not the fabric. BS 7176 declares it in its title, by testing composites; UNI 9175 tests the cover assembled with the filling, and CATAS notes that two materials that perform well on their own can fail once paired. Where a commission calls for Class 1 IM, the test is run on the finished product — on the composite that will actually be delivered, not on the materials taken separately.

Hence the error that stops more projects than any other: a fabric with its own certificate does not make the sofa it covers compliant. We set this out at length in our guide on fire-rated hotel furniture.

What should you ask the supplier for?

Four things, before the order and not on delivery. A certificate referring to the finished piece, in the exact combination of cover, filling and frame being bought. The hazard level for BS 7176, because "crib 5" alone does not say which category the piece conforms to. The dates, because an Italian homologation runs for five years. And the reference of the composite tested, the only way to check that the certificate describes the sofa that arrived on site.

Why this is above all a question of time

Because certification follows the choice of covering; it does not precede it. If the covering changes once the project is under way the composite is new, and the tests have to be run again — in Italy, homologation lapses automatically when the product is modified. Every late change is one more test and one less piece of the calendar. On hotel projects the calendar is the variable that weighs most: compliant products, already certified and delivered on schedule, mean a quick opening, and a hotel that opens sooner starts earning sooner. Dates are worked backwards, as we explain in when to order hotel furniture to open on time.

How we work

Brianform was founded in 1982 in Brianza and makes sofas, armchairs and bespoke furniture for hotels and residences, with wood, marble, metal and upholstery worked in-house. We use Class 1 IM certified leathers and fabrics when the project requires them, fire-retardant foam and CARB 2 wood. Our seating is in the sofas and armchairs collections; the choice of covering is covered in our guide on which leather to choose. For projects, our Contract page explains how we work; Brianform and Stoneform are two divisions of the same company, producing in-house and without intermediaries. Start from our contact page.

Frequently asked questions

Does crib 5 fabric make a sofa BS 7176 compliant?

No. BS 7176 is verified on the composite of cover and filling, as the title of the standard itself states.

Is Class 1 IM more severe than crib 5?

The two tests cannot be compared on a single scale. UNI 9175 is more severe than the European EN 1021 tests that make up the low hazard level, but it does not contemplate a source as large as crib 5.

Is crib 5 required in an Italian hotel?

Not by law: in Italy Class 1 IM applies. It is asked for contractually when the project, the operator or the specification is British in origin.

How long does an Italian homologation last?

Five years, renewable at the maker's request, and it lapses automatically if the product is modified.

Can a bespoke sofa go into regulated premises without a homologated prototype?

Yes, and it is the route we normally take: article 10 of the decree of 26 June 1984 provides for certification covering limited production runs and specific uses, tied to the individual delivery. Worth remembering that the certificate covers that commission and is not reused on another.

Talk to us The contract division

The standards and instruments cited on this page are UNI 9175, the ministerial decree of 26 June 1984 and its article 10, the decree of 9 April 1994, the Fire Prevention Code of 3 August 2015, BS 7176:2007+A1:2011, BS 5852, EN 1021-1, EN 1021-2, the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005. The fire performance requirements applying to any individual project remain the responsibility of the fire safety design and the appointed professional.