UK Care Home Furniture Fire Safety: What You Need to Know

Quick answer: what fire safety standards apply to care home furniture and furnishings?

Care home furniture and furnishings need to meet UK fire safety standards that are more stringent than those for domestic furniture, because care homes are classed as higher-risk environments.

In practice, that means:

1. Upholstered furniture must meet the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire)(Safety) Regulations 1988 (as amended), the baseline legal requirement for all upholstered furniture supplied in the UK
2. Upholstery for care and healthcare settings is typically specified to BS 7176, most commonly to Crib 5 (medium hazard) level
3. Curtains, blinds and soft furnishings are specified to BS 5867 Part 2, usually Type C for clinical and care areas
4. The registered manager or responsible person is required to maintain a fire risk assessment covering the building and its contents under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005
5. The CQC considers fire safety as part of Regulation 15, alongside the wider suitability and maintenance of premises and equipment

Meeting these standards is the minimum requirement. Getting the detail right, fabric type, filling, construction and ongoing suitability, is what actually keeps a scheme compliant over time.

Why fire safety matters so much in care home environments

Care homes are considered higher-risk fire environments for a simple reason: many residents cannot evacuate quickly, or at all, without help.

Mobility issues, cognitive impairment, and dependency on staff for movement all mean that a fire needs to be contained, slowed or prevented far more effectively than in an average home or office. Furniture and furnishings play a direct role in that.

Upholstered furniture and soft furnishings are among the most common sources of fuel in a fire, and among the most common causes of fire spread. That is why the standards applied to care home furniture go well beyond what is required for furniture sold for a private home.

This is not just a legal box to tick. It is a practical, resident-safety issue that sits behind every specification decision, from the fabric on a lounge chair to the curtains in a bedroom.

The regulations that apply to care home furniture

There are several pieces of regulation and legislation that sit behind fire safety in care home furniture and furnishings. It helps to understand what each one actually covers.

The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire)(Safety) Regulations 1988 (as amended)

This is the baseline UK law covering domestic and contract upholstered furniture, filling materials and permanent covers. It sets ignition resistance requirements for covers and fillings, and requires compliant furniture to be appropriately labelled. The regulations have been amended several times since 1988, most recently in 2025, and apply to anyone who manufactures, supplies or hires out upholstered furniture in the UK, including furniture supplied to care homes.

The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005

This places a legal duty on the "responsible person," usually the registered manager, to carry out a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment for the building. That assessment must consider people at special risk, including residents with reduced mobility, sensory impairment or cognitive conditions, and covers the fire safety of the environment as a whole, including its furniture and furnishings.

CQC Regulation 15: Premises and Equipment

Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, CQC Regulation 15 requires that premises and equipment used by a care provider are clean, secure, suitable for their purpose, and properly maintained. Fire safety sits within this wider requirement, alongside general suitability and ongoing maintenance of furniture and equipment.

Together, these mean that fire safety compliance in a care home is not just about the furniture itself, and is in fact a shared responsibility between the manufacturer or supplier, who must provide furniture that meets the required standards, and the provider, who is responsible for the ongoing suitability and risk management of the environment.

Understanding BS 7176 and Crib 5 for upholstery

BS 7176 is the British Standard that applies specifically to non-domestic, or "contract," upholstered seating. It sets out different fire hazard categories, low, medium, high and very high hazard, each linked to a specific ignition source test.

For care homes, hotels and most healthcare environments, the relevant category is usually medium hazard, commonly referred to as Crib 5 or Ignition Source 5.

The Crib 5 test involves igniting a small wooden crib structure on a test rig built from the same cover and filling combination used in the furniture. To pass, the materials must resist ignition and any flaming must extinguish within a set time, without the foam burning through its full thickness.

In practical terms, Crib 5 means the furniture has been tested against a significantly more intense ignition source than a cigarette or match, which is why it is the standard most commonly specified for care environments rather than the lower thresholds used for domestic furniture.

Some higher-risk or specialist environments may specify a higher category, but for the vast majority of care homes, Crib 5 / BS 7176 medium hazard is the appropriate and expected benchmark for upholstered furniture.

Understanding BS 5867 for curtains and soft furnishings

Furniture is only one part of the picture. Curtains, blinds, cubicle curtains and other soft furnishings are specified against a separate standard, BS 5867 Part 2, which covers the flammability performance of fabrics used for curtains and drapes.

BS 5867 Part 2 sets out different types depending on the environment:

• Type B applies to hotels, public buildings and offices
• Type C applies to hospitals and healthcare environments, and is generally the appropriate standard for care home settings

Choosing the right type matters. A fabric that is compliant for a hotel lobby is not automatically appropriate for a care home bedroom or clinical area, where the required performance level under Type C is higher.

As with upholstery, soft furnishings should be specified with the end environment in mind, rather than assumed to be compliant because they look, or are marketed, as "contract" fabric.

Inherently fire retardant fabric vs treated fire retardant fabric

Not all fire-retardant fabric achieves compliance in the same way, and it is worth understanding the difference when specifying furniture or soft furnishings for a care environment.

Inherently fire retardant fabrics have fire resistance built into the fibre itself during manufacture. The fire-retardant properties are part of the material, rather than something added afterwards, so they do not wash out, wear away or reduce with age and cleaning.

Treated, or coated, fire retardant fabrics are standard fabrics that have a fire-retardant treatment applied after the fact. These fabrics can still meet the required fire safety standard, but the performance of the treatment can be a consideration over the life of the product, particularly with repeated cleaning, wear or reupholstery.

