Your Guide to the Contract Furniture Industry

If you’re the owner of a hospitality establishment, navigating the world of contract furniture can sometimes feel overwhelming. So, what is contract furniture, and which details should you be specifying when deciding on the best contract furniture for your hotel, bar or restaurant? We are experts in the contract furniture industry, so can tell you everything you need to know in our beginner’s guide to contract furniture.

What is Contract Furniture?

So, what is contract grade furniture, and what does contract grade furniture mean? Essentially, contract furniture is furniture that is intended for commercial use in hospitality environments. These pieces are created with commercial furniture standards in mind, so are purposely manufactured with added strengthening features for use in public environments such as hotels, restaurants, bars and even public transport – contract furniture is created for environments which are subject to heavy traffic.

What is Domestic Furniture?

Domestic furniture is classed as furniture you would buy for personal home use from local stores, independent furniture retailers or online. Domestic furniture is often made with inexpensive materials and, due to this, the lifespan is significantly shorter than that of contract furniture. For that reason, it’s imperative that robust pieces of contract furniture are manufactured in line with commercial furniture standards specifically for public environments. This is beneficial for both the lifespan of the furniture and also for the intended users, as they will have been created to furniture industry standards, meaning they are robust and safe.

Is Contract Grade Furniture Better?

Contract furniture is more cost-effective for businesses, so, if you’re still wondering is contract grade furniture better? The answer is yes - it is built with longevity in mind, meaning you will have to replace the furniture much less frequently. This is beneficial financially as a business owner, as replacing furniture can disrupt the running of your business, cause poor Trip Advisor reviews and can have a hefty impact on those all-important budgets.

Contract furniture is built to withstand the rigours that contract environments endure. If you’re just starting a business, work in procurement or are an interior designer, you will need contract furniture for your project that will stand the test of time and maintain a fresh appearance for as long as possible.

Bespoke contract furniture is designed and made to be durable. When contract furniture is manufactured, it is often glued, screwed and dowelled together at all the critical joints, depending on the type of furniture and the commercial furniture standards required. This combination of fixtures ensure that contract furniture is far more robust, stable and able to withstand recurrent use.

Contract Furniture Industry Standards

Contract furniture must meet contract quality requirements, and its upholstery and finishes must also meet hospitality environment standards. Therefore, when specifying fabrics for your furniture, they must meet all British Standards for flammability, Crib 5 FR (Fire Retardant), and have undergone the Martindale fabric abrasion test for durability – which needs to be a minimum of 40,000+ rubs to be certified as “contract” standard. Domestic fabrics can be specified but will need to be further treated to meet the Crib 5 medium hazard rating. If you wish to use treated domestic fabrics, bear in mind that this will ultimately increase costs and add to the turnaround time and delivery of your furniture.

Choosing the Best Contract Furniture for Your Environment

Contract furniture is designed and manufactured using specific materials, such as combustion modified high resilient (CMHR) foam and high presume laminates (HPL) on table tops. The foam used within dining chairs, sofas and sofa beds is already treated to meet the flame-resistant requirements.

HPL is used when manufacturing contract tables for restaurants, conference centres and other hospitality establishments. The use of HPL means the table top has a degree of resistance to scratches and heat which may come from hot plates of food in a restaurant or perhaps curling tongs or other heated hair products in a hotel bedroom. When HLP is used, Lugo specifies a solid timber edging in combination, as this not only meets furniture industry standards but also increases the furniture’s durability while giving a crisp, clean finish.

Contract tables can be manufactured from a number materials; however, solid beech is most common and the preferred material here at Lugo. Beech is used for table frames and bases (unless a metal base is specified) as it is sturdy, cost-effective and withstands stains and polishes very well. Ultimately, all contract furniture design elements are carefully considered with contract furniture industry standards in mind.

