Office Furniture Testing Report

Office furniture testing report mainly conducts scientific testing and analysis on structural safety and stability, surface physicochemical properties, hazardous substance limits, flame retardancy, ergonomics and safety, and metal parts corrosion resistance, objectively assessing the product quality grade and issuing a detailed test report, providing a basis for manufacturers' quality control and downstream users' product acceptance.

Testing Items

Structural safety and stability: Mainly evaluates the structural integrity of the furniture under normal use and slight overload, including horizontal static loads, vertical static loads and fatigue tests. For example, office chairs are tested for swivel, tilt, base strength and five-star base impact resistance; filing cabinets focus on shelf strength, drawer slide durability and the overall stability of the cabinet body, ensuring that there is no risk of tipping, deformation or functional failure.

Surface physicochemical properties: Tests the abrasion resistance, resistance to hot and cold liquids, dry heat resistance, cigarette burn resistance and scratch resistance of the furniture surface coating or surfacing material. By simulating friction, contact and accidental soiling in daily use, its stain resistance, color retention and coating adhesion are evaluated, ensuring a durable and beautiful appearance that is easy to clean and maintain.

Hazardous substance limits: In accordance with national standards, formaldehyde emission, heavy metal content (such as lead, cadmium, chromium and mercury), volatile organic compounds (VOC) and flame retardants and other hazardous substances are mandatorily tested. This item is directly related to indoor air environment quality and user health, and is the core indicator of the environmental safety of office furniture, which must comply with mandatory standards such as GB 18584.

Flame retardancy: For furniture used in specific places (such as high-rise office buildings and public places), the flame retardancy grade of its fabrics, filling foam and wood parts needs to be tested. Through tests such as vertical burning and cigarette smoldering, the ignitability, flame spread rate and self-extinguishing property of the materials are evaluated, to meet the building fire protection code requirements and reduce fire risk.

Ergonomics and safety: Focuses on testing the seat height, depth, back support adjustment range, armrest strength and stability of office chairs. At the same time, it checks whether the edges and tips of table furniture are rounded or chamfered, and whether there are gaps that may cause shearing or pinching, ensuring that the product design conforms to human use habits and eliminates potential mechanical injury hazards.

Metal parts corrosion resistance: Salt spray tests are carried out on the metal parts in the furniture (such as brackets, hinges, slides and connectors) to simulate the corrosion condition in humid and salty environments. The ability of the electroplated layer or coating to protect the substrate is evaluated, ensuring that the metal parts do not rust or corrode within the expected service life, maintaining their structural strength and appearance.

Testing Scope

Table furniture: Covering office desks, conference tables, workstations, height-adjustable desks and reception desks. The testing focus includes tabletop load-bearing and impact resistance, structural stability (such as table leg strength), the durability of adjustment mechanisms (such as the motor and control system of height-adjustable desks), and the push-pull smoothness and load-bearing capacity of drawers and keyboard trays.

Seating furniture: Including executive chairs, task chairs, conference chairs, visitor chairs and sofas. The testing scope involves the static and dynamic load strength of the seat, caster wear tests, gas lift safety (anti-explosion), armrest lateral thrust, seat and back fatigue tests (such as tens of thousands of reciprocations) and the physical properties of the fabric/foam.

Storage furniture: Mainly referring to filing cabinets, storage cabinets, locker cabinets and mobile pedestals. The testing scope focuses on the overall strength of the cabinet body, shelf deflection, slide life under full load of drawers, the durability and reliability of locks, the opening fatigue times of door hinges and the anti-tipping performance of the cabinet.

Panel workstation systems: Including panel screens, work surfaces, hanging components and cable management systems. The testing scope includes the impact resistance, sound insulation performance and stability of the panels, as well as the overall stability after system combination, electrical safety (such as built-in sockets) and wiring convenience evaluation.

Auxiliary and accessories: Covering coffee tables, reception tables, document racks, keyboard trays and other auxiliary furniture and their accessories. Although the testing scope is small, it is critical, including their own strength, connection reliability with the main furniture, edge safety and the effectiveness of the use functions.

Materials and components: The independent materials and key components that constitute the furniture are tested, such as the moisture content and nail holding power of the wood, the physicochemical properties of the wood-based panels, the aging resistance of plastic parts, the fatigue strength of hardware connectors, and the abrasion and sliding performance of casters, controlling product quality from the source.

Testing Methods

Mechanical property test methods: In accordance with the GB/T 10357 and QB/T 2280 standard series, dedicated mechanical testing machines are used to simulate the use state. For example, seat surface impact, back impact and armrest vertical downward static load tests are carried out on seats; vertical loading, horizontal loading and stability tests on tables; shelf bending, drawer durability and cabinet door open-close fatigue tests on cabinets, with the load and deformation data recorded through sensors.

