How to write a furniture specification clause for a hotel

In short. A clause asking for furniture that is "fire retardant", "contract grade" or "of primary quality" cannot be enforced at handover: none of those words identifies a measurable performance. A clause that holds has four parts — the performance, the test standard, what was tested, and the document to be handed over — and it fits in two lines. Here are the formulas, material by material.

What is missing from the word "fire retardant"?

Not the intention, which is clear enough: whoever writes it means that the furniture must meet the reaction-to-fire class required for those premises, and everyone in the trade understands that.

What is missing is the measure. On its own the word does not say which class, tested to which standard and on what object, and at handover you can only insist on what is written. Italian legislation does not define a fire-retardant surface: it works through reaction-to-fire classes, and that is the quantity to name — reaction, not resistance, which is the fire-resistance rating of structural elements.

This is not a formality. An ambiguity left open in a specification is resolved in favour of whoever delivers, not whoever wrote it: an unverifiable clause gives you no grounds to reject a delivery, and the gap tends to show up once the pieces are already in the bedroom.

The same goes for the other adjectives that fill the opening pages. "Contract grade" is not a class and is not defined by any standard: it names a market, not a performance. "Heavy duty" and "suitable for hotel use" cannot be verified, and so cannot be refused.

And "of primary quality" deserves a line of its own, because it is the phrase that recurs most. It specifies nothing: it is a general indication, and every company answers it with its own standard. We answer it by working the timber species ourselves and using certified first-grade materials — but that is our choice, not an obligation the specification managed to impose. Which is precisely the point: quality that is not written as a measurable performance cannot be demanded at handover.

What makes a clause verifiable?

Four elements, always the same ones, in any material.

Element	What it answers	The matching mistake
The performance or class required	how much	"fire retardant", "hard wearing"
The test standard	measured by what method	a class with no standard behind it
What was tested	tested on what	the fabric's certificate instead of the sofa's
The document and its date	what you hand over	a lapsed certificate, or one that fits no particular piece

A clause carrying all four is checked by reading. A clause missing one is argued over.

How do you write the clause for a sofa or an armchair?

Upholstered furniture runs on a separate track from other materials. In Italy the test is UNI 9175, which classifies upholstered furniture exposed to a small flame as 1.IM, 2.IM, 3.IM or unclassifiable, and it is run on the composite of cover and filling. The document that counts is not the test report but the omologazione, the homologation set out in the ministerial decree of 26 June 1984: it lasts five years, is renewable at the maker's request, and lapses automatically if the product is modified.

A wording that holds:

Upholstered item homologated in class 1.IM under the decree of 26 June 1984, reaction-to-fire test UNI 9175 carried out on the composite of cover plus filling in the combination being supplied. On delivery: a copy of the homologation with its reference and date of issue, the maker's declaration of conformity, and the reference of the tested composite marked on each piece.

The two phrases doing the work are "on the composite" and "marked on each piece". Without the first you receive certificates for the individual materials; why an approved fabric does not make the sofa it covers compliant is set out in our guide on Class 1 IM hotel furniture. Without the second you inherit the problem two sections below.

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. That is why a covering changed once the project is running sends the test back to the beginning.

And if the specification asks for crib 5?

That happens when the project or the operator is British in origin, and it has to be settled before the order, because it is a second route rather than a variant of the first. BS 7176 is not a single class: it sets four hazard levels, and for hotels it nearly always means medium hazard — tests EN 1021-1 and EN 1021-2 plus ignition source 5 of BS 5852. An Italian Class 1 IM homologation does not cover crib 5, and a British test report does not become an Italian homologation: the full comparison is in Class 1 IM or Crib 5?.

Worth naming in the specification, so that suppliers may use it: article 10 of the same 1984 decree allows certification for limited production runs and specific uses, tied to one delivery rather than to a prototype. It is what makes a bespoke piece possible in regulated premises, and it is the route we normally work with, because our pieces are always bespoke. One thing belongs in the specification alongside the article number: certification under article 10 covers the commission it was requested for and is not reused on another one. Finding that out halfway through a project costs time.

And for non-upholstered seating, tables, beds and storage?

Here the standards are European, and they call for a detail that almost no specification writes down: the use level.

Non-domestic seating falls under EN 16139, whose 2025 edition is titled Furniture — Safety, strength and durability — Requirements and test methods for non-domestic seating, and which covers adults up to 110 kg. Note an exclusion that matters in a hotel: the standard does not cover outdoor seating, nor office work chairs. Citing EN 16139 for a poolside chair specifies nothing verifiable.

Non-domestic tables fall under EN 15372, which sets three use levels and names the premises for each: light for hotel bedrooms, churches and libraries; general for hotels, cafeterias, restaurants, public halls, banks, bars and meeting rooms; severe for night clubs, transport stations, hospital public areas, casinos, care homes, sports changing rooms, prisons and barracks. A hotel almost always holds two levels at once: the bedroom table and the bar table are not the same product, and a clause that writes "EN 15372" without naming the level has specified nothing.

For beds the standard to cite has changed recently, and it is worth knowing: EN 1725 in its 2023 edition, Furniture — Beds — Requirements for safety, strength and durability, replaced the 1998 version and now also covers beds for non-domestic, contract use, where the earlier version dealt only with domestic furniture. A specification still citing the old edition is asking for a test designed for a different use.

