National foreword

This British Standard is the UK implementation of EN 1335‑1:2020+A1:2022. It supersedes BS EN 1335‑1:2020, which is withdrawn.

The start and finish of text introduced or altered by amendment is indicated in the text by tags. Tags indicating changes to CEN text carry the number of the CEN amendment. For example, text altered by CEN amendment A1 is indicated by .

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee FW/0/3, Office 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 April 2020.

This European Standard was approved by CEN on 27 January 2020 and includes Amendment 1 approved by CEN on 9 October 2022.

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, 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 United Kingdom.

European foreword

This document (EN 1335‑1:2020+A1:2022) 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 2023, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn at the latest by May 2023.

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 includes Amendment 1 approved by CEN on 9 October 2022.

The start and finish of text introduced or altered by amendment is indicated in the text by tags .

This document supersedes EN 1335‑1:2020

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.

Introduction

0.1 General working condition

The working conditions and the protection of office workers with respect to safety and health necessitates that these standards take ergonomic principles and minimum requirements into account. This applies in particular to the design of Visual Display Equipment (VDU) workstations where EU Directive (90/270/EEC) has been implemented. These workstations should be designed to allow different users to carry out a variety of work tasks.

0.2 Basis of dimensions and chair types

The dimensions in this document are based on anthropometric measurements, mechanical design subjective preference and other factors.

The aim of this document is to provide dimensions for the office work chairs which can accommodate a larger part of the European population. Due to the wide variation in population heights and other body dimensions, there will be a variation of the office population between each country, which the dimensions will accommodate. People with body dimensions outside this range may need furniture of different dimensions or adaptations to existing workstations e.g. a footrest.

In this document, office work chairs are categorized into types of chairs based on dimensional requirements.

Type Ax and Type A chairs have more adjustability with a greater range of adjustments than Type B and Type C chairs.

Annex A (Rationale) of this document gives the rationale for chair dimensions and information regarding the importance of good fit between the user and the chair.

0.3 Design reference seating posture

In order to articulate acceptable requirements for comfort and performance with respect to body dimensions, it is important to specify a design reference posture for purposes of specifying anthropometric data. While empirical evidence has indicated that the posture so specified could be comfortable for users carrying out certain tasks over short periods, it does not represent the optimum posture or the posture to strive for.

The reference seating posture is as follows:

The sole of the foot is placed on the floor;
The foot forms an angle of approximately 90° with the lower leg;
The lower leg is approximately vertical;
The lower leg forms an angle of approximately 90° with the thigh;
The thigh is almost horizontal;
The thigh forms an angle of approximately 90° with the trunk;
The trunk is erect.

0.4 Seating postures

The purpose of well-designed seating is to provide stable support which allows movement, comfort, and task accomplishment. Together with job content and the design of other furniture elements, seating design plays an important role in encouraging movement. Thus, seat design should allow frequent postural variation by the user in order to avoid muscle stress and circulatory problems.

1 Scope

This document specifies the dimensions of four types of office work chairs as well as test methods for their determination.

It does not apply to seating for children for which a European Standard exists.

Annex A (informative) contains a rationale for office chair dimensions.

Annex B (informative) contains an example to clarify the use of Table 2.

Annex C (informative) contains proposals for dimensions for headrests.

Annex D (informative) contains the measurement uncertainty.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Definitions of measurements

5 Measurement conditions

5.1 General

5.2 Decision rule for measurement uncertainty

6 Test equipment including CMD

7 Measurement methods and procedures

8 Dimensional requirements

9 Information for use

10 Test report

Bibliography

BS EN 1335-1:2020+A1:2022

Office furniture. Office work chair - Dimensions. Determination of dimensions

Current

Published:

31 Oct 2023