U.S. Upholstered Furniture Action Council (UFAC) Revises Flammability Tests

The U.
S.
Upholstered Furniture Action Council (UFAC) recently announced that it has revised its long-term furniture flammability testing and verification program to better support its member companies in meeting the requirements effective June 25
.
A new federal law, the COVID-19 Regulatory Relief and Work-from-Home Safety Act, also known as SOFFA (Safer Furniture Flammability Regulations), formally establishes for the first time a national furniture flammability requirement, one that UFAC has long supported work hard
.
Since 1979, UFAC's Component Testing Program has been the industry's benchmark for voluntary furniture flammability testing
.
UFAC's update program has been modernized and a new, user-friendly compliance portal is available to help furniture manufacturers stay compliant with upcoming regulatory changes
.
UFAC is designed to provide furniture manufacturers with an affordable, easy-to-implement and comprehensive compliance management strategy
.
Two UFAC programs—UFAC's Make Life Safer and UFAC's Make Life Safer Plus—provide UFAC members with compliant document storage, verification testing, and robust consumer education programs, including home security for consumers through UFAC Media announcements on websites, educational labels, SMS safety services, and social products communicate safety messages directly to consumers
.

"Participation in this voluntary testing and verification program clearly demonstrates the importance of UFAC member companies to the health and safety of consumers," said UFAC Chairman Don Coleman
.
"Participating in the program couldn't be easier
.
Our new compliance portal saves time and money by enabling member companies to use one location for all compliance-related documents
.
" We strongly recommend that manufacturers develop a reasonable Flammability testing is planned to meet these upcoming requirements
.
UFAC's Make Lives Safer verification program meets and exceeds the requirements of TB117-2013, allowing manufacturers to provide samples of furniture components - from foam to welding wire - for flammability testing by UFAC's third-party laboratory partners
.
The results of the verification tests will be uploaded to UFAC's new online compliance portal, and manufacturers are encouraged to enter a supplier's declaration of compliance
.
Participating manufacturers are then allowed to purchase furniture hang tags from Make Life Safer to show consumers that their products meet and exceed current flammability regulations
.
For companies looking to develop a sound testing program to verify the presence of flame retardants in their supply chain, UFAC's new Make Life Safer program allows manufacturers to submit foam and fabric samples to test for the most common flame retardants in upholstered furniture.
Presence of flammable chemicals
.
Currently, UFAC is accepting new participants to the program
.