EN 17902:2023

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-februar-2024
Pohištvo - Krožnost - Metoda vrednotenja razstavljivosti in ponovne sestavljivosti
Furniture - Circularity - Evaluation method for dis/re-assembly capability
Möbel - Zirkularität - Anforderungen und Bewertungsmethoden für die
Demontage/Remontage
Ameublement - Circularité - Exigences et méthodes d'évaluation pour le
démontage/remontage
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN 17902:2023
ICS:
97.140 Pohištvo Furniture
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

EN 17902
EUROPEAN STANDARD
NORME EUROPÉENNE
December 2023
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
ICS 97.140
English Version
Furniture - Circularity - Evaluation method for dis/re-
assembly capability
Ameublement - Circularité - Exigences et méthodes Möbel - Zirkularität - Anforderungen und
d'évaluation pour le démontage/remontage Bewertungsmethoden für die Demontage/Remontage
This European Standard was approved by CEN on 20 November 2023.

CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for giving this
European Standard the status of a national standard without any alteration. Up-to-date lists and bibliographical references
concerning such national standards may be obtained on application to the CEN-CENELEC Management Centre or to any CEN
member.
This European Standard exists in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other language made by
translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC Management
Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway,
Poland, Portugal, Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Türkiye and
United Kingdom.
EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Rue de la Science 23, B-1040 Brussels
© 2023 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. EN 17902:2023 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
European foreword . 3
Introduction . 3
1 Scope . 5
2 Normative references . 5
3 Terms and definitions . 5
4 Priority part determination . 6
4.1 General principals . 6
4.2 Functions . 7
4.3 Surfaces and covers . 7
4.4 Procedure of priority part determination . 8
5 Criteria . 8
5.1 General . 8
5.2 Classes of criteria . 8
Annex A (Informative) Content of dis/re-assembly instructions . 14
Bibliography . 15

