BIFMA X5.6

Panel Systems

Micom offers BIFMA X5.6 testing as part of its Office Furniture Testing services. ANSI/BIFMA X5.6 – Panel Systems – Tests – was released in January 2016. This standard provides a level plain field for evaluating the safety, durability and mechanical resistance of panel systems used in office environments. This standard specifies acceptance levels to help ensure reasonable safety and performance of panel systems with an estimated product life of ten years based on a single shift usage.

BIFMA X5.6 Wear and Fatigue Test for Vertical Receding Doors

Desk products should be tested to Bifma X5.5, storage products should be tested to Bifma X5.9 and seating products should be tested to Bifma X5.1 and Bifma X5.4. If your panel system shares components such as doors and drawers and that these products were tested to any of these Bifma standards, you might be able to use these tests and avoid having to redo them again. Should this be the case, please let us know, our experts will take this into consideration while preparing your test plan.

The types of tests to be employed to test to BIFMA X 5.6 are:

Panel Stability
Static load loading
Dynamic loading
Durability testing
Component Dislodgment

Not all SKUs in your product line need to be tested in order to be able to comply to this standard; only worst case scenarios need to be considered. Our experts will be happy to review your product offering and let you know which products ought to be tested and this service is free of charge!

A new revision:

BIFMA standards get revised approximately every 5 years per ANSI requirements. The revision process has recently been completed and BIFMA has published the 2016 version in replacement to the previous 2010. Our experts sit on the committee doing this review. Should you be interested in finding out what the issues are and what is happening with this standard; you can go to our resources section which is often updated.

Just in case your product has been tested under the 2010 edition; below is a test-by test comparison between the new and the previous version of BIFMA X5.6 to give you a better understanding of what are the impacts of the new standard edition:

