I wonder if this has already been implemented somewhere

While we were living in Germany, there was a system where by once a month you could put out any furniture or large items you no loner had a use for on the side of the road for anyone to take. What was left at the end of the day was removed by the local council. I know several people who furnished their houses that way, all for free.

We have a very well organised recycling centre about a mile away. I wish they would allow people to collect stuff that could be reused. I wish the locals would take anything usuable to charity shops.

Everyone except my OH that is, he already has too much rubbish around.

Furniture like three piece suites cannot be sold on unless they have the Furniture and Furnishings fire safety tag on them. That could be why they are in the skips.
That's right, my three piece suite went to a charity shop and they were extremely careful to find the fire regulation certificate attached to each piece before they would take it away.

I did watch that programme Money for Nothing - I saw the 'rescued' Parker Knoll chair which was exactly the same as one of MIL's that we had to put in the skip because hers had no certificate - except that MIL's was in much better condition! However, the chair cost a fortune to reupholster, was it £850? Most people would ditch it rather than pay that to reupholster.

I actually do have mine checked by my son who is an electrical engineer. When we moved in here we had the wiring checked by an electrician, too, befre the furniture was moved in as it was easier. That was five years ago.
It comes from having had a guest house and having had to adhere to all those regulations for ten years, as well as my husband being an architect who was responsible for safety in the last company he worked for. At least I do not have fire doors and extinguishers in every room!
I knew that most fires were caused by electrical faults. How many of us have electrical wires or points behind or next to the settee? A reading lamp next to the chair you sit in to read?
If you are recovering chairs or settees, the material has to be suitable and pass the flame test. Sellers have to tell you if material is suitable for soft furnishings. In fact the covering material and filling both have to pass tests in furniture.

I guessed that was probably the case with charities.
One site I read said that although the regulations should apply to all furniture sold, trading standards had very little power to act against a private individual which is why they are omitted.

Personally I can see no ethical problem selling most things, PROVIDE you are honest and disclose any relevant details. As I said, some one may wish to buy it to re-upholster, it would be a shame to dump a perfectly good frame. This would be similar to cutting the plug off an electrical appliance. The new user is them responsible for re-wiring and if they wish getting it PAT tested.

DJ, I looked at the fire stats as you mentioned. By far the biggest cause (about 80% in 2013/14) of accidental home fires (you might be surprised by the number of deliberate ones) is electrical appliances and wiring, about 80% . How many of us have our appliances and wiring checked regularly. We had ours check and certified a few years ago, but that was the first time ever by a professional.
Electrical connections do deteriorate with time, joints relax, and can overheat. Our daughters house which was about 10 years old was lethal, mainly loose connections in socket and light fittings, easily fixed but had they been left could have caused a fire.

"The Regulations state that selling upholstered furniture and furnishings to raise funds for charitable purposes constitutes a business activity and hence there is a need to conform to the requirements of the Regulations. Therefore the charity will need to ensure that either the item has complied with the appropriate test(s) as outlined in the Regulations or is fitted with a permanent label which outlines the compliance of the particular item. Items which have not complied with the appropriate test(s) or do not carry a permanent label which outlines the compliance of the item cannot be sold. However furniture manufactured prior to 1950 is outside the scope of these Regulations. The Regulations state that the simple distribution of second-hand upholstered furniture and furnishings by a charity in pursuance of its charitable objectives to needy persons, either free of charge or at a nominal amount only, is not considered to constitute a supply in the course of business and hence is exempt from compliance to the Regulations. This practice is considered to be unsafe, especially in the case of vulnerable and needy persons, and it is to be discouraged. Charities distributing second-hand furniture are also advised to seek assurance that these items conform to the Regulations in the same way that second hand furniture is sold."

I would think that anybody selling furniture privately would be covered by the normal regulations as a supplier of the goods, as in the Trading Standards regulations, or Fira. I wouldn't want to be responsible for someone else assuming the goods complied with fire safety.

Marmight. I also record and watch a few together.
I hadn't noticed the left handed artisans will be on the look out!

Its not on this week. Probably because of Chelsea flower show (which I love)

I think on the programme they use old furniture that is not actually fire retardant. But get around it by using a retardant spray

My local Salvation Army will collect donations of furniture free of charge and sell the items in their shop. Fire safety certificates are needed for upholstery.

