Fire rules for re-upholstery are about to change. Here is where it stands.

The government plans to take re-upholstery and repair out of the furniture fire safety regulations. The consultation closed in June. The response has not been published yet.

For almost four decades, every upholsterer in the country has worked under the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988: the match test, the cigarette test, and the permanent label sewn into every piece. That framework is now being rebuilt. The part most likely to change daily practice at the bench is that the re-upholstery trade is set to fall outside it altogether.

What has already changed

The first set of changes is already law. The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 came into force on 30 October 2025. They:

• took a list of baby and children's products out of scope, including cots, prams, car seats, highchairs and play mats
• removed the requirement for display (swing) labels
• extended the time limit for bringing a prosecution from six months to twelve.

The permanent label is unaffected. Second-hand furniture still needs one too.

What the government is proposing

The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) ran a public consultation, "Product regulation: fire safety of domestic upholstered furniture", from 31 March to 23 June 2026. It was the fourth consultation on reforming the 1988 regulations, and the government describes it as the final one.

On testing, the government says it will:

• "end open-flame testing requirements" and bring in new regulations "underpinned by a smoulder test aligning with international approaches"
• give manufacturers a free choice between testing components separately and testing the finished composite
• work with the British Standards Institution so that standards exist to support compliance
• drop the flame retardant technology hierarchy proposed in 2023
• keep outdoor furniture in scope
• not create a separate exemption for bespoke makers, because it would need an arbitrary definition.

The proposals that matter most to the readers of this magazine concern scope. Re-upholstery and repair would come out of the furniture regulations and be covered instead by general product safety law. So would second-hand upholstered furniture.

The consultation document says, "we have not seen significant incidences of fires linked to re-upholstered furniture". It adds that "the Government does not believe the reupholstery sector needs the same level of bespoke regulation". It commits not to place additional administrative burdens on upholsterers. It states that re-upholstered products would no longer carry any mandatory labelling showing compliance, and it promises guidance for the re-upholstery sector.

The document also points to an anomaly in the current rules: they appear to rule out the resale of any furniture first sold between 1950 and 1988.

What "general product safety" would mean

At present that means the General Product Safety Regulations 2005. Their definition of a producer includes "the person who reconditions the product". Their central duty is short: no producer may place a product on the market unless it is a safe product. Whether a product is safe is judged on its characteristics, its composition, its labelling and warnings, and who is likely to be at risk from it, with children and the elderly named in particular.

In practice, the duty would move from passing set tests and fixing a set label to making a product that is safe. One caution: the 2005 regulations are themselves being replaced. A companion consultation on a new UK product safety framework closed on the same day, 23 June. Whatever re-upholsterers end up regulated by will be that new framework, and its final wording is not yet known.

What the trade said

The Association of Master Upholsterers and Soft Furnishers (AMUSF) answered "agree" to all four consultation questions. Its response puts the risk plainly: "We see delay as the biggest threat to this new legislation." AMUSF also suggests that, until the new BSI standards exist, compliance could be judged against EN 1021-1 for composite testing and the Californian TB117-2013 for components.

The British Furniture Confederation is the umbrella body for the British Furniture Association, FIRA, the National Bed Federation, Commercial Interiors UK and the UK Sustainable Flooring Alliance. It was more cautious. In its statement of 17 July it said it "does not support replacing the current testing regime with a smoulder only standard". It neither supported nor opposed moving re-upholstery, repair and second-hand furniture to general product safety law. However, it warned that undefined terms such as repair, refurbishment and remanufacture could lead to inconsistent enforcement. Its chairman, Tony Attard OBE, said: "We now look forward to hearing the outcome."

The fire numbers behind the debate

Government fire statistics for England record dwelling fires in which upholstered furniture was the item first ignited:

The consultation also notes that the share of English homes with a working smoke alarm has risen from 8 per cent when the 1988 regulations began to an estimated 93 per cent in 2022/23.

What happens next

The consultation says: "Later this year we will publish a response that sets out a comprehensive policy position." It says that response will cover labelling and technical files and will "set out a timeline for implementing changes and transitioning to the new regime". As of 3 October 2026, no response has been published, and no implementation date or transition period has been announced.

Until the new rules are made and in force, the 1988 regulations as amended still apply. For a re-upholsterer, that means:

• Materials you supply must still meet the existing requirements. Foam must not be supplied for upholstering or re-upholstering furniture if it fails the tests.
• Furniture made before 1 January 1950 remains outside the regulations, as do materials supplied to re-upholster it.
• The permanent label rules stand.

Keep your supplier certificates and records as you do now. They will be just as useful as evidence of a safe product under general product safety law as they are under the current tests.

A practical note on waste. Environment Agency guidance updated on 29 July 2026 says waste upholstered domestic seating is described as "domestic seating waste containing POPs", under code 20 03 07. The update says scatter cushions under 60 by 60 cm are excluded. That affects how stripped covers and old foam leave the workshop.

The Furniture Magazine will report the government response when it is published.

This article is a summary of published proposals and law, not legal advice.