I phoned The British Heart Foundation to offer them my old sofa to sell for their charity. I was told they could only accept it if it had a fire label - Yes, it does. How old is it? - Well, not quite sure, I got it second-hand twelve years ago so a bit older than that, say 20 years. What condition is it in - Still good, cushions plump, no tears, fabric a bit worn but still vibrant. In all, better than most I have seen in charity shops. Does it have a batch number on the label - Let me see...no doesn't appear to have one. Then no, we can't accept it or else we would get a fine.
I checked on-line and found this site and then followed directions to FIRA's A Guide To The UK Regulations. In previous jobs I had read through quite a few Rules and Regulations. So I followed this and found that in Section 6.3 bullet point 3, it stated that a batch number should be on the label, and then goes on to emphasize the word "should", stating "products should be assigned Batch/ID numbers for traceability and, if there should be a problem, future product recalls". However, in Section 7.2.2 it goes on to state that retailers only need to keep their records for five years. So I figured that any piece of furniture over five years old, even with batch number, may not be able to be recalled through the then lack of records, and also if it had been passed on or sold to others. I phoned FIRA to check if I was reading this correctly. Later somebody from the FIRA was kind enough to phone back and confirm that I had read this correctly and it was correct for the purpose of charity shops that a batch number was not necessary. I wonder if all charity shops are missing out by denying furniture, and revenue, just because it does not have a batch number. I did try to relay what I had found to the BHF but I was just given the same speech as before, that it was their policy and they would be given a fine if they sold "any" furniture without a batch number - even on older furniture which would be untraceable due to the lack of records. I did ask them to pass this up through their organization, to check out and change their policy, and help raise more funds, though to date I have not had a reply.
I was wondering if you could also confirm the above from FIRA Regs, and through your influence/connections help all charities to collect more goods for sale and increase their fund raising, as well as preventing as much furniture going to landfill, just through the lack of a batch number?
