Senior-Friendly Furniture Product Certification

Core Content of Certification

Elderly-friendly furniture product certification focuses on the age-friendly design and safety assurance of elderly-friendly furniture, examining the following dimensions:

Product Classification and Adaptation: The standard classifies furniture into five levels from 0 to 4 based on the elderly's ability level, ranging from level 0 (full ability) to level 4 (complete disability). Products must indicate the adaptation level and meet the corresponding requirements for key specifications such as main dimensions and surface material physicochemical properties to achieve precise matching. Adaptation requirements are detailed in Appendix A of the standard.

Dimension Requirements: The standard specifies key dimensions for various types of elderly-friendly furniture to ensure comfort, convenience, and safety:

Chairs: Seat height 400 mm to 460 mm, seat depth 400 mm to 510 mm, armrest height 200 mm to 270 mm, backrest inclination 95° to 100°, backrest length not less than 350 mm.

Tables and countertops: If wheelchair access is considered, table net width not less than 680 mm, net height not less than 650 mm, net depth not less than 300 mm; washbasin cabinet clear height under countertop not less than 650 mm, clear depth not less than 300 mm.

Cabinets: Hanging rod height from floor 1000 mm to 1600 mm; sliding door wardrobe single door width not more than 1000 mm; bedside table height 500 mm to 650 mm, depth and width both not less than 400 mm.

Single beds: Bed surface height from floor 400 mm to 500 mm (after mattress placement), bed guardrail height not less than 300 mm, above bed surface not less than 200 mm.

Handles: For furniture with assistive handles, grip bar diameter 30 mm to 40 mm, effective grip length of horizontal support grip bar not less than 230 mm; door handle center height from floor 700 mm to 1300 mm.

Material and Environmental Requirements: Materials must be genuine and consistent, without substitution of inferior materials; products should not use glass components. Wood moisture content must be within specific ranges to ensure wood stability. Detailed regulations exist for foam plastics used in sofas, metal parts, and upholstery padding materials. Surface material color fastness, abrasion resistance, pH value, etc., must meet requirements, with new age-friendly special indicators such as urine stain resistance and waterproof performance added.

Physicochemical Performance Requirements: Surface physicochemical properties include liquid resistance, adhesion, resistance to damp heat, resistance to dry heat, impact resistance, abrasion resistance, etc., which should be no less than level 3. Metal paint coating hardness not less than H, with no rust or peeling after 100-hour salt spray test. Mattress hardness grade Hs should not exceed 5.

Safety Performance Requirements (Basic Items): All reachable edges, sharp points, and external corners of products must be rounded; dangerous shearing, pinching points, and gaps must be avoided; movable parts must have anti-pull-out devices. Operating speed of assistive devices and operating devices must not exceed 30 mm per second, with mandatory limit and braking functions; movable parts of electric sofas must be securely locked. Vertically opening flip doors and panels must have anti-fall devices. The number of casters that are gravity casters and lockable casters directly affects usage safety.

Mechanical Performance Requirements (Basic Items): Strength and durability test requirements are specified for tables, chairs, cabinets, beds, sofas, etc., to ensure no deformation or damage during long-term use. The mechanical performance of hanging rods in cabinet pull-down devices directly affects user experience and cabinet stability. Circuits, components, and various functions of electric products directly impact the service life of sofas.

Smart Safety Requirements: Products with smart voice interaction functions must provide non-voice backup control methods. Products with smart control functions must comply with information security standards to protect user privacy. If the product features remote health monitoring, relevant data must be provided in real-time to authorized family members, guardians, or medical personnel.

Marking and Instruction Manual Requirements: Marking content should include product name, specification/model, standard number, material information, producer information, etc. Instruction manuals should cover installation and debugging, operation methods, troubleshooting, maintenance, etc. Products with operating devices or electrical components must have warning signs in prominent locations. The elderly ability adaptation level must be indicated on the product.

Certification Levels and Evaluation System

According to GB/T 44437-2024, elderly-friendly furniture is classified by adaptation levels based on the elderly's ability level:

Level 0 (Full ability): Adapted to basic elderly-friendly furniture, meeting basic safety and comfort requirements.

Level 1 (Mild impairment/Mild disability): Requires additional assistive function configuration.

Level 2 (Moderate impairment/Moderate disability): Requires enhanced smart assistive functions.