European foreword
This document (EN 17902:2023) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 207
“Furniture”, the secretariat of which is held by UNI.
This European Standard shall be given the status of a national standard, either by publication of an
identical text or by endorsement, at the latest by June 2024, and conflicting national standards shall
be withdrawn at the latest by June 2024.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject
of patent rights. CEN shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
Any feedback and questions on this document should be directed to the users’ national standards
body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found on the CEN website.
According to the CEN-CENELEC Internal Regulations, the national standards organisations of the
following countries are bound to implement this European Standard: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary,
Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal,
Republic of North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Türkiye and the United Kingdom.
Introduction
This document aims to support the furniture manufacturers in aligning their product (3.1) and
development processes with circular economy (CE) through the ability to dis/re-assembly a product,
which is an enabler of several CE aspects namely replaceability, upgradability, reuse, repair,
refurbishment, remanufacturing, recycling.
These CE aspects allow to develop long lasting products and to enable the extension of the product
lifespan and the circular flow of products by recovering, retaining, or adding to their value and thus
maintaining their usability for as long as possible and reducing the consumption of primary
resources.
Under circular economy framework, a degree of alignment with the CE principles is connected to
implementation of CE aspects. Understanding of the implementation requires different evaluation
methodologies for each key aspect. This is the first of a series of standards planned to be published
by CEN/TC 207-Furniture. Each standard will provide an evaluation methodology for one or more
relevant CE aspects. The document can be used as a guide by furniture manufacturers and/or product
designers to understand dis/re-assembly capability of their design.
Product design brings complex trade-off decisions. For example, a product could be designed to last
several decades that it is not intended to be dis- and re-assembled. This doesn’t mean that the product
is less circular than another product. This situation shows the importance of a complete evaluation
according to different aspects of CE and circular product design criteria.
This document provides a guidance on
— How to determine a priority part (3.3) (see Clause 4);
— What criteria should be considered for a damage-free and easy dis/re-assembly operation (see
Clause 5);
— The proposed classes to assess each criteria.
It should be noted that there can be differences concerning the appropriateness and assessment of
some criteria when considering end use of some furniture such as domestic use, use by vulnerable
groups or commercial use. Similarly, this applies in cases where, for safety reasons, the ability to
disassemble and reassemble the product applies to groups of users and their skills sets as defined by
the manufacturer.
As noted, some types of furniture may not be suitable for dis/re-assembly by the end user, such as
upholstered furniture, which may need a trained/educated person or specialist to re-upholster a
product, or work with electrically operated furniture which may pose serious safety risk during
dis/re-assembly process. The previously exemplified framework conditions should not mean that a
product is less “circular” than another but should allow the manufacturer the ability to address these
issues and/or enable corresponding service offers by economic operators.
The safety and performance of most furniture can be aided by the use of suitable standards developed
within the technical committee, CEN/TC 207 - Furniture.
This document includes an informative annex:
Annex A: Content of dis/re-assembly instructions.
1 Scope
This document provides guidelines for one aspect of circular economy framework; disassembly and
reassembly capability.
This document establishes a set of criteria on which to base an assessment of the ability to access and
remove/replace/reassemble priority parts of products. The criteria provided are intended to be used
when designing a product and are applicable to different designs, materials, or construction methods.
This document does not include requirements.
The document does not apply to disassembly operation for the sole purpose of separating the
individual materials.
This document does not provide a method to evaluate the overall degree of circularity of furniture
products. For this, additional complementary evaluation methods for other aspects are necessary.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org/
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp
3.1
product
physical-based object designed or utilized as furniture in domestic, office, public, outdoor areas,
educational and other institutions
3.2
part
sub-unit of a product (3.1), including connectors and fasteners as parts
[SOURCE: EN 45558:2019, modified]
3.3
priority part
part (3.2) or parts of a product that have been identified to be disassembled and reassembled which
are relevant to enable the corresponding circular strategy considered
3.4
disassembly
process whereby a product (3.1) is partially or fully taken apart in such a way that it could
subsequently be reassembled and is made operational
3.5
reassembly
process whereby a product (3.1) is assembled in such a way that it is made operational
3.6
disassembly step
each stage of the process that ends with the removal of a part (3.2)
3.7
assembly step
each stage of the process that ends with the assembly of a part (3.2)
3.8
disassembly depth
number of disassembly steps (3.6) required to remove a priority part (3.3) from a product (3.1)
3.9
assembly depth
number of assembly steps (3.7) required to reassemble a priority part (3.3) of a product (3.1)
3.10
main visible surface
surface that is visible in the normal position of use
3.11
secondary visible surface
surface which is not directly visible in the normal position of use
3.12
non visible surface
surface parts not visible in normal position of use
4 Priority part determination
4.1 General principals
A central characteristic of a sustainable product is its durability and the associated lifespan of the
whole product. For disassembly and reassembly priority is given to parts that are important to the
use- and appearance-function of the furniture and are most likely to be disassembled and
reassembled during the lifespan of the product for a variety of reasons. The reasons may be related
to the product design, durability features, function, aesthetic aspects and/or external factors (see 4.2
and 4.3).
The lifespan of the product is determined by the strength and durability of the individual parts,
material composition and their connection. The strength and durability of these parts and thus of the
product can be determined by the manufacturer, considering the intended use, based on experience
and data from products on the market or through testing etc.
The determination of priority parts (3.3) can only be done in the corresponding context of the circular
strategy. Circular economy model intends to keep the resources in the productive cycle prioritising
return operations to generate the minimum environmental impact whilst maximizing the economic
value at the minimum processing effort.
Using this information, with reference to the type of circular strategy being employed, the parts to be
prioritised can be determined. In this determination, the functions, visible surfaces or covers of a
piece of furniture can be considered.
4.2 Functions
For a product to be used for an extended period of time, it is essential that certain functions and their
required parts are replaceable in case of malfunction or wear. Functional aspects can be subdivided
as follows:
 Movable parts:
 Opening - Closing: e.g. drawers, doors, flaps etc.;
 Positioning - adjustment: e.g. recliner, armrests, headrests, height adjustments etc.;
 Non movable parts:
 Static load capacity: e.g. shelf, seating unit etc.;
 Electrical parts:
 Luminaires;
 Energy supply;
 Data interfaces;
 Drives: e.g. motor.
4.3 Surfaces a
...