What BIFMA Certification Means for Commercial Seating

When you’re specifying seating for a restaurant, hotel, casino or healthcare facility, “commercial grade” can mean almost anything. BIFMA standards give buyers a way to compare products against the same tests. Here’s what the standards cover and what to ask a manufacturer.

What is BIFMA?

BIFMA is the trade association for business and institutional furniture manufacturers. It develops voluntary safety and performance standards, approved through the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), that define how furniture is tested for strength, durability and stability. Products are tested by applying loads and repeated cycles that simulate years of real use.

The seating standards buyers see most

Why large-occupant testing matters

Hospitality and healthcare seating is used by everyone who walks through the door, many times a day. ANSI/BIFMA X5.41, approved in 2021, applies higher loads than the standard public-seating test to reflect heavier users. It has two performance levels, based on a 400 lb user and a 600 lb user, so when a product is described as meeting X5.41, it’s worth asking which level.

How Designform tests

• Every Designform product is tested to 400 lbs.
• Most of our frames have been tested to and meet ANSI/BIFMA X5.41.
• If your project requires a specific rating, we can test a product to your requirement.

Construction matters as much as the test

A test result tells you how a chair performed when it was new. Construction tells you how it will hold up over years. Most of our wood chairs and stools use mortise-and-tenon joinery with very few bolted connections, our metal frames are fully welded, and every seating piece is assembled at our factory. Fewer bolts means fewer connections that can loosen with daily use.

Questions to ask any manufacturer

• Which BIFMA standard was the product tested to, and at what level?
• What weight is the product rated for?
• How are the joints built: glued joinery, welds or bolts?
• Does upholstery meet CAL TB 117-2013? (Ours does, including foam and upholstery materials.)
• What does the warranty cover, and for how long? See our warranty terms.

Learn more

For weight and durability requirements on a specific project, contact your Designform rep. For healthcare and senior living, see our healthcare seating options, including bariatric frames.