What is contract furniture, and what should you ask a manufacturer?

What is contract furniture?

It is furniture made for public and commercial spaces, such as hotels, restaurants, cafés, bars and offices, where every piece is used daily for years. It needs hard-wearing materials, solid joints and the ability to repeat the same piece in large quantities.

The name comes from how it is bought: the furniture is supplied for a specific project, under a contract, rather than sold piece by piece in a shop. The trade calls it contract, hospitality or commercial furniture, and the whole chain of designers, makers and installers that fits out these spaces is the contract sector.

What makes a piece contract grade is not its style but three things: it passes strength tests written for non-domestic use, its upholstery meets the fire tests the project sets, and its maker can document it, repeat it and support it. In a hotel that applies from the guest room to the terrace, as our page on hotel furniture shows.

How is contract furniture different from domestic furniture?

In how hard it is used, and in everything that follows from that: testing, quantities, sizes and support after delivery. A chair at home is used by one family for a few hours a day; a restaurant chair is used by hundreds of different people, who sit sideways, drag it and lean back on it.

Outdoor furniture is a special case: the EN 581 series covers outdoor seating and tables for domestic and contract use together, so for a terrace it is worth asking which use the piece was tested for, not just whether it ‘meets EN 581’.

Which standards apply to contract furniture?

In Europe, strength and durability are tested to EN standards: EN 16139 for non-domestic seating, EN 15372 for tables and EN 581 for outdoor furniture. Upholstery is tested separately for fire.

Seating

EN 16139 sets the safety, strength and durability requirements for non-domestic seating. It replaced EN 15373, which has been withdrawn, so a report that cites EN 15373 as current is out of date. The current edition is EN 16139:2025, which replaced the 2013 edition. The 2013 edition had two test levels; always ask which edition the report cites and which level was tested. Reports may also cite EN 1728, the test-method standard for seating.

Tables and outdoor furniture

EN 15372 covers non-domestic tables. Outdoors, the EN 581 series has three parts: EN 581-1:2017, EN 581-2:2015 and EN 581-3:2017, according to a summary by the Italian test lab CATAS.

Fire

EN 1021-1 and EN 1021-2 test upholstery against a cigarette and a match. In the UK, BS 7176 classifies non-domestic upholstered seating by hazard level, from low to very high; medium hazard is the level known as Crib 5. In Spain, the CTE DB-SI requires the EN 1021 tests, in buildings for public assembly, for fixed upholstered seats that form part of the project in cinemas, theatres, auditoria, assembly halls and similar spaces. Our guide to fire-retardant upholstery goes further.

That last point matters in bespoke work. If you change the dimensions or materials of a tested chair, ask whether the report still covers the modified piece or whether it needs testing again.

What should you ask a contract furniture manufacturer?

For proof of what they claim, in writing and before production: test reports, drawings, samples, lead times and after-sales terms. This list lets you compare manufacturers on the same basis:

1. Test reports for each model, giving the standard, its edition, the lab and the level tested.
2. A technical drawing of each piece, with dimensions, materials and finishes, to approve before production.
3. A sample of the piece or the finish, and a prototype if the piece is new.
4. A technical data sheet for each fabric, with its fire test results.
5. Where the timber comes from and its paperwork. See our guide to EUDR, SVLK and FSC.
6. Production and delivery lead times in writing, counted from approval of the drawing and sample.
7. The warranty: what it covers, for how long, and whether it covers contract use.
8. Spares, reupholstery and the option to order the same piece years later.
9. Packing and delivery to site: who unloads, who assembles and how the pieces are protected.

The drawing and the sample are the two documents that prevent most problems. At Kadek Living, for example, the technical drawing with dimensions and finishes and a sample of the piece or finish are approved before production starts, including for new pieces made from the client's own drawing.

How long does a contract furniture order take?

There is no standard figure: it depends on the pieces, the quantities and whether they come from a collection or are new. What helps is knowing what the lead time is made of, and planning it backwards from the opening date.

• Approval of the technical drawing, which depends on the client as much as the maker.
• Making and approving the sample or prototype.
• Production of every piece.
• Shipping, which from another continent can be a large share of the total.
• Delivery and installation on site, coordinated with the other trades.

Pieces in stock can ship quickly; bespoke pieces are made once the quote is approved. At Kadek the lead time depends on the pieces and quantities and is confirmed with each quote. Always get the lead time in writing, and ask what happens if approval is delayed on your side.

What should you agree on spares and repeat orders?

That you can repair, reupholster or repeat a piece years later without starting from scratch. Agree it before you order, not when something breaks.

Keep the approved technical drawing and the finish and fabric codes for every piece: they are what lets the maker repeat it exactly. Ask whether the upholstery can be changed without taking the frame apart, and whether loose spares such as glides, fittings or cushions are available. Consider ordering a few extra units of the pieces most likely to be damaged.

Think about how the material ages, too. Teak left outdoors turns silver-grey within months, so a new chair next to others with years on the terrace will look different until it catches up. If the whole terrace should match, replace by complete table settings. If you are fitting out guest rooms, how to furnish a hotel room shows how to plan those spares, and what FF&E means in a hotel how their replacement is budgeted.