A standard was reaffirmed for the first time in the history of BIFMA! ANSI/BIFMA X5.3-2007 for Vertical Files was reaffirmed in 2012 and released as ANSI/BIFMA X5.3-2007 (R2012). The reaffirmation process precludes any significant changes to tests and acceptance levels.

The 2012 version of BIFMA X5.4 for Lounge and Public Seating has been released and includes adjustments to several tests that account for a heavier population. Like the X5.1 standard for General Purpose Office Chairs, BIFMA X5.4-2012 references the most current CEASAR anthropometric 2002 report and establishes the 95th percentile male weight of 253-lbs.

After 8 years, ANSI/BIFMA X5.9 was revised and released as the newest standard for Storage Unit Tests. Once again BIFMA has done a good job to ensure tests that are appropriate and repeatable for the furniture industry.

The BIFMA e3 Furniture Sustainability standard was updated and released in October 2012. While there were some minor changes to the requirements for credits, the majority of revisions we made to clarify the standard and remove references to obsolete programs.

After years of development, BIFMA finally released the ANSI/BIFMA X6.1 Educational Seating standard. Although the standard is all new, testing educational furniture is not new to Advanced Furniture Testing. We have experience testing educational seating products and participated in the development of X6.1. Our lab is geared up and ready to start testing immediately!

Since it was founded five years ago, Advanced Furniture Testing has focused on one thing -- providing the best furniture testing and testing equipment that it can. Read more about AFT's focus in The Monday Morning Quarterback article titled "The Future of Furniture Testing".