Home Office Chairs for Europe

Home office chairs entering the European market must comply with the EN 1335 standard, which ensures product safety and comfort through physical performance and ergonomic evaluation systems. It is an officially recognized 'presumed conformity' regulation by the European Union.

EN 1335-1: Dimensions and Static Strength Benchmarks

This section defines the basic parameters of office chairs, including core dimensions such as seat height, backrest height, and seat depth, and specifies that the height of lumbar support must be adjustable. Recent revisions have added specific numerical requirements, such as the adjustment range of lumbar support needing to cover the typical needs of the European adult population, ensuring reasonable support for users of different body types. These parameters are designed based on ergonomic principles to reduce prolonged sitting fatigue and prevent musculoskeletal injuries.

EN 1335-2: Safety Requirements and Testing Methods

This section is the core safety specification of the standard, covering more than ten testing items:

• Stability Testing: Simulates the chair's resistance to tipping when tilted or subjected to force, ensuring that users do not tip over due to accidental movements during normal use.
• Chair Wheel Resistance Testing: Evaluates the sliding resistance of wheels on different floor materials to avoid safety hazards caused by insufficient or excessive friction.
• Durability Cycle Testing: Verifies structural strength by simulating repeated loading over a ten-year usage cycle (such as fatigue testing of the seat and backrest). Test values are calculated based on percentile data of body weight distribution among the European adult population, for example, the seat must withstand a load of 110 kg for more than 100,000 cycles. The EN 1335-2:2018 updated in 2018 replaced the previous version and adopted EN 1728:2012 as the testing method for strength and durability, further unifying the testing process.

EN 1335-3: Ergonomic Evaluation

This section focuses on dynamic comfort, combining subjective experience with objective measurements:

• Seat Tilt Angle: Must be within a reasonable range (usually 0°-6°) to avoid poor posture caused by excessive forward or backward tilting.
• Armrest Height: Must allow the forearms to relax naturally, reducing shoulder and neck strain.
• Deformation Measurement Testing: Records the deformation data of the chair under specific loads using instruments to determine whether it meets the elastic range generally expected by the population.

Enterprises must complete testing in accordance with the above three sections to be considered as meeting the core safety objectives of relevant EU directives, thereby legally entering the European market.