If you’re shopping for furniture for a public building, venue, office, school, church or other similar location, you may have heard of the term ‘contract furniture’. If you’re wondering what that means, then keep reading and the Rosehill team will tell you everything you need to know about contract furniture…
Contract furniture definition
Put simply, contract furniture refers to pieces of furniture that have been designed and manufactured for use in public environments.
Because of this, contract furniture is designed and manufactured to much more rigorous standards than domestic furniture. Contract furniture is designed for heavy, repeated use and to withstand far more wear and tear than you would find in the average UK household.
Items of contract furniture are typically designed and manufactured to take into account factors such as ergonomics, much more regular cleaning, modularity, and – in some instances – being able to be fixed in place. Contract furniture is also often designed with portability and storage in mind – with folding, nesting, and stacking features incorporated.
Contract furniture encompasses a huge array of different types of furniture, from tables and chairs to outdoor benches, storage units, bookcases, sofas, acoustic booths and more. In other words, think of a type of furniture and there’s almost certainly a contract version of it.
There are even types of contract furniture that are tailored for specific environments e.g. acoustic booths for offices.
An additional point to note about contract furniture is that it is typically tested to meet much more stringent strength, durability, safety and fire standards than domestic furniture. This is because the different types of environments in which contract furniture is used require higher safety standards (for example, furniture used on oil rigs must meet very high fire safety standards than furniture used in offices).
Note – you may sometimes find contract furniture used interchangeably with the term ‘commercial furniture’. It’s occasionally also called contract grade furniture or commercial grade furniture.
Where is contract furniture used?
At the risk of oversimplifying things, contract furniture is used anywhere outside a private home. Put another way, contract furniture is furniture which is used in any location that is ‘public’.
Examples of the places where you’ll find contract furniture being used include:
- Offices including reception areas.
- Hospitality venues of all kinds e.g. cafés, bars, restaurants, hotels.
- Venues e.g. conference centres, stadia, auditoriums.
- Churches and crematoriums.
- Community centres, church halls, recreation centres, leisure centres.
- Education venues of all kinds e.g. schools, sixth forms, colleges, universities.
- Healthcare facilities such as GP surgeries, hospitals, clinics, nursing homes.
- Waiting rooms of all kinds and lobbies.
- Cultural institutions e.g. museums, libraries, art galleries etc.
- Transport hubs such as bus stations, railway stations, taxi ranks etc.
As you can see, contract furniture can be used pretty much anywhere! In fact, you probably use contract furniture throughout the day without even realising it.
Popped into the coffee shop for a quick cuppa? Then you’ve sat on and used contract furniture. Waiting at the doctors for your appointment? You’ll be sitting on a chair that’s of ‘contract quality’. You’ll even spot contract furniture on the telly in your favourite programmes…
Contract furniture standards
As we mentioned earlier, items of contract furniture are usually tested to much more rigorous standards than items of domestic furniture.
This is typically because the environments in which the furniture will be used demand higher standards. To take the example mentioned earlier, any furniture used on an offshore oil and gas platform must pass very high fire safety standards. This is simply because an offshore platform is a very high risk environment.
In some settings, you’ll actually have a legal obligation to use items of furniture which are compliant with certain standards.
The types of standards that contract furniture can be tested against include:
- Strength.
- Durability.
- Dimensions.
- Fire and safety.
Aside from these general standards, there are also ‘sector-specific’ standards. For example, there are specific standards for items of furniture that are intended for use in educational settings e.g. BS EN 1729 (Furniture. Chairs and tables for educational settings).
An item of contract furniture that has been appropriately tested will be:
- Fire safe with an appropriate level of flame retardancy.
- Compliant with smoke emission standards.
- Of the correct dimensions, strength and durability for the context in which it will be used.
- Rub fast – able to resist colour transfer onto other textiles such as clothing.
- Able to withstand rubbing, abrasion and piling.
It’s important to note that there are also different standards for different countries. Here in the UK, you will normally find items of contract furniture tested against either EN or BS standards. These stand for Europäische Norm and British Standards respectively.
You may occasionally see items of furniture which have been tested against ANSI/BIFMA standards. These are American standards.
Guide – for more information, read our very comprehensive guide to contract furniture standards.
Guide – for specific information on fire safety standards, read our contract furniture fire safety standards guide.
The qualities of contract furniture
Aside from adhering to much more stringent standards than domestic furniture, items of contract furniture feature more robust materials, fabrication methods, finishes, and (where applicable) fabrics.
Examples of these materials, fabrication methods, finishes and fabrics are detailed below.
Contract furniture materials
As you would expect, items of contract furniture are manufactured using higher grade materials than their domestic equivalents:
- Metals – where an item of contract furniture uses metal, this will be a high grade stainless steel or aluminium. These metals are typically alloyed to add further corrosion resistance.
- Woods – should an item of contract furniture feature any wooden elements, these will be high-quality hardwoods rather than softwoods.
- Plastics – where contract furniture uses plastic, the plastic will usually be a thermoplastic such as polypropylene which is very tough and durable.
Note – the above is just a general overview of contract furniture materials. The materials used on specific items vary considerably, with items such as tabletops being made from a wide range of materials.
Contract furniture fabrication methods
Contract furniture features fabrication methods that are far more robust than those used to create domestic furniture.
For example, wooden chairs of contract quality will typically be fabricated with mortise and tenon joints. These are strong and stable joints which will withstand significant loads and forces.
