HB 1545

AN ACT relative to the sale of furniture and bedding.

SPONSORS: Rep. Mosher, Hills 30

This bill establishes fire retardancy and licensing requirements for furniture and bedding sold or offered for sale in this state.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Chapter; Sale of Furniture and Bedding. Amend RSA by inserting after chapter 153-A the following new chapter:

II. "Fire retardant" means a product that meets the requirements of RSA 153-B:2.

III. "License" means a furniture and bedding license issued pursuant to RSA 153-B:3.

(e) Public assembly areas containing 10 or more articles of seating furniture and located in hotels, motels, and lodging houses; and

V. "Seating furniture" means any furniture that may be used as a support for the body, limbs, or feet when sitting or resting in an upright or reclining position.

I. All seating furniture sold or offered for sale by an importer, manufacturer, or wholesaler for use in this state, including any seating furniture sold to or offered for sale for use in any residence or public occupancy in this state, and reupholstered furniture to which filling materials are added, shall be fire retardant.

II. All flexible polyurethane foam in the form of slabs, blocks, or sheets, or which is shredded, either loose or packaged, except polyurethane foam sold for use as carpet underlayment and polyurethane foam which cannot reasonably be expected to be used in or as an article of furniture or a mattress, that is offered for sale to the general public at retail outlets in this state for noncommercial or non-manufacturing purposes, shall be fire retardant.

III.(a) Filling materials labeled as "flame resistant," "flame retardant," and words of similar import, all filling materials contained in any article of upholstered furniture, and all filling materials added to reupholstered furniture, shall meet the test requirements as set forth in the State of California, Bureau of Home Furnishings Technical Bulletin Number 117 entitled "Requirements, Test Procedures and Apparatus for Testing the Flame Retardance of Filling Materials Used in Upholstered Furniture," dated January 1980.

(b) In addition to the requirements of subparagraph (a), finished articles of upholstered furniture may also be tested in accordance with the State of California, Bureau of Home Furnishings Technical Bulletin Number 116 entitled "Test Procedures and Apparatus for Testing the Flame Retardance of Upholstered Furniture," dated January 1980.

(c) Fabrics labeled as "flame resistant," "flame retardant," and words of similar import shall meet the requirements of, the State of California, Bureau of Home Furnishings Technical Bulletin No. 105, entitled "Requirements, Test Procedures and Apparatus for Testing the Flame Retardance of Fabrics," dated January 1980.

(d) All upholstered seating furniture sold for use in public occupancies shall meet the test requirements set forth in the State of California, Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation Technical Bulletin Number 133, entitled "Flammability Test Procedure For Seating Furniture For Use in Public Occupancies," dated January 1991.

(e) Mattresses, including hybrid flotation sleep systems containing a quilted fabric cover over a traditional water filled bladder, shall meet the requirements set forth in the United States Government Standard for Flammability of Mattresses, 16 C.F.R. part 1632.

I. No manufacturer, upholsterer, reupholsterer, or sanitizer may sell or offer for sale in this state any bedding or upholstered furniture without a furniture and bedding license. A separate license shall be required for each location of manufacture, upholstery, reupholstery, sanitation, or sale. Each license shall bear a unique license identification number and shall identify the licensee and the location licensed.

II. Licenses shall be for the exclusive use of the licensee and may not be utilized by or transferred to any other person or location. A licensee may change its name or address if the licensee notifies the fire marshal within 30 days of the change, and the change does not involve a change of ownership.

IV. Applications for licenses shall be made on forms approved by the fire marshal and shall be accompanied by $1,000 license fee.

153-B:4 Identification Required. Every licensee shall clearly mark its license number on the label or tag attached to each piece of furniture or bedding manufactured, upholstered, reupholstered, sanitized, sold, or offered for sale by the licensee in this state.

