What is contract furniture?

Have you heard the term ‘contract furniture’ and wondered what it means? In essence, contract furniture is used in commercial environments rather than domestic.

Pieces of furniture intended for commercial spaces need to meet certain criteria, such as fire and safety standards. They need to serve specific purposes and have suitable features for public use. We’ll explore this in greater detail below.

What is the difference between contract and residential furniture? Find out all about contract grade furniture and the standards and features to look out for when choosing your pieces of furniture to use in a public or commercial space.

Who typically uses contract furniture?

A wide variety of business and public environments use contract furniture. There are offices with their workspaces, desks and various styles of chairs. Cafe, pub, bar and restaurant furniture needs to be of a commercial rather than domestic standard. Then there are science labs, IT facilities and a huge multitude of commercial zones that need contract furniture.

Public spaces like doctors’ surgeries, hospitals, nursing home and specialist clinics all need contract furniture, particularly in waiting rooms. Then there are educational institutions such as schools, colleges and universities. Museums and galleries, libraries, leisure centres, retail units, airports, train stations, conference centres, community centres... the list goes on.

Consequently, commercial furniture isn’t simply restricted to desks, tables and chairs. It spans many different types of furniture, from workstations to storage units and bookcases, sofas and armchairs to science lab and IT station stools and beyond.

How does contract furniture work?

One of the main differences between commercial and residential furniture is the amount of people using it. Commercial furniture needs to cope with much more heavy use than domestic.

At home, you may sit around the kitchen table for an hour a day as you eat your meals. Your dining chairs and table may only be used on special occasions. But in a cafe or restaurant, there could be a constant stream of people eating and drinking at a table over the course of a day. The table tops will get dirty and be cleaned multiple times a day. The chairs are moved and used time and time again. Compared to your comfy armchair in the lounge, cafe chairs and bar stools will get much more high traffic usage.

The high traffic nature of commercial environments means the furniture gets used heavily. As such, it needs to meet health and safety standards, as well as industry standards, to survive high levels of wear and tear.

Key features of contract furniture

Contract furniture needs to be more robust, durable and hard-wearing than domestic furniture. Consequently, it’s built to different specifications - such as adding extra reinforcement on furniture joints to support weight. Then, in offices and learning spaces, the furniture will need to have ergonomic features to aid employees’ health and wellbeing.

The common features for all types of contract furniture are durability, strength, dimensions and high quality. Due to the pieces’ high quality design and construction, contract furniture manufacturers tend to offer long warranties in comparison to domestic furniture.

Importantly, contract furniture must comply with higher standards than domestic furniture. There are stringent industry standards regarding health and safety that must be adhered to.

British Standards for contract furniture

In the UK, the health and safety requirements for contract furniture include:

• Crib 5: contract furniture must have a Crib 5 rating. That means it’s fire retardant and has met specific fire safety standards.

• British standards: there are strict fire and safety standards to meet. These British Standards (BS EN) cover fire resistance for upholstery and fabrics. In addition, table tops and worktops are tested for impact, scratch resistance, and abrasion; chemical and temperature resistance.

• Martindale fabric abrasion test: this is to check for fabric durability. Material is subjected to a minimum of 40,000 rubs to prove its durability.

What to consider when choosing contract furniture

Interior design

The furniture you choose needs to reflect your workspace’s interior design. You want to ensure a cohesive look, whatever the public or commercial environment.

Yes, contract furniture has to be functional, durable and safe. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be stylish and aesthetically appealing too. At KI, our aim is to create furniture that’s elegant as well as practical and durable. You don’t have to choose between style and practicality.

Usage

Each industry sector and commercial environment has very specific requirements for aesthetics, durability, functionality, safety and technology integration. Think about how your furniture will be used - by whom, how often, and for what purpose. A restaurant table needs different qualities to an executive conference chair for example.

Does the piece of furniture need to be cleaned and sanitised daily (or after each use)? Will it need to be moved or stacked away to make dynamic, flexible spaces (such as in a classroom)? What’s the configuration of the space and how will items work with each other? There are so many aspects to think about when choosing your commercial furniture.

Durability

You don’t want to keep replacing your furniture. And it’s likely to encounter plenty of usage too. Look for long-lasting, hard-wearing, well-constructed furniture that can cope with the various demands placed upon it. That could be an office chair that supports someone sitting for long periods of time. It could be classroom furniture that’s moved about regularly and used for many different activities. Or it could be a cafe table that has to cope with hot meals and drinks being spilt on it.

Materials

Often in commercial settings, you’ll find furniture with high quality upholstery fabrics like leather or a hard-wearing textile. This isn’t just for aesthetics, but also for durability and longevity. As mentioned above, all upholstery needs to meet fire safety restrictions too.

In learning environments, polypropylene is a popular choice. It’s strong, light, stain resistant, antistatic, easy to clean and vandal resistant. It’s also 100% recyclable after its long lifespan.

Health and safety

Compliance is a key concern, so it’s important to choose contract furniture that meets health and safety standards. They also need to be easy to clean and resistant to wear and tear due to the heavy use.

Choose the best contract furniture for your commercial environment

Whether you're furnishing a school, workplace or public space, each environment presents its own nuances and specific needs. At KI, we've spent decades learning about these challenges and demands. We apply that knowledge to designing furniture that meets each sector's specific requirements for aesthetics, durability, functionality, flexibility and safety.

Explore our elegant, practical and durable product ranges for various commercial environments. We’re trusted furniture suppliers to a range of industries. Find out more about our furniture solutions that aim to create happy, healthy, human-centred environments.