The Standards Council of the US National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has voted to stop development of NFPA 277 Standard Methods of Tests for Evaluating Fire and Ignition Resistance of Upholstered Furniture Using a Flaming Ignition Source. NFPA’s Vice-President, Christian Dubay, noted that “Burning upholstered furniture presents a significant fire issue that demands a solution to protect both citizens and first responders”. However, there is a lack of consensus on how to test flammability of domestic upholstered furniture exposed to a flame. NFPA’s proposed approach was to address total and peak heat release after ignition, but the proposal met a wide range of comments covering fundamental aspects of the test method, pass/fail criteria, technical specifications, duplication of existing methods and wider concerns including questions about possible health impacts of flame retardants.
“NFPA Standards Council votes to cease standards development of NFPA 277, Standard Methods of Tests for Evaluating Fire and Ignition Resistance of Upholstered Furniture Using a Flaming Ignition Source” 10th April 2018 https://www.nfpa.org/News-and-Research/News-and-media/Press-Room/News-releases/2018/NFPA-Standards-Council-votes-to-cease-standards-development-of-NFPA-277