At Edison & Day, our furniture and soft furnishings are made predominantly using inherently fire retardant fabrics as standard. Treated or coated fabrics are used only occasionally, where a customer specifically requests a particular fabric that requires this approach to meet the standard. This is factored in and clearly specified at the point of order, so the compliance route for that item is always clear and documented.

How CQC inspections consider fire safety

Fire safety does not sit in isolation from a CQC inspection. It is considered as part of the wider question of whether premises and equipment are safe, suitable and properly maintained, primarily under Regulation 15.

In practice, this means inspectors may expect to see evidence that:

1. A current fire risk assessment is in place and has been acted on
2. Furniture and furnishings are suitable for the environment, including their fire safety performance
3. Any changes to the premises or its contents have been considered as part of ongoing risk management
4. Records and documentation are available to demonstrate compliance, rather than relying on assumption

This is one of the reasons it is worth keeping compliance documentation, such as certificates of conformity for furniture and soft furnishings, accessible and up to date, rather than something to search for only when a question is raised.

Fire safety doesn't stand alone from durability and design

Fire safety compliance is not a separate conversation from the rest of a furniture specification. It sits alongside, and often influences, decisions on durability, cleanability, comfort and design.

A well-specified care home scheme typically considers:

1. Fire safety – upholstery and soft furnishings specified to the correct hazard category and standard for the environment
2. Durability – materials and construction that can withstand frequent use and cleaning without breaking down
3. Cleanability – fabrics and finishes that can be cleaned regularly without compromising fire performance or appearance
4. Resident comfort – furniture that supports posture, mobility and comfort, particularly for older or less mobile residents
5. Dementia-friendly design – where appropriate, considerations such as colour contrast, familiar styling and ease of use, alongside the same fire safety requirements

None of these considerations should come at the expense of fire safety. The best outcomes come from specifying furniture and furnishings where fire performance, practicality and design work together, rather than treating compliance as an afterthought once the "look" of a scheme has already been agreed.

Building compliance into a specification from the start

The most reliable way to stay compliant is to build fire safety into a specification from the beginning, rather than checking it once furniture has already been chosen or ordered.

A sound approach typically includes:

1. Confirming the correct hazard category and standard for each space, bedrooms, lounges, dining areas and clinical spaces may differ
2. Specifying upholstery to the appropriate BS 7176 hazard level, most commonly Crib 5, for the environment
3. Specifying curtains, blinds and soft furnishings to the correct BS 5867 Part 2 type for the space
4. Confirming whether inherently fire retardant or treated fire-retardant fabric is being used, and why
5. Keeping compliance documentation, certificates and specifications accessible for each item
6. Reviewing the specification whenever it is repeated across other rooms or sites, so it stays consistent rather than drifting

This is particularly important for care groups managing multiple sites, where a specification agreed for one home needs to remain accurate and repeatable across others, rather than being reinterpreted room by room.

Common mistakes to avoid

Some of the most common fire safety and compliance issues in care home furniture specifications include:

1. Assuming "contract" or "commercial" fabric is automatically compliant for a care environment without checking the specific standard
2. Specifying curtains or soft furnishings to a lower type (Type B) when the space actually requires Type C
3. Reupholstering existing furniture without confirming the new fabric and filling combination still meets the required standard
4. Losing or misplacing compliance certificates and labelling over time
5. Treating fire safety as a separate decision from durability, cleanability or design, rather than part of the same specification
6. Assuming older furniture still meets current standards without checking
7. Not reviewing a specification for consistency when it is repeated across multiple rooms or sites

Most compliance issues come from assumptions rather than the furniture itself. Checking the detail early avoids the risk of non-compliant items being ordered, installed or repeated across a scheme.

How Edison & Day supports fire safety and compliance

Edison & Day manufactures contract furniture and soft furnishings for care homes and care groups, with fire safety built into our specifications as standard.

That includes:

1. Upholstery specified to the relevant fire safety requirements for the environment, including Crib 5 / Source 5 where required
2. Soft furnishings specified to the relevant standard, including BS 5867 Part 2 Type C where applicable
3. Predominantly inherently fire retardant fabrics as standard, with treated or coated fabrics used only where specifically requested and required
4. Furniture specified for durability, cleanability and resident comfort alongside fire safety
5. Dementia-friendly options available where appropriate
6. Compliance checked and confirmed before a scheme is made repeatable across multiple rooms or sites

For care groups managing furniture across several homes, this means a specification agreed once can be trusted to remain compliant and consistent every time it is repeated.

Conclusion

Fire safety in care home furniture and furnishings is not just a regulatory requirement to meet once and forget. It is an ongoing part of specifying, ordering and maintaining furniture in an environment where the stakes of getting it wrong are genuinely serious.

Understanding the standards that apply, the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire)(Safety) Regulations, BS 7176 and Crib 5 for upholstery, BS 5867 Part 2 for soft furnishings, and the ongoing responsibilities under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order and CQC Regulation 15, gives care homes and care groups a clear foundation to specify from.

Building that understanding into a specification from the start, rather than checking it after the fact, is what keeps a scheme genuinely compliant, and repeatable with confidence, across every room and every site.

To discuss fire safety compliant furniture and soft furnishings for your care home, speak to the Edison & Day team by calling 01722 342622 or emailing hello@edisonday.co.uk. We'd love to chat!