Storage units and worktops follow EN 14749, Domestic and kitchen storage units and kitchen-worktops — Safety requirements and test methods.

How do you write the clause for fabrics and leathers?

There is a common misunderstanding about abrasion: EN ISO 12947-2 — the Martindale test — defines the method, not a pass threshold. The number of cycles has to come from the specification. EN 14465, which specifies upholstery fabrics, sets a grading in which grade A corresponds to 35,000 cycles, with the end point at three broken threads and the value taken as the lowest of four specimens.

One point that saves pointless demands: the same standard acknowledges result variability of up to 60%. Asking for 100,000 cycles where 40,000 would do does not buy durability, it buys a number. Better to state the level, the method and the end point, and to add colour fastness to light to EN ISO 105-B02, which in a hotel with large windows often matters more than abrasion.

For leather the clause has to name the type: aniline and semi-aniline are more delicate and suit residences, while hotels call for protected, thicker-section leathers. How the choice is made is in custom leather sofas: which leather to choose.

What about wood, panels and stone tops?

On wood the specification has to pick one system and stay in it, because the two sets of figures are not interchangeable. In Europe class E1 to EN 13986, measured by the EN 717-1 chamber method, corresponds to formaldehyde emission no higher than 0.124 mg/m³. The North American system — CARB Phase 2, carried into TSCA Title VI — instead sets limits per panel type: 0.09 ppm for particleboard, 0.11 ppm for MDF, 0.13 ppm for thin MDF up to 8 mm, 0.05 ppm for hardwood plywood. "Low emission panels" specifies nothing; either of those formulas does.

For natural stone the trap is the name. EN 12440 establishes that the denomination is not the trade name on its own but four elements together: commercial name, petrological family obtained by petrographic examination to EN 12407, typical colour, and place of origin as precise as possible. Why a trade name is not enough to know what stone you are buying is set out in quartzite or marble: how to tell. Alongside the denomination, ask for water absorption to EN 13755 and flexural strength to EN 12372, which together with thickness decide whether a top holds in overhang: the reasoning is in how thick a marble top should be.

Why identifying the pieces is the weakest link

Because a certificate with no piece to attach it to is worth nothing. It is the problem that keeps returning in hotels already trading: the homologation exists, but years later nobody can tie it to the furniture actually installed, and delivery notes and invoices do not prove the match.

It is solved in the specification, in one line, and the best way to write that line is to ask for what we hand over anyway: every piece carries its own label, its photograph and the reference from the schedule issued at design stage, so that the item installed always ties back to the line that ordered it. The documentation is then handed over divided by product family, not as a single bundle. It costs nothing to write beforehand and cannot be recovered afterwards.

Tying the piece to the schedule is the part usually missing, and on its own it solves the problem: the schedule is the document the designer used to order the pieces, so it is the one reference that stays valid after the site has closed and the people have changed.

Why a well-written clause buys time

Because certification follows the choice of covering rather than preceding it: every decision deferred is one more test and one less piece of the calendar, and a covering changed once the project is running creates a new composite, which has to be tested again. On hotel projects time is the variable that weighs most — compliant products, certified and delivered on schedule, mean a quick opening, and a hotel that opens sooner starts earning sooner. Dates are counted backwards from the opening, 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 where the project requires them, fire-retardant foam and CARB 2 wood. Our seating is in the sofas and armchairs collections; the Contract page explains how we handle commissions. Brianform and Stoneform are two divisions of the same company, with no intermediaries: one commission can cover both the upholstery and the stone tops, with a single point of contact for the paperwork. Start from our contact page.

Frequently asked questions

Does "fire retardant" mean anything in a specification?

It conveys the intention, not the requirement. Legislation works through reaction-to-fire classes: write the class, the test standard and what the test was run on.

Is a fabric certificate enough for a sofa?

No. UNI 9175 tests the composite of cover and filling: two materials that perform well separately can fail once paired.

How long does an Italian homologation last?

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

How many Martindale cycles should a hotel ask for?

The number comes from the specification, not the standard: EN ISO 12947-2 defines only the method. EN 14465 sets grade A at 35,000 cycles, and acknowledges result variability of up to 60%, so very high numbers add little.

Is "EN 15372" on its own enough for tables?

No. The standard sets three use levels — light, general and severe — and the specification has to name one: the bedroom table and the bar table are not the same product.

What should you ask for so that certificates stay attached to the furniture?

A label, a photograph and the schedule reference on every piece, with documentation handed over divided by product family.

Talk to us The contract division

The standards and references cited on this page are UNI 9175, the Italian ministerial decree of 26 June 1984 and its article 10, BS 7176, BS 5852, EN 1021-1 and EN 1021-2, EN 16139:2025, EN 15372, EN 1725:2023, EN 14749, EN ISO 12947-2, EN 14465, EN ISO 105-B02, EN 13986, EN 717-1, the CARB Phase 2 / TSCA Title VI system, EN 12440, EN 12407, EN 13755 and EN 12372. The wordings given are examples, to be adapted to the individual project by whoever writes the specification. The requirements applying to any individual project remain the responsibility of the fire safety design and the appointed professional.