National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN 12520:2024. It supersedes BS EN 12520:2015, which is withdrawn.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee FW/0/2, Domestic and Contract Furniture.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

Compliance with a British Standard cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This British Standard was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 30 November 2024.

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 2 September 2024.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN member.

This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and United Kingdom.

European foreword

This document (EN 12520:2024) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 207 “Furniture”, the secretariat of which is held by UNI.

This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by May 2025, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by May 2025.

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

This document supersedes EN 12520:2015.

EN 12520:2024 includes the following significant technical changes with respect to EN 12520:2015:

updated to reflect the finger entrapment requirements within CEN/TR 17202, including an Annex containing test methods;
definition of single column seating was added;
side to side durability test method and requirements for single column seating were added;
Table 1 updated with information on applicability of test method dependent on type of the seating;
seat impact test updated with requirements dependent on the seat height adjustability;
testing of durability of electrically operated seating products added;
clarification of seat loading point for seating with suspended flexible material by adding Annex D.

Any feedback and questions on this document should be directed to the users’ national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found on the CEN website.

According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organisations of the following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and the United Kingdom.

1 Scope

This document specifies the minimum requirements for the safety, strength and durability of all types of domestic seating for adults. It also specifies additional test methods for seat side-to-side durability as well as finger entrapment and shear and compression.

It does not apply to ranked seating, seating for non-domestic use, office work chairs, chairs for educational institutions, outdoor seating and to links for linked seating for which European Standards exist.

It does not include requirements for the durability of upholstery materials, castors, reclining and tilting mechanisms and seat height adjustment mechanisms.

It does not include requirements for electrical safety.

It does not include requirements for the resistance to ageing, degradation, flammability and ergonomics.

The requirements are based on use by persons weighing up to 110 kg.

Annex A (normative) specifies the seat side-to-side durability test in D-G points.

Annex B (informative) gives rationales for some of the tests referred to in Table 1.

Annex C (normative) specifies the test methods for finger entrapment and shear and compression.

Annex D (normative) specifies the seat loading point for seating with suspended flexible material.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Test sequence

5 Safety, strength and durability

5.1 General safety requirements

5.2 Stability

5.3 Strength and durability

5.4 Requirements

6 Information for use

7 Test report

Bibliography

BS EN 12520:2024

Furniture. Safety, strength and durability. Requirements for domestic seating

Current, Under Review

Published:

30 Nov 2024