Fire-Rated Upholstery for Restaurants and Hotels in the UAE: Crib 5 and What to Ask For

Almost every seating schedule we receive for a restaurant, hotel or lounge now carries the same line: “upholstery to BS 5852, crib 5”. Fit-out consultants, operators and insurers ask for it, and so does the authority that signs off the fit-out. For an owner it can sound like jargon; for a furniture maker it changes the foam, the fabric and the paperwork. Here is what it means, in plain words.

The short answer

Seating for restaurants, hotels and other public spaces is normally built to BS 7176 medium hazard, which means passing BS 5852 with a cigarette, a match and the crib 5 wooden crib. In practice that means combustion-modified (CMHR) foam, a fire-barrier interliner where the fabric needs it, a flame-retardant fabric or treatment, and a test report or certificate for the combination you are buying.

BS 5852: the test

BS 5852 is a British Standard that tests how a seat responds to a small fire. A mock-up of the seat, with the real fabric, interliner and foam, is exposed to an ignition source, and it passes if flaming and smouldering stop within set times without the fire spreading. The ignition sources rise in severity:

• Source 0: a smouldering cigarette.
• Source 1: a small gas flame, equivalent to a match.
• Source 5 (crib 5): a small stack of wooden sticks weighing about 17 g, with a measured amount of solvent, simulating something like a burning wastepaper basket.
• Source 7 (crib 7): a larger crib of about 126 g, for high-risk settings.

The cigarette and match tests also appear in the European standards EN 1021-1 and EN 1021-2, so you will often see those numbers on fabric specification sheets.

BS 7176: which test, for which room

BS 7176 tells you which of those tests contract seating must pass, according to how risky its setting is:

• Low hazard: cigarette and match. Typically offices, schools and similar settings.
• Medium hazard: cigarette, match and crib 5. Typically hotels, restaurants, bars and public buildings.
• High hazard: adds crib 7. Typically prisons and some hospital settings.
• Very high hazard: the most extreme settings, assessed case by case.

The designer or fire consultant sets the category for each project. If the specification simply says “crib 5”, it means medium hazard.

How a crib 5 chair is built differently

The foam. Standard polyurethane foam burns fiercely. Combustion-modified high-resilience (CMHR) foam is formulated to resist ignition and to char rather than melt and drip. It is the foundation of every crib 5 seat.

The interliner. A thin fire-barrier fabric between the cover and the foam. Many decorative fabrics need one to pass crib 5, especially natural fibres and velvets.

The fabric. There are two routes. Inherently flame-retardant fabrics, made from modified polyester fibres, pass without treatment, keep their properties through cleaning and feel like any other cloth. Other fabrics are given a flame-retardant treatment, usually a back-coating applied by a specialist, which can slightly stiffen lighter cloths. Leather is tested in combination with the foam and interliner like any other cover, and our guide to choosing upholstery fabric explains the other lines on a specification sheet.

The composite. BS 5852 tests the combination. A crib 5 fabric on ordinary foam is not a crib 5 chair. Changing the fabric late in a project can mean a new treatment or a new test.

The rest of the room

• Curtains and drapes have their own standards, typically BS 5867 or NFPA 701, and are treated or woven in flame-retardant yarn.
• Joinery and wall panels made from FR-grade MDF or plywood are classified for reaction to fire under EN 13501-1; a class such as B-s1,d0 is a common requirement for panelling in public areas.
• Upholstered wall panels and headboards usually need the same care as seating: FR foam and an FR fabric.

The paperwork to ask for

In the UAE, the Fire and Life Safety Code requires materials to be listed and approved by Civil Defence, and for hotels it names upholstered furniture, mattresses, curtains and carpets specifically. It accepts several test standards for upholstered furniture, including BS 5852, BS 7176 and EN 1021, but does not itself fix the crib level; the project specification and the fire consultant set that. Ask your furniture maker for:

1. A test report from an accredited laboratory for the fabric, interliner and foam combination, to the standard and ignition source specified.
2. A certificate of treatment for any fabric that has been flame-retardant treated, referencing the fabric name and batch.
3. The foam supplier’s certificate for the CMHR grade used.
4. For boards and panels, the reaction-to-fire classification of the FR board.
5. Labels on each piece where the specification requires them.

Ask for these at the sample stage, not at handover, so there is time to treat or re-test if a fabric changes.

Time and cost

Fire-rated seating costs more than domestic seating, mainly for the foam, the interliner and any fabric treatment, and treatment can add one to two weeks to the programme if the fabric has to travel to a specialist. Choosing an inherently flame-retardant fabric, or one already tested with a known foam and interliner, saves both. Our guide to banquettes and booths covers the other decisions for restaurant seating.

A quick checklist

• Hazard category and test standard stated in the specification
• CMHR foam throughout seats, backs and arms
• Interliner where the fabric needs it
• Inherently FR fabric, or a treated fabric approved as a sample
• Test report for the actual composite, plus treatment and foam certificates
• Curtains, panels and joinery covered by their own standards

The bottom line

Crib 5 is not a fabric label; it is the way a whole seat is built and proved. Specify it early, choose fabrics that are already tested or inherently flame-retardant where you can, and collect the certificates as the samples are approved. The result looks and sits exactly like any other well-made chair, and passes the inspection first time.