Fornasarig tests to ANSI/BIFMA X5.1, not just the European standard

Fornasarig chairs and tables for hotels conference rooms and lounges

Most Italian chair makers stop at the European benchmark. Fornasarig puts its contract seating through ANSI/BIFMA X5.1 as well — the American general-purpose office chair standard — alongside EN 1728, with static and fatigue testing carried out at the independent CATAS institute and a ten-year warranty behind the result. The company has been building chairs since 1878 in Manzano, in Friuli, and is run by the fourth generation of the same family. Beech and oak come from sustainably managed European forests.

For American specifiers that combination removes a familiar obstacle: La Mercanti ships and installs furniture already tested against the standard your facilities team will quote back at you.

FAQ

Why does ANSI/BIFMA testing matter for an imported chair?

Because American facilities teams, insurers and corporate standards routinely reference BIFMA rather than European norms, and a chair tested only to EN 1728 can stall in procurement review even when it is objectively robust. Fornasarig tests to both, at the independent CATAS institute, using static and fatigue protocols that compress years of loading into a laboratory sequence. Which reports exist for a specific model is confirmed on the manufacturer's documentation, project by project.

Importing contract seating without a compliance surprise

One step that keeps a specification from being rejected late in the process.

Confirm the standard your reviewer will actually cite

Before signing off an imported chair, ask which standard your facilities team, insurer or corporate real estate group uses in writing — in the United States that is usually ANSI/BIFMA X5.1. Then ask the manufacturer for a report against that exact standard, from a named independent laboratory. European makers often hold only EN 1728, which is a rigorous standard but a different document, and discovering the gap after the container ships is expensive. Manufacturers that test to both let you skip the whole conversation.