Fire and Furnishing Regulations

The Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988, amended 1989, 1993 and 2010 (FFFSR) outlines the requirements for upholstered domestic furniture in the UK. There are further regulations for the contract market. There are three main British Standards that apply to curtains, seating, beds and mattresses:

• BS 7176 – Upholstered furniture for the non-domestic market

• BS 7177 – Divans and bed bases

• BS 5867 – Curtains, drapes and window blinds

BS 7176 is a standard that ensures upholstered furniture has a reasonable level of fire retardancy to ensure the safety of users and others. The fabrics undergo testing as specified by BS EN 1021- 2 in the form of ignition from different sources that represent the environments the fabric may encounter.

There are eight test sources. The most common are 0 (a smouldering cigarette), 1 (a match) and 5 (smouldering and flaming). Once test source 5 is passed, the fabric is deemed as having achieved a fire retardancy of Crib 5, in line with furniture industry standards for hospitality environments.

In addition to these test sources, tables and surfaces must also adhere to a set of British Standards. The test is not for flammability, but for mechanical damage (impact, scratch resistance and abrasion), resistance to dry and wet heat (between 55°c - 160°c) and chemical resistance (tea, coffee, oils, acids and bleaches).

The British Standards that apply to tables include, but are not limited to:

• BS EN15372 — Furniture - Strength, durability and safety for non-domestic tables

• BS 4875 part 5 – Strength, durability and stability of tables and trolleys for domestic and contract use

• BS EN15186 – Furniture – Assessment of the surface resistance to scratching

• BS EN12729 – Furniture – Assessment of surface resistance to cold liquids

Specifying the Details of Contract Furniture

So, we’ve answered the main question of ‘what is contract grade furniture?’ and you now understand the basics of the contract furniture industry and the importance of choosing specific pieces for your hospitality or leisure venue. However, with so many different types and styles of seating, surfaces, and beds available, it can be confusing to know which is the best contract furniture option for your business. Here at Lugo, if you have a specific chair, headboard or even table design in mind, you can present this, and we will then be able to provide you with a quote for the furniture or find an alternative piece which already exists and can be customised to suit your décor.

You can customise almost every element of your contract furniture with a vast range of fabrics, textures, patterns and finishes available. You could even use a bespoke design service to create tailored contract furniture from scratch and have it made exactly to your taste.

Choose the Best Contract Furniture for your Business

The contract furniture you choose can be easily customised to suit particular design and functional needs of your business. Customising your own fabrics and finishes and adapting them to existing furniture designs enables you to match the new contract furniture to your existing or new interior designs scheme to create the desired impact.

From altering the stain colour of a bar stool to upholstering a sofa bed in a velvet fabric or adding striking studding to a lounge chair, you can tailor your contract furniture to your exact requirements.

Customising additional detailing is a great way to enhance the look of your chosen contract furniture in a few easy steps. By simply adding contrasting piping or complementing split fabrics to a chair’s seat cushion and backrest can turn a simple chair design into a feature piece within a room.

Another popular detailing option is studding, which can provide a modern and sometimes industrial look to your hospitality contract furniture. There are a range of stud finishes available such as nickel or old gold which can also complement your chosen fabric and interior design scheme.

When customising contract tables, you will need to consider elements such as the thickness of the table top, and the edging shape you might prefer, popular features include chamfer or bullnose edging. All of these customisation options are available to our customers, so you can design your contract furniture from scratch, and we will manufacture it to the highest of furniture standards using top quality materials.

Choose Bespoke Contract Furniture

Bespoke contract furniture gives you contract furniture like no other. A bespoke design usually arises from a clients’ needs or desire for a piece of furniture for their hotel, bar, restaurant, or another establishment, that is different from existing designs available. The bespoke design can come from a specifier, designer or even from suggestions made by hotel owners, who would like statements such as accent chairs in the lobby.

At Lugo, we’re experts in the contract furniture industry. We work with an interior designer to create, develop and manufacture your ideas from a concept design to produce a creative, strong and functional piece of contract furniture.

From restaurant dining chairs to hotel beds and contract tables, we have hundreds of pieces of contract furniture for the hospitality sector. You can even browse our informative guides, case studies and Pinterest for inspiration here.

Want to get in touch to discuss your contract furniture requirements? Our experts are happy to talk to you about your design requirements and make a plan for assisting you in choosing the best contract furniture for your establishment.