The Furniture QCO in brief
The Furniture (Quality Control) Order, 2025, issued by DPIIT on 13 February 2025, makes BIS certification compulsory for six furniture categories. It came into force for large and medium enterprises on 13 February 2026 and for micro and small enterprises on 13 August 2026. Covered furniture must conform to the relevant Indian Standard and carry the ISI Mark under a BIS licence.
The standards are performance-based and material-neutral: wood, metal, plastic or any combination is tested to the same loads and cycles. Ready-to-assemble furniture is covered too, and is tested after assembly.
IS 17631:2022 — Work chairs
Covers office and work chairs for adult users, typically swivel chairs on castors or glides. Tests assess strength, stability and durability — typically static loads on the seat and backrest, repeated-load fatigue cycles, and stability against tipping — with the same loads and cycles applied whatever the construction or material.
Excluded: work chairs used in industrial settings that are not identical to office use.
IS 17632:2022 — General purpose chairs and stools
Covers dining chairs, visitor chairs, cafeteria chairs, stools and pouffes for adults, for domestic and non-domestic use. Tests assess strength, stability and durability.
Excluded: reclining and tilting chairs, rocking chairs, settees and other multi-seat units, and swivel work chairs with castors or studs (which fall under IS 17631). The standard does not assess the ageing of materials or the durability of upholstery, fabric or foam.
IS 17633:2022 — Tables and desks
Covers tables and desks for seated, sit-stand and standing use by adults, for office and domestic use — including tables with glass tops. Tests assess strength, stability and durability under loads that simulate normal use and reasonably foreseeable misuse.
Not covered: test methods for storage elements built into a desk, and ageing or degradation of materials. Passing the tests also doesn't guarantee against failure after habitual misuse or an unusually long service life.
IS 17634:2022 — Storage units
Covers wardrobes, cupboards, bookcases, cabinets, drawer units and wall-hung storage for domestic and institutional use. Tests cover the strength, stability and durability of the unit and its moving parts — doors, drawers, shelves and extension elements — including sustained load tests on shelves.
For wall-hung units, only the cabinet and its fixings are tested, not the wall or the wall anchors. Where you sell a range of models, BIS testing typically focuses on the worst-case configuration.
IS 17635:2022 — Beds
Covers beds for adults for domestic and non-domestic use. Tests assess the strength and durability of the frame and base, including loads on the sleeping surface and the side rails.
Excluded: waterbeds, airbeds, foldaway beds, bunk beds, beds for people with special needs and medical or healthcare beds. Electrical adjustment functions, sofa-bed conversion, fire resistance and ageing are not assessed.
IS 17636:2022 — Bunk beds
Covers bunk beds and high beds — including single beds with a base height of 800 mm or more — for domestic and non-domestic use. Beyond strength and durability, the standard focuses on safety: guard rail height, gaps and openings, ladder design and fall prevention. The bed is tested freestanding and fully assembled.
Practical tips before testing
Classify every SKU first. A swivel chair with castors is IS 17631, not IS 17632; a bed over 800 mm high is IS 17636, not IS 17635. Getting this wrong wastes a test cycle.
Group models intelligently. BIS allows families of similar models to be covered by testing representative or worst-case samples, which can greatly reduce testing cost for large catalogues.
Check your hardware. Castors, gas lifts, drawer runners and hinges are frequent failure points in durability tests. Qualifying your hardware suppliers before submitting samples saves retests.
How TechbyDR Services helps
We map your furniture catalogue to the six standards, design a testing plan that covers your range with the fewest samples, prepare you for the BIS factory inspection, and manage the ISI or FMCS application through to licence grant.
FAQs
Which BIS standard applies to office chairs?
IS 17631:2022 (work chairs). General chairs and stools without swivel and castors fall under IS 17632:2022.
Is sofa furniture covered by the Furniture QCO?
Settees and multi-seat units are excluded from IS 17632, and sofa-bed conversion is not covered by IS 17635. Confirm your specific product with us, as scope depends on design.
Are children's beds covered?
IS 17635 covers beds for adults. Bunk beds and high beds (base height of 800 mm or more) are covered by IS 17636 regardless of who uses them.
Does the material of the furniture matter?
No. The standards are material-neutral: wooden, metal and plastic furniture are tested to the same performance requirements.
This article is general information about BIS/NABL compliance, not legal or regulatory advice. Requirements change — confirm current applicability for your specific product before acting.
Need help with this?
BIS ISI Certification
End-to-end support for ISI Mark Certification under BIS.