Under the authority of Technical Committee FW/0, Furniture, two new British Standards BS 7376:2009 - Inclusion of glass in the construction of tables and trolleys for domestic use specification and BS 4875-5:2009 - Strength and stability of furniture Part 5: Requirements for strength, durability and stability of tables and trolleys for domestic use, were prepared by Subcommittee FW/0/2, domestic and contract furniture, and published by BSI. The standards came into effect on 30 April 2009.

Scope

BS 7376:2009 specifies requirements to ensure reasonable safety of tables and trolleys, for domestic use, which incorporate an area of flat glass >0.02 m². It does not apply to non-domestic tables featuring glass in their construction.

The purpose of this British Standard is to provide designers, manufacturers, retailers, consumers and other interested parties with performance requirements that should minimize the risks of serious accidents with glass in tables and trolleys.

BS 4875-5:2009 specifies performance requirements for the strength, durability and stability of the structure of tables and trolleys for domestic use. It does not apply to non-domestic tables, tables intended for educational institutions or office desks. It also does not apply to kitchen furniture, which is covered by BS EN 14749:2005.

The performance requirements are verified by tests that reproduce normal use and common types of misuse to which tables and trolleys can be subjected. The tests are designed to be applied to an article that is fully assembled and ready for use. Five test levels are given corresponding to the variations in severity of end-use to be expected for various types of tables and trolleys, e.g. delicate styles, short-life furniture, robust serviceable styles. While the tests reproduce normal use and common types of misuse, they do not reproduce any abuse to which the article may be subjected.

Background

Together with BS EN 15372:2008, these two new editions of British Standard supersede BS 7376:2004 and BS 4875-5:2001 respectively, which were withdrawn. These new editions of BS 7376 and BS 4875-5 incorporate changes made necessary by the publication of BS EN 15372:2008 Furniture - Strength, durability and safety - Requirements for nondomestic tables.

Under the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations, when a harmonized European Standard is published, it shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an identical text or by endorsement, and conflicting national standards shall be withdrawn.

BS EN 15372 specifies strength, stability and durability requirements for non-domestic tables, including those featuring glass in their construction. Therefore the new editions of BS 7376 and BS 4875-5 have been prepared to cover domestic tables and trolleys only.

Significant Changes:

BS 7376:2009

• Scope. Non-domestic tables have been removed from the scope of the 2004 version.
• Reference Standard. The reference standard BS 4875-5:2001 in the 2004 version has been updated BS 4875-5:2009.
• Test Level. An informative annex has been added to introduce five test levels in relation to the use of furniture.

BS 4875-5:2009

• Scope. Contract use tables and trolleys have been removed from the scope of the 2001 version, and removed the reference standard BS 4875-8 from the Note 4 of the scope.
• Test Level. The Table A.2 - Test levels for typical applications has been removed from the Annex A, Test levels in relation to application from the 2001 version of the standard.

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