Environmental and chemical test methods: The formaldehyde emission is collected and quantitatively analyzed by the chamber method (GB 18580) or the desiccator method. The heavy metal content is determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) or inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). VOC is analyzed by thermal desorption-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (TD-GC/MS). The salt spray test is carried out in a salt spray chamber for the specified period in accordance with the GB/T 10125 standard.

Flame retardancy test methods: Corresponding methods are selected for different materials. The vertical burning method (GB/T 5455) or the cigarette smoldering method is mostly adopted for fabrics and filling foam. The oxygen index method or horizontal/vertical burning tests may be adopted for wood parts. Through professional combustion test chambers, the ignition source and time are precisely controlled, and parameters such as flame height, afterflame time, afterglow time and damaged length are observed and recorded.

Surface physicochemical property test methods: For abrasion resistance, a Martindale abrasion tester or Taber abrasion tester is used for cyclic friction; for scratch resistance, a scratch testing machine is used to scratch the surface with a steel needle at a specified load; for liquid resistance, different chemical reagents are dropped on the surface and covered for a specified time before observing the changes; for dry heat resistance and cigarette burn resistance, dedicated heating devices are used to contact the surface.

Dimension and ergonomics evaluation methods: Height gauges, angle gauges, tape measures and other measuring tools are used to precisely measure the dimensions of each part of the product, and compare them with the ergonomic dimension requirements in standards such as GB/T 3326 and GB/T 39223.3. At the same time, subjective evaluations such as actual sitting feel and operation comfort are carried out through adjustable prototypes, combined with objective data for a comprehensive judgment.

Comprehensive safety and durability test methods: A multifunctional furniture comprehensive testing machine is used to carry out long-time, high-frequency simulated use tests on the product. For example, reciprocating durability tests of the seat surface and back of office chairs (usually tens of thousands of times or more), and continuous lifting and lowering cycle tests of height-adjustable desks, are carried out to evaluate their reliability and safety in long-term use.

Testing Standards

Domestic Standards:

1. GB 18580, Indoor decorating and refurbishing materials — Limit of formaldehyde emission of wood-based panels and finishing products

2. GB/T 17657-2022, Test methods of evaluating the properties of wood-based panels and surface decorated wood-based panels

3. GB 18580-2025, Indoor decorating and refurbishing materials — Limit of formaldehyde emission of wood-based panels and finishing products

4. GB/T 1931-2009, Method for determination of moisture content of wood

5. GB/T 1936.1-2009, Method of testing in bending strength of wood

6. GB/T 4823-2013, Defects in sawn timber

International Standards:

1. ISO 12460-1, Determination of formaldehyde emission of wood-based panels — Part 1: 1 m³ chamber method

Note: The applicable standard can be selected according to the product use and customer trade requirements; standards agreed in the contract take precedence over general standards.

Testing Instruments and Equipment

Mechanical testing machines: Including universal material testing machines, furniture comprehensive mechanical testing machines and impact testing machines. These devices can apply precisely controlled static or dynamic loads for tests such as pressure, bending, tension and impact, and record data such as force, displacement and deformation in real time. They are the core equipment for evaluating structural strength.

Environmental test chambers: Mainly the formaldehyde and VOC emission climate chambers, which can precisely control temperature, humidity, air exchange rate and air flow velocity, collect gas samples under simulated real indoor environmental conditions, provide standardized pretreatment conditions for hazardous substance testing, and ensure the accuracy and comparability of the test results.

Chemical analysis instruments: Mainly including gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), atomic absorption spectrometers (AAS), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometers (ICP-MS) and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometers. These high-precision instruments are used for qualitative and quantitative analysis of the collected samples, precisely determining the content of hazardous substances such as formaldehyde, VOC and heavy metals.

Combustion performance testing instruments: Such as vertical burning test instruments, horizontal burning test instruments, oxygen index meters and cigarette smoldering test devices. These devices provide a standardized ignition source and test environment, and are used to objectively evaluate the flame retardancy and flame spread behavior of furniture textiles, plastics, wood and other materials.

Surface performance testing instruments: Including Martindale abrasion testers, Taber abrasion testers, scratch testing machines, gloss meters, colorimeters and coating adhesion cross-cut testers. They are used to quantitatively evaluate multiple physical and chemical performance indicators such as the abrasion resistance, scratch resistance, stain resistance, light resistance and color stability of the furniture surface coating.

Salt spray corrosion test chamber: By atomizing a sodium chloride solution, a corrosion environment with constant temperature, humidity and high salt content is created in the chamber, used to accelerate the testing of the corrosion resistance of the electroplated layer or coating of metal furniture parts or hardware accessories. It is important equipment for predicting their long-term service environment adaptability.