Ask what standard the curtains in a commercial building should meet and the answer is almost always BS 5867 Part 2 — the British Standard covering the flammability of fabrics for curtains, drapes and window blinds. It is short, specific and widely referenced in specifications, yet we still regularly walk into buildings where nobody can say whether the curtains on the windows meet it.
Types A, B and C
BS 5867-2 defines three performance types, tested by applying a small flame to the fabric:
- Type A is the baseline and is rarely specified for contract work.
- Type B is the workhorse requirement for public and commercial buildings — offices, schools, hotels and places of assembly. Most contract curtain fabrics are produced to Type B, either inherently flame-retardant or treated.
- Type C is the more demanding grade, tested after additional cleansing procedures, and is the usual requirement in higher-risk environments such as hospitals and care settings.
Which type applies is set by the building's fire risk assessment and any sector guidance that covers it — when in doubt, the fire risk assessor's word governs.
The laundering trap
The point most often missed: flame retardancy is a property of the fabric as maintained, not just as delivered. Fabrics that achieve their rating through a chemical treatment can lose it through repeated commercial laundering, which is precisely why Type C testing involves cleansing first. If your curtains are laundered on a cycle, you need to know whether the fabric is inherently flame-retardant (the performance is woven into the fibre and survives washing) or durably treated (check the treatment's laundering tolerance) — and your laundry contractor needs to know it too.
Paperwork you should hold
For every curtain in a commercial building you should be able to produce the fabric's test certificate showing the BS 5867-2 type achieved. If you have inherited curtains with no paperwork, a fabric can be identified and tested, but it is often more economical to replace with certificated cloth than to test unknown fabric.
Every curtain we make in our Swindon workshop — from boardroom drapes to school hall blackouts — is cut from flame-retardant contract cloth appropriate to the building, with the fabric documentation available on request. See our curtains and tracks page, or our compliance page for the standards we work to across the range. Unsure what you currently have on your windows? We will come and look.