Flammability Updates & News

TB603 and the Terminator Effect

What’s New: TB603

Retailers, listen carefully to your manufacturers when discussing your inventory for the coming year. While the enforcement date for California’s Tech Bulletin 603 has been pushed back to January 2005, the law behind TB603 is already on the books. Don’t wait to be compliant—mattress manufacturing giant Serta has a line of 603-compliant mattresses ready for marketing in the Spring of 2004.

As an indication of how nationally influential 603 may turn out to be, I quote this, taken from an address Hal Stratton, Chairman of the US Consumer Products Safety Commission, gave at the 2004 ISPA Industry Conference in Nashville: “One of (the CPSC’s) missions is to proceed and adopt the California regulation (TB603), or something that is comparable to it....”

This makes sense, as the CPSC, BHFTI, NIST, the US Association of State Fire Marshals, the Sleep Products Safety Council and others, have been cooperating very closely on mattress testing and industry feasibility studies over the past few years.

This is not to say that the CPSC will absolutely adopt 100 percent of TB603, but that TB603 is a likely “close relative” of the CPSC’s final decision.

There Have Been Some Complications

Lest we feel that the compliance situation is very warm and fuzzy, let’s consider that, during the past calendar quarter, the CPSC posed the question to California BHFTI, in consideration of TB603, as to whether the State of California would seek an “exemption from preemption” when the CPSC finalizes a new national standard. A new national standard could preempt TB603 otherwise.

An application for exemption could have created a divided camp amongst agencies that have been working together, sharing research and other data toward new flammability standards.

Rather than create such tensions, BHFTI proposed an alternate avenue of approach. I quote from the October 23, 2003 news release produced by BHFTI:

“The California Department of Consumer Affairs’ Bureau of Home Furnishings and Thermal Insulation (BHFTI) has formally requested that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) adopt the state’s proposed open-flame safety standard for mattresses, box springs and futons as the nationwide standard.”

“The Department requested CPSC adopt California’s proposed open-flame standard for mattresses, box springs and futons in formal comments submitted as part of the CPSC’s ongoing rulemaking process for a similar proposed national standard. The Department and CPSC have long cooperated on such standards development.”

To date, there has been no formal reply to this proposal, though regular communication continues between the two agencies in an amicable, cooperative way.

ISPA “Shoptalk” Seminars to Help You Come Up to Speed

You are invited to “learn about the technical requirements of TB603” and get hints for mattress designs that comply with TB603; question mattress component suppliers about the FR qualities of their products; and hear the latest input from Cal BHFTI and the US CPSC.

The speakers at these seminars will be: US CPSC Director for Combustion & Fire Sciences Division, Margaret Neily (scheduling tentative—subject to change); Industry Consultant Gordon Damant, of Inter-City Testing & Consulting of California; SPSC Combustibility Committee Chairman Dennis Kemp; California Bureau of Home Furnishings Chief Lynn Morris (scheduling tentative—subject to change); Cal Bureau Research and Development Manager John McCormack.

The seminars will be held on the following dates, at the following locations: February 3, 2004, at the Burlingame, CA (near San Francisco) Crowne Plaza International Airport Hotel; February 4, at the Los Angeles, CA Sheraton Gateway LAX Hotel; February 10, at the Northbrook, IL (near Chicago) Hilton Northbrook Hotel; and on February 12, at the Charlotte, NC Hilton Charlotte & Towers Hotel.

Sign up for these seminars immediately — seating is limited. Contact ISPA by phone 703-683-8371, or FAX 703-683-4503; or better yet, fill out the on-line registration form to be found on the ISPA Shoptalk Seminars link, found on the ISPA home page at http://www.sleepproducts.org.

You will be glad you did. These seminars will provide crucial information for your business’s future.

A “Burner” Issue

I quote here from a letter signed by then-California Governor Gray Davis, in November 2003:

“...The Technical Bulletin 603 mattress test requires that a specific dual-burner system be used to apply the flame insult to the tested sample. This burner system was developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) specifically to act as a surrogate for burning bedclothing on a mattress set and is referenced in the current Technical Bulletin 603 (TB603) standard as the ignition source for the test fire...In 2003, prior to finalization of the TB603 standard, the Bureau received a letter from the Sleep Products Safety Council (SPSC), stating that in the interest of public safety the burner technology is public domain... Therefore, the design of this burner is “open-source,” meaning that any company can supply the burner as long as the specific engineering features of the burner outlined in the TB603 standard are built into the product. In addition, anyone may legally copy the NIST burner without any obligation to pay the SPSC or NIST a royalty or other fee for the right to do so....”

Update on Prescription/Hypoallergenic Mattresses

The exact wording for the US CPSC’s requirements for one-off prescription mattresses without fire retardant chemicals can be found in 16 CFR II (1/1/03 edition) Section 1632.31 (f), which is as follows: “One of a kind” exemption for physician prescribed mattresses and mattress pads (1) A mattress or mattress pad manufactured in accordance with a physician’s written prescription or manufactured in accordance with other comparable written medical therapeutic specification, to be used in connection with the treatment or management of a named individual’s physical illness or injury, shall be considered a “one of a kind mattress” and shall be exempt from testing under the Standard pursuant to Sec. 1632.2(b)(4) thereof: Provided, that the mattress bears a permanent, conspicuous and legible label which states: WARNING: This mattress or mattress pad may be subject to ignition and hazardous smoldering from cigarettes. It was manufactured in accordance with a physician’s prescription and has not been tested under the Federal Standard for the Flammability of Mattresses (FF 4-72). Such labeling must be attached to the mattress or mattress pad so as to remain on or affixed thereto for the useful life of the mattress or mattress pad. The label must be at least 40 square inches (250 sq. cm) with no linear dimension less than 5 inches (12.5 cm). The letters in the word “WARNING’” shall be no less than 0.5 inch (1.27 cm) in height and all letters on the label shall be in a color which contrasts with the background of the label. The warning statement which appears on the label must also be conspicuously displayed on the invoice or other sales papers that accompany the mattress in commerce from the manufacturer to the final point of sale to a consumer. (2) The manufacturer of a mattress or mattress pad exempted from testing under this paragraph shall, in lieu of the records required to be kept by paragraph (c) of this section, retain a copy of the written prescription or other comparable written medical therapeutic specification for such mattress or mattress pad during a period of three years, measured from the date of manufacture. (3) For purposes of this regulation the term physician shall mean a physician, chiropractor or osteopath licensed or otherwise permitted to practice by any State of the United States. [[Page 733]]

Final Note: The Terminator

In late November, 2003, newly-installed California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced an Executive Order suspending all regulatory development (with a few exceptions for health and safety issues) for 180 days, pending a review of all California regulatory agencies’ methodology—especially their care in considering fiscal impact on industry and commerce with and within the state. He is quoted as saying, “[I]t is time to reassess the system of State Government that is perceived to work against businesses and inhibit growth and economic prosperity.”

It is not likely that the order will seriously affect the TB603 situation, essentially because Cal BHFTI has been so very attentive to a real-world consideration of industry requirements. Additionally, ISPA attorneys are looking into the situation.

Contact BHFTI

For questions on TB603 or any of the flammability issues administered by the California Bureau, contact BHFTI Chief Lynn Morris, at Lynn_Morris@dca.ca.gov; for technical questions, contact BHFTI Research and Development Manager John McCormack, at John_McCormack@dca.ca.gov. The Bureau’s main phone number is (916) 574-2041.

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