Level 3 (Severe impairment/Severe disability): Requires assistive devices and nursing functions.

Level 4 (Complete loss of ability/Complete disability): Requires full adaptation to nursing needs, with specific provisions for smart voice interaction functions.

Certification results are evaluated using a pass/fail method, but products must indicate the adaptation level (0 to 4) and meet corresponding requirements for key dimensions, materials, etc.

Certification Conditions

Enterprises and products applying for elderly-friendly furniture product certification must meet the following basic conditions:

• Have independent legal personality and hold a valid business license issued by the administrative department for industry and commerce
• The applied product falls within the scope of the business license
• The product meets the basic requirements of relevant laws, regulations, and standards
• No major quality, safety, or environmental accidents in the past three years
• The enterprise should establish and operate a quality management system
• The product must provide a type inspection report valid within one year (issued by a testing body with CMA qualification)

Certification Process

Elderly-friendly furniture product certification typically includes the following stages:

Application and Acceptance: The certification applicant submits an application form and related materials to the certification body, including business license, product process flow chart, factory organizational chart, key raw material filing list, product type inspection report valid within one year, management system-related documents, etc. The certification body evaluates the completeness, suitability, and validity of the application materials and decides whether to accept.

Document Review: The certification body designates a review team to review the documents submitted by the organization, confirming compliance of the system documents with the GB/T 44437-2024 standard.

Product Sampling and Testing: Personnel assigned by the certification body go to the production site or finished product warehouse for sampling, and samples are sent to a laboratory with CMA qualification for testing. Test items cover dimensions, appearance, physicochemical properties, materials, mechanical performance, safety performance, electrical safety, smart voice interaction functions, information security, etc. Inspection reports from laboratories with CMA qualification within the past 12 months that meet requirements may be accepted.

Initial Factory Inspection: The inspection team conducts on-site audits of the manufacturing enterprise, including factory assurance capability inspection, product consistency inspection, and verification of age-friendly requirement compliance. On-site inspection focuses on production facilities, quality control systems, raw material procurement inspection records, and age-friendly process control.

Rectification and Review: For non-conformities found during the audit, the enterprise completes rectification within a specified period and submits evidence, which is reviewed by the audit team.

Certification Decision and Issuance: After technical review is passed, a certification certificate is issued, confirming that the product meets certification requirements. The certification certificate is typically valid for three years; re-certification is required if product structure, materials, or processes change.

Post-Certification Surveillance: After certification, annual surveillance audits are conducted to ensure continued compliance. Surveillance includes factory assurance capability inspection, product consistency inspection, and product surveillance testing.

Re-certification Audit: Before the certificate expires, a re-certification audit is conducted to extend certification eligibility, typically on a three-year cycle.

Value of Certification

Ensuring Home Safety for the Elderly: As the first general national standard in the field of elderly-friendly furniture in China, it significantly reduces risks for the elderly when using furniture through meticulous safety and humanized provisions. The standard covers comprehensive safety requirements including structural safety, assistive device safety, and electrical safety, ensuring products do not cause harm to the elderly during use.

Improving Quality of Life for the Elderly: Elderly-friendly furniture enhances age-appropriateness through design optimization while meeting basic functional requirements of ordinary furniture. The introduction of assistive devices, smart health monitoring, and other functions helps compensate for declining physical functions, maintaining the dignity and quality of life for the elderly.

Meeting Market Access Requirements: In tenders for nursing home procurement, age-friendly renovation projects, and government public construction projects, elderly-friendly furniture product certification is a core admission qualification and an important bonus point. Since the standard was officially implemented on March 1, 2025, an increasing number of procurement projects have listed GB/T 44437-2024 as a technical threshold.

Guiding Consumers in Scientific Selection: Certification marks help consumers and nursing homes clearly identify the age-friendly attributes and quality levels of products, protecting legitimate rights and interests. With the elderly population aged 60 and above reaching 310 million (22% of the total population), demand for elderly-friendly furniture continues to grow.

Promoting High-Quality Industry Development: The release and implementation of the standard guide furniture enterprises to design and produce elderly-friendly furniture that better meets the needs of the elderly, driving the transformation and upgrading of furniture manufacturing toward standardization, specialization, and refinement, and promoting the healthy and orderly development of industries related to the silver economy.