16 CFR Part 1640 is the US federal flammability standard for residential upholstered furniture. It makes California's TB 117-2013 smoulder test a national rule, has applied to furniture made or imported since 25 June 2021, and has required a permanent compliance label since 25 June 2022. If you import sofas, armchairs or corner sofas into the United States, every piece has to meet it, wherever it was made.
This guide is written by ellda mobilya, a furniture manufacturer in Kayseri, Türkiye, producing sofa sets, corner sofas, bed base sets and mattresses since 2010. We are not a test laboratory or a law firm. We wrote it because the 16 CFR 1640 question is the one US buyers most often leave until after production, when it is hardest to fix. For duties and entry documents, read our guide to importing furniture from Turkey to the USA; this page covers flammability only.
Last verified: 23 October 2026, against the CPSC upholstered furniture FAQ and the current eCFR text of Part 1640. We found no amendment to Part 1640 since it took effect. Check both pages again before you place an order.
What is 16 CFR 1640?
16 CFR 1640 is the rule the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) adopted after Congress passed the COVID-19 Regulatory Relief and Work From Home Safety Act in December 2020. That act told the CPSC to turn California's Technical Bulletin 117-2013 into a federal standard. The CPSC published the rule in the Federal Register on 9 April 2021.
Two dates matter. The test requirement applies to upholstered furniture manufactured, imported or reupholstered on or after 25 June 2021. The label requirement applies to items manufactured, imported or reupholstered on or after 25 June 2022. You will still find articles that call it a 2025 rule; it is not.
Because it is federal, the rule also preempts state flammability rules for upholstered furniture. A US importer now plans for one flammability standard instead of a state-by-state patchwork.
Which furniture does 16 CFR 1640 cover?
The rule covers indoor seating furniture, movable or stationary, that has an upholstered seat, back or arm and contains, or can be filled with, stuffing material. For an importer from Türkiye, that means:
| Product | In scope of Part 1640? | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Sofas, loveseats, armchairs | Yes | The core of the rule |
| Corner sofas and modular sections | Yes | Each upholstered seating piece |
| Separately sold seat cushions | Generally yes | Small decorative throw pillows are out |
| Upholstered ottomans and footstools used for seating | Generally yes | Confirm with your broker or lab if unsure |
| Mattresses and foundations | No | Covered by 16 CFR 1632 and 1633 instead |
| Upholstered bed bases (baza) and headboards | Check | The CPSC excludes "foundations and bedding products"; ask your lab how your piece is classed |
| Sofa beds | Split | A detachable mattress falls under 1632/1633, the frame under 1640 |
| Outdoor-only cushions | No | Listed exemption |
The bed base row is the one Turkish suppliers and US buyers most often get wrong. Our bed base sets combine a storage base with an upholstered headboard. Whether that headboard is treated as seating, bedding or neither is a question for your testing laboratory, and it should be answered before you order, not at the port.
What does the TB 117-2013 smoulder test check?
TB 117-2013 is a smoulder test: it places a lit cigarette on a mock-up of the furniture's materials and checks how the materials respond. It does not use an open flame. The standard has four test methods, one for each type of component:
- Cover fabric, the outer upholstery.
- Barrier material, an optional layer between the cover and the filling.
- Resilient filling, such as foam or fibre.
- Decking material, the layer under the seat cushions, where present.
Each component is judged on char length, continued smouldering and whether it turns into open flaming. A piece complies in one of two ways: either a barrier that passes the test fully encloses the filling, or a cover fabric that passes is used over a filling that passes. If the piece has decking, the decking must pass too.
Two points surprise buyers. First, the rule sets no requirement on chemistry: flame-retardant chemicals are neither required nor banned by Part 1640. Second, the test is on materials, so the same sofa frame can comply in one fabric and fail in another.
What does the 16 CFR 1640 label say?
Under §1640.4(b), each manufacturer must attach a permanent label with this statement: "Complies with U.S. CPSC requirements for upholstered furniture flammability."
According to the CPSC FAQ:
- The label must be permanent and stay on the product through distribution and sale. A hangtag or a label held by a zip tie does not count.
- The statement goes on the front of the label. Other languages can go on the back.
- CPSC staff recommend lettering of at least ⅛ inch, black text on white with a black border.
- The statement can be on its own label or added to the bottom of a California TB 117-2013 label.
- The label is in addition to California's flame-retardant disclosure statement (SB 1019), which is a separate requirement for furniture sold in California.
The label itself is the certification. Part 1640 does not require a General Certificate of Conformity. Upholstered furniture made for children is different: it needs a Children's Product Certificate, third-party testing and tracking labels under the general children's product rules.
Who is responsible: the importer or the factory?
Under US law, the importer of record is treated as a manufacturer, so the importer carries the legal responsibility for Part 1640 compliance. The factory is where compliance is actually built: it chooses the fabric, the foam and any barrier, and it sews the label into each piece.
That split is why the requirement must be written into the purchase order. A factory that ships to the Gulf, the UK and the EU does not automatically build to a US test. Buyers who say "US market" in an email and nothing else are leaving the most important specification to chance.
What to write in your purchase order
Use this as a checklist when you send an enquiry or a PO for upholstered furniture to a manufacturer in Türkiye:
| Item for the PO | Why |
|---|---|
| "All upholstered seating must comply with 16 CFR Part 1640 (TB 117-2013)" | States the requirement in the contract |
| List of pieces it applies to, by catalogue name | Ottomans and cushions are easy to forget |
| Chosen cover fabric for each piece | The cover fabric is tested; a fabric change can change the result |
| Construction route: barrier, or passing cover over passing filling | Decides which components need test evidence |
| Test evidence you expect, and from which laboratory | Agree before production, not after |
| Label: wording, size, front placement, permanent attachment | Matches §1640.4(b) and CPSC guidance |
| California SB 1019 statement, if you sell in California | Separate from the federal label |
| Who pays for any testing | Avoids a dispute when the report is due |
Bring a copy of this list into your conversation with your customs broker and your testing laboratory. They know your sales channels and can tell you what evidence your retail customers will ask for.
How ellda mobilya handles a 16 CFR 1640 enquiry
We produce in our own factory in Kayseri Organized Industrial Zone, on a 10,500 m² production area. Fabric and colour are chosen per order, and our sofa sets range from 220 to 295 cm in sofa width, with models such as Ekol and the Zirve corner sofa. Production runs from quote approval through frame preparation, upholstery and sewing, quality control and packing; you can see the steps on our production page.
When an enquiry states 16 CFR 1640 as a requirement, what we can supply against it, for which fabrics and which pieces, is confirmed in the quote. We do not assume our standard export products are labelled for the US market, and you should not assume that of any supplier. If you are still choosing a manufacturer, our list of questions to ask a sofa manufacturer puts flammability next to frame, foam and packing.
Next step
Pick your models from the sofa sets and corner sofas catalogue, add the purchase order lines above, and send them through our export page. We reply in English with a quote that says what applies to each piece.
