Furniture and furnishings

The safety requirements are covered by a number of pieces of legislation. The main two are the Furnishing (Fire Safety) (Amendment) Regulations 1988 [1] and the General Product Safety Regulations 2005. [2]

Supplying furniture and furnishings that are prohibited by the regulations may constitute an offence under the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 and may lead to civil liability.

Under the Occupiers Liability (Scotland) Act 1960, there is a duty on the landlord of any premises to show towards anybody who, or whose property may be on the premises, such care as is in all the circumstances reasonable to ensure that the person will not suffer injury or damage by reason of any danger on the premises.

Furniture and furnishings provided by the landlord in any private rented tenancies must comply with the repairing standard.  Included in the standard: [3]

• any fixtures, fittings and appliances provided by the landlord under the tenancy must be in a reasonable state of repair and in proper working order,

• any furnishings provided by the landlord under the tenancy must be capable of being used safely for the purpose for which they are designed

Where any furniture or furnishings are defective or unsafe in a private tenancy follow the steps set out in the section on the Repairing standard.

See also the section on Electrical safety