# Test	ANSI/BIFMA X5.6-2016	Comparison with ANSI/BIFMA X5.6-2010	Rationale
5.1	Force stability test	same	Same as before
5.2	Impact stability test	same	Same as before
5.3	Force Stability Test for Screens	Testing may be required	Feet/legs weight is now included in panel weight
6.2	Panel system strength test – Static Functional Load	same	Editorial changes only
6.3	Panel system strength test – Static Proof Load	same	Same as before
7	Panel glide assembly strength test	same	Same as before
8.1	Primary surface concentrated functional load tests	No test required	Extendible elements load unchanged. Now only 2 largest ext. elements (used to be all) shall be opened during test. Wording added for interlock mechanism.
8.2	Horizontal surface distributed functional load tests	No test required	Extendible elements load ratings unchanged. Now only 2 largest ext. elements (used to be all) shall be opened during test. Wording added for interlock mechanism.
8.3	Primary surface concentrated proof load tests	Testing may be required	Primary surface and extendible elements loads are unchanged. Now 2 largest ext. elements shall be opened during test (used to be all closed).
8.4	Horizontal surface distributed proof load tests	Testing may be required	Primary surface and extendible elements loads are unchanged. Now 2 largest ext. elements shall be opened during test (used to be all closed).
8.5	Transaction surfaces torsional load test	same	Same as before
8.6	Functional load test for panel mounted storage units – static	same	Same as before
8.7	Proof load test for panel mounted storage units – static	same	Same as before
9.1	Test for extendible element locks	No test required	Harmonization with X5.5-2014: wide pull is now defined as 18″ minimum in length as well as > 33% of extendible element width
9.2	Force test for door locks	same	Same as before
10.1	Top load ease cycle test (for primary surfaces)	Testing may be required	Tighter bag tolerances, nominal dimensions unchanged. If your testing was done at Micom you don’t need to re-test. If it was done somewhere else you should verify with your testing lab. A larger bag reduces the stress applied on the work surface. Wording is also added for surfaces less than 18″ in depth; loading device shall be centered on available surface depth
10.2	Cycle test for extendible elements	Testing may be required	Test protocol renamed; Section 10.2 used to address extendible elements deeper than wide while section 10.3 used to address extendible elements wider than deep. The new section 10.2 gathers both tests together. Pull types redefined; testing may apply on: Extendible element deeper than wide where pull width is > 18″ Extendible element deeper than wide with multiple pulls and front width is > 18″
10.3	Cycle test for Low height drawer	No test required	Used to be test 10.4 Editorial change: Harmonization with X5.5-2014: Test renamed for “Cycle test for Low Height Drawers” and wording added for ball bearing creep and reset
10.4	Extendible element retention impact and durability tests	same	Used to be test 10.5 Editorial change only
10.5	Extendible Element Rebound test	same	Used to be test 10.6 Editorial change only
10.6	Locking mechanism cycle test	No test required	Used to be test 10.7 Wording added; unit should be tested unloaded
10.7	Adjustable Keyboard support and input device support cycle tests	same	Used to be test 10.8 Editorial change only
10.8	Work surface vertical adjustment test	Testing may be required	Used to be test 10.9 Harmonization with X5.5-2014: Counterbalanced surfaces are now covered and special note added for electrically motor-driven systems recalibration. For each quartile, loading sequence has changed, testing may apply for non-rectangular shaped work surface
11.2	Strength test for Vertically Hinged Doors, Bi-Fold Doors and Vert. Receding doors	same	Editorial change only
11.3	Hinge Override Test for Vertically Hinged Doors	same	Editorial change only
11.4	Vertical Receding Doors Strength Tests	same	Editorial change only
11.5	Horizontal Receding Door Strength Test	same	Editorial change only
11.6	Wear and fatigue test for hinged, horizontally sliding and tambour doors	Testing may be required	Harmonization with X5.5-2014: Wide pull is now defined as 18″ minimum in length as well as > 33% of door width. Test protocol different for vertical doors with wide pull
11.7	Wear and fatigue test for vertical receding door	same	Editorial changes only. Wording added for ball bearing creep and reset
11.8	Wear and fatigue test for horizontal receding door	No test required	Wide pull is now defined as 18″ minimum in length as well as > 33% of door width. Wording added for ball bearing creep and reset
11.9	Vertical and Horizontal receding door out stop test – Cycling impact and durability	same	Editorial change only
11.10	Slam closed test for vertically hinged and vertically receding doors	Testing may be required	Test renamed to “Slam closed test for vertically hinged and vertically receding doors” When available, door shelves shall now be loaded to conduct the test
11.11	Drop cycle test for horizontally hinged doors	No test required	Test name changed to “Drop cycle test for horizontally hinged and horizontally receding doors” Door used to be dropped 500 times whereas it is now 200 times.
11.12	Slam test for doors which free fall open or closed	same	Same as before
11.13	Slam open and closed test for doors that do not free-fall	Testing required	Weight calculation and door travel changed for harmonization with X5.5-2014
11.14	Door Latch Test	Same	Same as before
12.1	Upward Force Static Disengagement Test for Panel Mounted Components	No test required	In order to conduct testing, the system used to be secured whereas it is not the case anymore
12.2	Upward Force Impact Disengagement Test for Panel Mounted Components	No test required	In order to conduct testing, the system used to be secured whereas it is not the case anymore
13	Pull force test	Testing may be required	Harmonization with X5.5-2014: wording added for extendible break-in period, reset for ball-bearing suspension. Wide Pulls shall now be tested on both sides whereas it used to be pulled in center only
14	Wear and fatigue test for vertically hinged and horizontally sliding access door	New test	New test
15	Slam open and closed test for sliding access doors	New test	New test
16	Slam closed test for vertically hinged access doors	New test	New test
17	Force test for access door lock	New test	New test
18	Glass retention test for access doors	New test	New test
Note 1: The statements made in this table are made on a general basis strictly to help manufacturers and other interested parties to get an overview of how this new standard’s version could potentially impact product compliance requirements and status. Re-testing may or may not be required on specific configurations despite the statements made in the above document which only represent Micom Laboratories Inc.’s opinion. Specific re-testing requirements should be based on a case-by-case analysis and cannot be unilaterally decided strictly based on the statements made above; they should be used strictly as general guidelines. Whether re-testing needs to be performed has to be decided by Manufacturers or their customers.

Other test methods related to BIFMA X5.6:

For additional related test methods please see; BIFMA Testing, Furniture testing , BIFMA HCF8.1, Coating Testing, Polymer Testing.

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