The homelessness charity Emmaus will collect furniture and if it needs a bit of attention, they can often give it a new lease of life in their workshops. My daughter bought a beautiful sideboard which had been restored.

Our tip has completely banned professional gardeners from tipping garden waste. They used to charge anyone with a van or a trailer (they tried to charge even for a private car with a tiny trailer - us - but that was stopped, thank goodness) Now no-one who looks as though they are getting paid for gardening can dump anything. The one-man chap who cleared some shrubs for me was cross-examined at the gate - they inspected his white van for tools but didn't find any so grudgingly let him dump the branches. (Then he picked up his tools from behind my front hedge before going home)

Yes, they will wonder why there is so much fly tipping!

Our two local tips used to have re-usable stuff for sale and it was amazing what you could get there. A few years ago the 'powers that be' decided to stop the tip workers doing it and so now EVERYTHING goes into the waste containers - garden waste into one. wood into another etc. Also in their wisdom they have decided to charge £2 for each bag of hardcore and no doubt will wonder soon why there is so much dumped in hedgebacks. I don't think it matters how big the bag is as long as you can carry it which is discriminating those of us who can't lift heavy weights. Words fail me at times.

I was very careful to check my facts before I posted about the fire regulations. As I expected to be challenged.
I checked several council web sites for their ruling. Some are a bit vague others are more specific, but they all have one thing in common, the regulations apply to businesses and traders, and not all charities. Private sale is not mentioned.

This is typical of the council documents :-

www.rother.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=3862&p=0

But if you read what I said, and I quote :-

"probably better to err on the side of safety."

I am addicted to this programme Cherry! I record it and watch in doses of 2 or 3 at a time. It's amazing what is achieved although some of it they can keep! Have you noticed how many of the artisans are left handed? Maybe lefties are more artistic than righties

We have shop for our local Hospice at our tip where you can donate the better stuff if you so choose. It is extremely well used by people who donate and by people who want to buy.
There are a lot of good quality children's toys and equipment donated.
The health and safety rules are stringent.

Has anybody been watching the BBC programme called MONEY FOR NOTHING
It takes place at a tip where the lady presenter has permission to ask people for their 'stuff' before it is put in the skip.
Each programme she 'saves' 3 items.
She gives two of the items to different artisans to revamp or turn in to something else. ( They sometimes get paid an eye watering amount).
She then revamps the 3rd item herself
All 3 items are then hopefully sold.
The money (less the initial spend) is the given to the previous owner/tipper

Freecycle, not freestyle, sorry www.freecycle.org/search

Freestyle is a voluntary organisation which enables people with something to give away to contact someone local looking for the same thing -https://www.freecycle.org/search

We also have a re-use area at both our recycling centres-my friend just acquired two very nice garden chairs from one! The centre near ds/dil is almost like a reclamation yard, you can pick up doors, half tins of paint, fireplaces, furniture, kids bikes etc. Excellent use of redundant items.

EU rules by the way.

I think you'll find your local trading standards office say differently.
Most fires happen in the home.

The Charity I work for can't accept donations of any kind without the fire certificate attached and it is a terrible shame sometimes but the rules are the rules,we do "give away" items but have those receiving those items sign to say no money has changed hands just to cover ourselves.

I wonder what the legal situation is if your buy second hand furniture for the specific purpose of re-upholstering. We did this awhile ago with a couple of antique chairs, we were not bothered about the fire risk as everything was replaced.

The regulations regarding selling furniture only mention " trade or business". the situation as a private individual is a grey area, probably better to err on the side of safety.. You can certainly "give away" any furniture as the regs only apply to selling.

Nonnie, you pass the cabin on the way to the ginormous skips. Garden rubbish goes into one skip, and is processed into compost which is sold back to householders. different categories go into different skips - solid wood, small electricals, large white goods, builders rubble, cardboard paper and plastics, and so on, with one for landfill.

There are also garden urns and planters at intervals along the entrance road, filled with plants. They look as though they have been rescued and planted up!

Furniture like three piece suites cannot be sold on unless they have the Furniture and Furnishings fire safety tag on them. That could be why they are in the skips.

British Heart Foundation do free collection of furniture and electrical items. They also sell on ebay to get the best price.

Our tip has a man there who sorts things and puts the good stuff out for sale, no idea who keeps the money though!