TB 117-2013 and the label on your outdoor cushions

TB 117-2013 is the California flammability standard for upholstered furniture, and in practice sellers across the United States follow it. It applies to outdoor pieces too, so a Talenti sofa from Amelia, Umbria, needs the same label on its cushions as an indoor sofa from a local store. Buyers ask us about it often.

The standard in one paragraph

The standard covers upholstered furniture: sofas, armchairs, poufs and headboards. Each piece carries a permanent label, at least 2 by 3 inches, fixed so it does not tear off with ordinary use. On that label a separate box says whether the maker added flame retardant chemicals. You read the answer there and nowhere else.

That box matters to a lot of buyers. Some want furniture without added flame retardants for a family room or a covered porch where children nap. The label gives you the fact in writing, and the certificate behind it names the test.

The Talenti pieces that need it

Any piece with padding and fabric falls under the standard. In the Talenti catalog that means the sofas, the living armchairs, the poufs, the modular sofa pieces and the daybeds. Tables, planters, lamps and parasols carry no upholstery and no label.

Talenti Cottage by Ramon Esteve takes its cue from the porches of American ranches: wide seats, high backs, aluminum frames with synthetic belts and rope. The collection has 13 pieces, three of them sofas, and the largest, the Sofa Luxury 3 Seater, measures 310 by 100 cm with a seat height of 40 cm. The sofas, the three living armchairs and the pouf need the label. See the Cottage collection.

Talenti Nalu comes from Ludovica and Roberto Palomba. The idea is one cushion that folds into seat and back in a single wave, on an aluminum frame. The three seat sofa runs 278 cm, the two seat 190 cm, and the pouf and living armchair match them. See the Nalu collection.

The paperwork behind the label

A sewn label is the last step of a longer chain. A laboratory that the Consumer Product Safety Commission recognizes tests the upholstery against the named standard. The importer then issues a certificate, a GCC or a CPC depending on the product, that cites the standard and the test report. The label on the cushion matches that certificate.

We handle this for the Talenti pieces we bring in. Before the order ships, we ask the factory in Amelia for the cushion construction and for any flame retardant in the fill or the fabric, and we pass that to the broker and the lab. You get the answer with the quote, in writing.

Proposition 65 sits next to it

California's Proposition 65 is a separate rule. If a product contains a listed chemical above the safe threshold, such as formaldehyde or certain flame retardants, the seller has to post a warning on the product or at the point of sale. Most sellers apply the warning across the country, since one label is easier to manage than fifty.

For upholstered outdoor seating the two go together. The TB 117-2013 label tells you whether flame retardants went in. The Prop 65 warning, if the piece needs one, tells you a listed chemical is present above the threshold.

Reading the label on a delivered piece

Once your Talenti sofa arrives, check three things. The label names TB 117-2013. The flame retardant box has an answer. The label sits on each upholstered piece, so a modular sofa of five pieces carries five labels. If a label is missing, tell us before the installer leaves and we sort it out with the factory. Leave the labels in place after that: they are your written record of what went into the cushions, and a buyer or an inspector may ask to see them later.

Send us the list of upholstered pieces you are considering through the form below. We reply with the Talenti options, the label details for each one, and a price that includes freight and the customs and certification work.