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31. 03. 2022

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Office storage furniture: the ANSI BIFMA X5.9-2019

Catas is qualified to carry out tests for theBIFMA Compliant® mark, which refers to the register of furniture products that meet the safety and durability requirements set by the American BIFMA standards.

The reference standard for office storage furniture products is the ANSI BIFMA X5.9-2019 which contains the list of tests that evaluate the performance of all the components of a cabinet (doors, drawers, ...), without the obligation to perform them all on one same sample or to follow a given sequence - as it is usually required by the European standards - but giving the possibility to carry out each single test on a different sample.
At the basis of this approach, the possibility is taken into consideration that the tests already carried out may modify the characteristics of the sample. In the event of a negative result, the test can be repeated on a new sample as long as it is identical.


That is why Catas decided to define a specific procedure to effectively and transparently manage the relationship with the customer and the methods of sending and using the samples to be tested.
 
How is the tests sequence for several identical samples exactly managed?
For the execution of the tests according to the ANSI BIFMA X5.9 standard, the customer can deliver to the lab more identical samples.
The tests programme (and the related quotation) will list the full sequence required by the standard by adding a note which specify that in the event of a negative result for one or more tests, these can be repeated on other available samples only after formal confirmation from the customer.
The sequence of tests to be followed may be preliminarily decided by the customer. Otherwise, the laboratory will program it.

All tests with positive results will be included in a single test report.
The use of multiple samples to perform the complete sequence of the standard allows us to issue a single test report containing only the tests that gave positive results.
We reminad that, in these cases the samples must all be delivered to the laboratory at the same time. 
The samples will be numbered (1, 2, 3, ...) and the numbering will be included within the individual tests of the report document with the following note: "Test performed on sample 1 of X / Test carried out on sample 1 of X ". The total number of samples delivered will also be mentioned.

For samples delivered to the lab at different times will be issude different test reports.
In the cases of negative results, a different test report will be issued containing the only negative tests. A negative test could be repeated on one of the new samples available only after the  formal acceptance and confirmation.

For information:
Maurizio Marussi
+39 0432 747225
marussi@catas.com