Work From Home Safety Act Passes Congress, Establishes National Flammability Standard

Furniture World News Desk on 12/22/2020

The Safer Occupancy Furniture Flammability Act (SOFFA) passed the U.S. House of Representatives at the end of 2019 and made it into the 2020 year-end omnibus bill approved by Congress last night. It was renamed as the “COVID-19 Regulatory Relief and Work From Home Safety Act” and instructs the Consumer Product Safety Commission to establish conformance to California TB-117-2013 (a smolder test) as a national standard in the United States.

BIFMA joined a broad coalition led by the American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA) in support of this legislation. For many years, members of BIFMA have worked to repeal California TB133 (open flame) and promote California TB117-2013. We have achieved three major successes with: modifications in 2013 to TB117, with the TB133 repeal in January 2019, and now with TB117-2013 to become a national standard. BIFMA was pleased to work with many other organizations to promote a national smolder test standard for upholstered furniture.

Contact Dave Panning, Director of Technical Services at BIFMA (dpanning@bifma.org) with any questions. A copy of the language in the bill is attached.

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About BIFMA: BIFMA is the non-profit trade association serving business and institutional furniture manufacturers. Since 1973, the organization has been the industry leader in developing furniture safety, durability, and sustainability standards that establish parameters for product performance. BIFMA educates the community on the proper use of these standards; hosts product registries to support customer buying confidence; publishes industry statistics; and advocates for regulatory conditions that enhance value and foster innovation.