CAN/CGSB 44.227
Free-standing office desk/table, storage products and components
Micom Laboratories Inc. is accredited by A2LA for CAN/CGSB 44.227 testing. This standard is for freestanding office desk products and components. Our experts sit on the technical committee who writes and maintains this standard.
This standard is essentially composed of three major types of tests. It calls up ANSI/BIFMA X5.5 and ANSI/BIFMA X5.9 for safety and durability testing. It also specifies ergonomic dimensional criterion that your product line must comply to. Finally, CAN/CGSB 44.227 has some general requirements and it also has the following finish requirement:
Performance Requirements for Finishes1
| Type of finish | Gloss
Max. |
Finish Hardness
Min. |
Abrasion Resistance
Max. |
Color Stability
Max. |
Paint Adhesion
Min. |
Impact Resistance |
| Par 5.1 | Par 5.2 | Par 5.3 | Par 5.4 | Par 5.5 | Par 5.6 | |
| Horizontal Work Surfaces | ||||||
| High pressure laminate | 45 | NA | 0.02g at 500 cycles, 1000 load | Grey Scale 4 | NA | No cracking at 762 mm (30 in) |
| Low pressure laminate | 45 | NA | 0.04g at 500 cycles, 1000g load | Grey Scale 4 | NA | No cracking at 254 mm (10 in) |
| Wood veneer | 45 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Painted wood | 45 | 2H | 0.04g at 500 cycles, 1000 g load | Grey Scale 4 | NA | No cracking at 254 mm (10 in) |
| Other finishes2 | 45 | NA | NA | Grey Scale 4 | NA | No cracking at 254 mm (10 in) |
| Other Surfaces (excluding fabrics and trim finishes) | ||||||
| Laminates | 45 | NA | 0.04g at 500 cycles, 1000 g load | Grey Scale 4 | NA | NA |
| Wood veneer | 45 | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
| Painted wood | 45 | H | 0.04g at 500 cycles, 1000 g load | Grey Scale 4 | NA | NA |
| Painted (non-wood) | 45 | H | 0.04g at 500 cycles, 1000 g load | Grey Scale 4 | 4B | NA |
Typical Experimental Parameters for Surface Finish Testing for CAN/CGSB 44.227:
| Test parameter | Test method | Qty & Sample size (in.) |
| Gloss (5.1) | ASTM D-523 | 1 sample 3″ X 6″ |
| Finish Hardness (5.2) | ASTM D-3363 | 1 sample 3″ X 6″ |
| Abrasion resistance (5.3) | ASTM D-4060 | 3 samples (1/4″ X 4″ X 4″) |
| Color stability (5.4) | ANSI/NEMA LD-3 | 1 sample 3″ X 6″ |
| Paint Adhesion (5.5) | ASTM D-3359 | 1 sample 3″ X 6″ |
| Impact resistance (5.6) | ANSI/NEMA LD-3 | 1 sample 12″ X 12″ |
| Conditioning and testing Temperature | 23 +/- 2 oC | |
| Conditioning and testing relative humidity | 50 +/- 5% | |
Other Related Test Methods
For additional test methods related to this topic please see Office Furniture Testing, BIFMA Testing, Coating testing.