GPSR for Furniture and Home Furnishings

Selling shelving units, bedside tables, chairs or floor lamps imported from Asia on Allegro? Many furniture sellers assume that since a piece of furniture has no plug and isn't a toy, formalities don't apply. That's a mistake that costs a lot in this category, because furniture is big and heavy - a market withdrawal means expensive return logistics. Regulation (EU) 2023/988 (GPSR), applicable since 13 December 2024, covers furniture and home furnishings too. There's no CE marking here as with electronics, but there are concrete obligations: risk assessment, traceability, manufacturer and responsible person details. This article walks you through GPSR for furniture in the same spirit as our general guide What is GPSR? A Guide for Sellers.

Why furniture falls under GPSR

GPSR is the safety net for consumer products that have no dedicated EU legislation with CE marking. Most furniture belongs precisely to that group: there is no "furniture directive", so GPSR is its basic safety regime. In practice, as an importer or seller you must be able to demonstrate that a shelf, chest of drawers or chair is safe - and have the documents to prove it.

If you import furniture from outside the EU, you take on the importer role with all its duties - see Importing from China Under GPSR: Full Duties List.

Real hazards in the furniture category

A furniture risk assessment is not a theoretical exercise. Market surveillance authorities and the EU Safety Gate system regularly record furniture-related accidents. The main hazard groups:

• Tip-over - chests and shelving units that a child climbs are among the most serious hazards. Wall-anchoring hardware and instruction warnings are key.
• Structural strength - a chair that breaks under an adult, a wall hook that tears out, a bunk bed with a failing guard rail.
• Sharp edges and crush points - folding mechanisms of tables and loungers, hinges, drawer runners.
• Chemical substances - formaldehyde in chipboard, volatile organic compounds in lacquers and glues, REACH restrictions.
• Glass elements - fronts and tops that should not shatter into sharp shards.
• Flammability - especially for upholstered furniture.

Children's furniture: higher requirements

Cots, bunk beds, high chairs, changing tables and safety gates demand a visibly more detailed risk assessment. European standards exist for many of them, describing construction requirements and tests. Compliance with the relevant standard is the simplest way to substantiate safety - see Harmonised Standards Under GPSR: What They Mean. If your children's furniture doubles as a toy (e.g. a play tent), also check GPSR for Toys: Additional Requirements.

What the customer must know: labelling and assembly instructions

Element	Where it must appear	Practical notes
Manufacturer details (name, address, contact)	On the product or packaging and in the listing	When importing from outside the EU under your own brand, you are often treated as the manufacturer
EU responsible person details	On the product or packaging and in the listing	Always required for non-EU furniture; usually the importer
Product identifier (model, batch)	On the product or packaging	Lets you withdraw one batch instead of your whole stock
Assembly instructions in Polish	In the box, ideally also in the listing	Drawings plus text; pictures alone are often not enough for warnings
Warnings (e.g. wall anchoring)	In the instructions, on the product and in the listing	Tip-over warnings for chests and shelving are the market standard

How to label goods from China correctly with an importer sticker is covered in Labelling Products From China: GPSR Requirements.

Technical documentation for furniture, step by step

The technical file doesn't have to be thick, but it must be complete and available to authorities on request for 10 years. In practice it consists of:

• a product description with photos (dimensions, materials, construction, maximum load),
• a risk assessment covering the hazards listed above,
• the standards or requirements you applied,
• test reports, if you have them (e.g. strength, formaldehyde),
• manufacturer details and the supply chain,
• label and instruction templates.

GPSR obliges economic operators to ensure a product is safe under normal and reasonably foreseeable conditions of use. For furniture, that includes foreseeable scenarios: a child climbing a shelving unit, an adult sitting on an armrest, a drawer opened at full load.

Common mistakes made by furniture sellers

• assuming that "furniture isn't electronics, so GPSR doesn't apply",
• no wall-anchoring hardware or tip-over warning for chests and shelving,
• assembly instructions only in English or picture-only, with no Polish warnings,
• missing responsible person details in the listing and on the packaging,
• no model or batch number, so one bad delivery affects the whole assortment,
• relying on supplier assurances with no document in hand.

Checklist for a furniture seller

• do a risk assessment per model, focusing on stability and strength,
• for children's furniture, check whether a European standard exists for the product group,
• ensure Polish assembly instructions with warnings,
• include wall-anchoring hardware wherever tip-over risk exists,
• label the product with manufacturer, responsible person and identifier data,
• complete GPSR listing fields and archive the documentation for 10 years.

Frequently asked questions

Does furniture need CE marking?

No. Furniture has no EU legislation with CE marking, so the CE mark is not applied to it. It is instead subject to GPSR as the general product safety regime.

I sell furniture from a Polish manufacturer. Does GPSR apply to me?

Yes, but in the lighter distributor role: you check that the manufacturer labelled the product and that your listing contains the required data. You don't create the technical file from scratch, but you must not sell a product you know is non-compliant.

Do I have to lab-test every piece of furniture?

GPSR doesn't explicitly mandate lab tests for every product. It does require you to demonstrate safety in your documentation. For children's furniture and higher-risk products, a test report from the manufacturer or a laboratory is the strongest evidence.

Who is the responsible person for furniture from China?

If you bring it into the EU as the importer, usually you. A non-EU product cannot legally be offered without a responsible person established in the Union, whose details must appear on the product or packaging and in the listing.