'Best Testing Services / Certification Provider' 2024
29 Jul, 2024
Winners in the Furniture News Readers' Choice Awards for 2024 have been announced, and the entire team at FIRA International is once again delighted to have been recognised as the 'Best Testing Services / Certification Provider'. Thanks to everyone for supporting us again and making it the fourth year we’ve topped this category!
Since our last accolade for 'Best Testing Services / Certification Provider' received in the summer of 2023, we’ve been working to expand our UKAS accreditation. Much of this work is reflected in the number of updated and newly published standards, and we hope to see this broader accreditation secured over the coming months. Our scope would then include UKAS accredited testing for: BS EN 1729-2:2023 (chairs and tables for educational institutions), BS EN 1725:2023 (beds), BS EN 16121:2023 (non-domestic storage furniture), BS EN 12521:2023 (domestic tables), BS EN 15372:2023 (non-domestic tables), and finally parts one and two for BS EN 747:2024 (bunk beds and high beds).
To support the wider scope, three new custom-built structural testing machines will shortly be operational, building on our current portfolio of test equipment. Designed by our in-house experts, these new machines will test durability performance across domestic and non-domestic chairs, tables, and beds, helping us meet the ever-increasing industry demand for comprehensive UKAS-accredited testing.
Future flammability testing at FIRA International could be adapted based on the ongoing UK domestic flammability regulations review undertaken by the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS). My colleague Levent Caglar and I have been part of the committee, representing the furniture industry, so we'll keep our customers and the wider furniture sector up to date as applicable.
In closing, we thank our testing and certification experts, who are critical to our success. Without their dedication and support, we couldn't deliver our breadth of services and support you in the way that we do.
