Hi,

I have bought a mattress which is extremely poor quality and I'm in the process of returning.

However, I also noticed there appears to be no fire safety tag on it anywhere. I was wondering what the regulations are regarding this- ie are they selling illegal mattresses?

Initial research seems to suggest tags aren't needed but then how can an end consumer know if they're buying a fire retardant mattress?

Thanks!

They don't, however one way for the manufacturer, to achieve their legal obligations under the GPSR is to meet the standards of BS 7177 which means a label should be attached.

The fire safety of all mattresses (of any size), divans and bed bases is controlled by both the Regulations and the GPSR. Only the filling material (foam or non-foam) contained in a mattress, upholstered divan or bed base must meet the Regulations. However, the fire safety of the complete product is controlled via the GPSR. The normal route to achieve legal obligations is to have products evaluated against the British Standard best suited to product safety. In this context, a finished mattress and mattress topper, divan or bed base should comply with the low hazard category of BS 7177.

If the mattresses  conforms to BS 7177 the following label should be attached. 

Fire safety of furniture and furnishings in the home - A Guide to the UK Regulations

Further to my previous posting I think prosecution is not the way forward it is to educate the buyer not to purchase any item that is not labelled and soon the retailers would be insisting the manufacturers label their products.  It is therefore important that you ask the mattress supplier for proof that the mattress is tested to UK fire safety standards before you buy a mattress, especially if you know it has been imported.

Thanks for the reply.

Just wanted to check if I've understood clearly. Is BS7177 compulsory?- therefore there should be the blue label on a mattress?

Also noticed multiple spelling errors on the bed base permanent label. As it is multiple upholstered pieces, from research I expect this label to be on each piece, but it appears  only on a single piece of wood that comes with the bed.

Check out the flammability regulations of http://www.bedfed.org.uk/resources/flammability/. 

According to  Textile Fiber Products Identification Act,  “Any upholstered product, mattress or cushion which contains stuffing which has been previously used as stuffing in any other upholstered product, mattress or cushion shall have securely attached thereto a substantial tag or label, at least 2 inches by 3 inches in size, and statements thereon conspicuously stamped or printed in the English language and in plain type not less than 1/8 inch high, indicating that the stuffing therein is composed in whole or in part of reused stuffing, secondhand stuffing, previously used stuffing or used stuffing.”

On 24/02/2017 at 9:23 AM, jennajamieson said:

According to  Textile Fiber Products Identification Act,  “Any upholstered product, mattress or cushion which contains stuffing which has been previously used as stuffing in any other upholstered product, mattress or cushion shall have securely attached thereto a substantial tag or label, at least 2 inches by 3 inches in size, and statements thereon conspicuously stamped or printed in the English language and in plain type not less than 1/8 inch high, indicating that the stuffing therein is composed in whole or in part of reused stuffing, secondhand stuffing, previously used stuffing or used stuffing.”

For clarity this is a Federal law in the USA and not applicable to the UK