The best items of metal contract furniture are fabricated using full fillet and/or groove welds – again, this is a fabrication technique that results in a long-lasting and durable piece of furniture.
Contract furniture finishes
Items of contract furniture are available with a broad range of finishes. For example, tables and chairs that have metal legs and frames can be finished with either a chrome finish or electrostatic powder coating (EPC) finish. The latter finish is available in literally hundreds of colours.
Things like contract grade tables are available with tabletops in hundreds of different finishes, colours and patterns.
Many of these finishes don’t just serve an aesthetic purpose, but impart other characteristics upon the furniture. For example, EPC finishes are often used to add corrosion resistance to items of furniture.
Contract furniture fabrics
As stated above, items of contract furniture that are upholstered use what are termed ‘contract fabrics’.
These are fabrics that are manufactured to be far, far more robust than the fabrics you find on domestic chairs and sofas.
Contract fabrics are tested using something called the Martindale rub test. This test uses a machine with rotating discs which are fitted with sandpaper. These discs are then applied to the fabric (whilst spinning) continuously until the fabric starts to wear out.
At that point, the fabric is assigned a score. These scores range from 6,000 all the way up to 750k plus!
Here at Rosehill, all of our contract fabrics have a Martindale rub test score of at least 30,000 making them suitable for ‘Severe Contract Use’, however the majority of our fabrics have a score of 50,000 or more. One of our vinyls actually has a score of 750,000 rubs!
Contract fabrics also differ from the fabrics you find on domestic furniture in that they have more ‘features’. What we mean by this is that contract fabrics will often be treated so they can be cleaned very thoroughly. Other ‘features’ found in contract fabrics can include antimicrobial resistance.
Guide – want to know more? Then read our guide to contact fabrics.
Contract furniture warranties
Because contract furniture is designed and manufactured to such high standards, you’ll find that items come with much longer warranties than you’d see on equivalent domestic items.
It’s not unheard of for contract-quality tables to come with warranties of five years or more, whilst some contract-quality chairs can have warranties as long as 20 years!
How to buy contract furniture
Surely buying contract furniture is as straightforward as going into a shop and purchasing some?
Not quite!
Compared to domestic furniture, your typical item of contract furniture can be selected with tens – and sometimes even hundreds – of different variations and options.
The types of things you can specify on an item of contract furniture is vast, and can include:
- Fabric type and colour.
- Frame finish and colour.
- The addition of armrests.
- Linking tabs.
- Writing tablets.
- Various edges (on tables).
- Different bases (on chairs and tables alike).
- And more!
As a result, you’ll find that most items of contract furniture are made to order. Because of this, it’s important that you order your furniture ahead of time in order to accommodate manufacturer lead times.
Here at Rosehill, we set out the different options that are available for each item of furniture within the product description:
Naturally, if you prefer to speak to a real person when ordering contract furniture, our team here at Rosehill is happy to help. You can reach us on 0161 485 1717 or at: sales@rosehill.co.uk.
Can anyone buy contract furniture?
Yes! It’s entirely possible for an individual to buy an item of contract furniture for you use in their home.
However, it’s worth bearing in mind that there are some important differences between buying contract furniture and domestic furniture.
First – and most noticeable – is the fact that many items of contract furniture are not sold with a fire safety label attached (some contract manufacturers do include a label, but they are the exception rather than the norm).
This doesn’t mean these items haven’t been subjected to fire safety tests (in fact, we are able to obtain testing certificates from manufacturers). It’s simply that a fire label is a legal requirement for the sale of domestic furniture, whilst it’s not for contract furniture.
Another important difference between the purchase of contract furniture and domestic furniture is the cost of delivery.
Because items of contract furniture are usually bought in multiples, suppliers such as ourselves, set our delivery charges accordingly. This means that for a single item, delivery can seem expensive (for example, the delivery charge for a single chair can be in the region of £50/60).
Don’t let that be a barrier if you have your eye on a particular item of contract furniture for your home.
One of the most common scenarios we encounter is people returning home from hospital only to find that their existing chairs are too low and/or uncomfortable. In this instance, some people seek out the higher, wingback style chairs they used in hospital.
These are items of contract furniture such as the Dalton Armchair Range or the Hamilton Bariatric Armchair.
Here at Rosehill, we have supplied a number of individuals over the years with these chairs for their own homes.
Where to buy contract furniture
Again, this may seem like a strange point, but it’s very rare that you can buy an item of contract furniture on the high street.
As items of contract furniture are so distinct from domestic furniture, and are typically made to order, they are sold by specialist contract furniture retailers such as ourselves here at Rosehill.
We only sell contract furniture at Rosehill, and have done so for over 40 years. Whilst we do have a showroom that you can visit (appointments must be made in advance of your visit), the majority of our orders are taken over the phone, via email or through our website.
Rosehill: the perfect place to buy contract furniture
If you’re new to the world of contract furniture and this guide is your first exposure to it, we understand you may want further support before making a purchase.
That’s why Rosehill offers a consultative service, answering your questions and helping you select the right furniture for your needs at the right price.
It’s an approach we’ve had for over 40 years and is why public buildings of all kinds across the UK regularly return to us for their contract furniture.
Speak to our team on 0161 485 1717 or email: sales@rosehill.co.uk.
Shop contract furniture at Rosehill now
For more commercial and contract furniture buying guides, advice and information, read the Rosehill blog…
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