The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Association (BIFMA) announced that it will officially launch BIFMA Compliant, a branded conformance program in October 2020. The voluntary program will create a documented rule set for conformance and provide a registry to allow for ease in identifying products that comply with specific BIFMA standards.

BIFMA has represented the interests of commercial furniture brands by developing safety and performance standards intended to protect the public for more than 45 years. The lauch of LEVEL in 2009 has been providing access to information to help making more choices about the sustainability of commercial furniture products from architecture and design community. Thus, the new BIFMA Complaint  program, will further establish BIFMA as the authoritative voice for the commercial furniture industry.

Tom Reardon, BIFMA Executive Director, strongly believed that such conformance program has been developed to respond to a market need for more clarity. The conformance program, can maximumly and equally erase most of contradicts, and to indentify the products that the whole industry can trust. 

The program will cover nine mechanical standards that focus on safety and durability.

1. ANSI/BIFMA X5.1 Office Seating
2. ANSI/BIFMA X5.11 Large Occupant Office Seating
3. ANSI/BIFMA X6.1 Educational Seating
4. ANSI/BIFMA X5.4 Lounge and Public Seating
5. BIFMA X6.4 Occasional-Use Seating
6. ANSI/BIFMA X5.5 Desk / Table Products
7. ANSI/SOHO S6.5 Small Office/Home Office
8. ANSI/BIFMA X5.6 Panel Systems
9. ANSI/BIFMA X5.9 Storage Units

Access to the database will be free to anyone interested in finding products that meet industry safety and performance standards.