I.(a) Mattresses sold or offered for sale in this state which contain polyurethane foam not complying with the flammability requirements of the State of California, Bureau of Home Furnishings Technical Bulletin Number 117 entitled "Requirements, Test Procedures and Apparatus for Testing the Flame Retardance of Filling Materials Used in Upholstered Furniture," dated January 1980, shall have a label attached stating the following:

THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS NON-FLAME RETARDANT POLYURETHANE FOAM. AVOID CONTACT WITH SPARKS, SMOKING MATERIALS, OR OPEN FLAME.

(b) The label shall be attached to the surface area of the article and shall be in plain view. The minimum size of the label shall be 3 inches by 5 inches and the minimum size of the type shall be ¼ inch in height. All type shall be in capital letters and colored red. The label shall have a ¼ inch border colored red.

II.(a) All mattresses sold or offered for sale in this state shall have a label attached stating the following:

THIS MATTRESS IS DESIGNED TO RESIST COMBUSTION THAT MAY RESULT FROM A SMOLDERING CIGARETTE.

(b) The label shall be attached to the surface area of the article and shall be in plain view. The minimum size of the label shall be 2 inches by 3 inches and the minimum size of the type shall be 1/8 inch in height. All type shall be in capital letters and colored black.

153-B:6 Inspections. All premises of manufacturers, upholsterers, reupholsterers, and sanitizers of bedding and upholstered furniture in this state shall be subject to random inspections by the fire marshal or designee to determine compliance with the provisions of this chapter and rules adopted under this chapter.

153-B:7 "Withhold from Sale" Tags. The fire marshal or designee may affix a "withhold from sale" tag to any material or article of upholstered furniture or bedding not conforming to the fire retardancy requirements of this chapter. The tag shall not be concealed or obstructed from view in any manner. The licensee shall not remove the tag except under the express instruction of the fire marshal.

I. The fire marshal, with the approval of the commissioner of the department of safety, shall adopt rules pursuant to RSA 541-A exempting from the fire retardancy requirements of this chapter items of upholstered furniture which are deemed not to pose a serious fire hazard.

II. The fire marshal may exempt from the fire retardancy requirements of this chapter articles which are not clearly upholstered furniture or bedding. Any article which is exempted pursuant to this paragraph shall, when labeled, have the following additional label attached to the surface of the article in plain view:

THIS ARTICLE DOES NOT MEET THE FLAMABILITY REQUIREMENTS OF THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. CARE SHOULD BE EXERCISED NEAR OPEN FLAMES OR WITH ANY SMOKING MATERIALS.

The minimum size of the label shall be 3 inches by 5 inches and the minimum size of the type shall be 1/4 inch in height. The label shall be white and the type shall be colored bright red. The label shall have a border colored bright red.

I. Make available to any person, upon request, copies of all technical bulletins, federal regulations, and national standards referenced in this chapter.

II. Adopt rules, pursuant to RSA 541-A, relative to exemptions under RSA 153-B:8.

153-B:10 Penalties. Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of a violation and shall be fined not more than $100 for a first offense nor more than $200 for a subsequent offense. The fire marshal shall revoke the license of any licensee found guilty of 3 violations within any 2-year period.

2 Applicability. Inventoried furniture that is in stock on the effective date of this act shall not be required to comply with the provisions of this act, except that such furniture that is not compliant with the fire retardency requirements shall be labeled in the same manner as exempt items under RSA 153-B:8, II.

The Department of Safety has determined this bill will increase state general fund revenue by $150,000 in FY 2001 and each year thereafter. State general fund expenditures will increase by $95,000 in FY 2001 and by $70,000 each year thereafter. There will be no fiscal impact on county and local revenue or expenditures.

The Department of Safety estimates that revenues would be received from approximately 150 annual licensees at $1,000 per license. Related expense estimates are based on a similar sized program administered by the Division of Fire Services, the Modular Building Program. Ongoing annual expenditures including one Program Specialist position, current expenses, in-state travel, and third party inspection costs would be approximately $70,000, and first year costs would include an additional $25,000 for a computer, vehicle, office furniture, and other miscellaneous startup expenses.