Testing and Standards: How Our Bar Stools Are Tested

It checks that a chair or stool has no sharp edges or finger traps, that it does not tip over, and that its seat, back, legs, footrest and armrests survive set loads applied first as a few heavy pushes and then as tens of thousands of repeated ones. Stability is tested to EN 1022 and strength and durability to the methods in EN 1728.

The standard has two test levels. Level 1 is general use: offices, showrooms, cafés, restaurants, canteens and bars. Level 2 is extreme use: places where seating is occasionally or repeatedly overloaded, such as night-clubs, transport terminals, sports changing rooms and police stations. A stool passes a level only if nothing fractures, no rigid joint loosens and it still works and stands stably after every test.

1,600 N is roughly the weight of a 163 kg mass and 2,000 N of a 204 kg mass. They are short test forces that check the frame does not break or bend; they are not a statement of how heavy a person may be.

Level 2 raises the loads and cycles across the strength and durability tests, not only on the seat. The table compares the main strength and durability tests at each level, taken from the RISE reports on Philip (level 1) and Bruno (level 2).

RISE tested a Bruno and a Philip, each with a seat of about 76 cm, and both passed at the level stated. It then issued two assessments. Assessment 1365977D confirms Bruno at level 2. Assessment 1365975C confirms Philip at level 1 and extends that result to Freja and Svea, on the basis of the Philip test and a stability test of our Isabell chair; Freja and Svea were assessed, not tested as separate samples.

Bruno was too tall for the test machine used for armrest durability, so that one test was run on our Sella armchair, which has the same armrest construction (report 1365977C). The table lists every document by number and date.

Liquids and synthetic sweat were left on the surface to EN 12720 and rated from 5, no visible change, down to 1; Möbelfakta requires at least 4. A scratch test to SS 839122 allows a scratch no wider than 0.5 mm and no penetration of the coating.

Every liquid test scored 5, the best rating, and the scratch stayed under 0.5 mm. Our other steel stools are powder-coated in the same black, RAL 9005, but only Bruno's frame was tested. Read more about the finish in our guide to powder-coated steel.

It is not a RISE result. The RISE reports record test forces and cycles; they do not state a maximum user weight. The 200 kg figure is ours, and it applies equally to our oak stools, which have not been tested to EN 16139.

We stand behind it with our 10-year warranty against manufacturing defects in materials and workmanship. Normal use means sitting, leaning on the backrest and using the footrest; standing on the seat or rocking on two legs is outside any rating. Our guide to bar stool weight capacity explains load ratings in more depth.

The FSC certification belongs to the oak timber we buy; we do not claim FSC certification for the finished stool. Seats are built on a beech plywood core with cold-cure foam at 55 kg/m³ and upholstered by hand.

Steel is cut, bent, welded, ground and powder-coated; oak is machined, joined, glued, sanded and lacquered. Every stool is assembled, checked and packed in the factory: we check that it stands level, that joints and welds are clean, that the finish is even and undamaged and that the upholstery is tight. A stool that does not pass is corrected before it is packed, and it is delivered fully assembled. See how our bar stools are made, steel bar stools and oak bar stools.

Our oak stools, Eva, Ebba, Ted and Carl, have not been tested to EN 16139. Freja and Svea were assessed by RISE, not tested as separate samples. Philip meets level 1, not level 2. Only Bruno has been tested for surface wear. RISE's results apply only to the samples it tested, which had a seat of about 76 cm; the 66 cm versions and custom heights have not been tested separately. RISE did not assess the information for use, such as care instructions.

The fabric figures are the suppliers' tests of the fabric, not fire tests of a complete stool. Our bouclé has no fire test on its data sheet, our velvet meets EN 1021-2 only with an optional treatment, and none of our fabrics is supplied to BS 5852 Crib 5 as standard. For contract projects with these requirements, see commercial bar stools.

RISE documents may not be reproduced other than in full without written approval from RISE, so we do not publish extracts, and we ask you not to share parts of them either.

RISE issues test reports and assessments, not certificates. The test reports come from RISE as an accredited testing laboratory under ISO/IEC 17025, accreditation number 1002. The fabric data sheets come from the fabric makers, and we can send those on request too.