BS EN 747: what parents need from the bunk bed standard

Scope, from BSI

BSI’s page for BS EN 747-1:2024 says it specifies safety, strength and durability requirements for bunk beds and high beds, domestic and non-domestic. It applies when the internal length is greater than 1,400 mm, the bed base is at most 1,200 mm wide, and the upper surface of a bed base is 600 mm or more above the floor. It does not apply to special-purpose beds, including prisons, the military and fire brigades. If the bed includes a table or storage, BSI says the relevant standards for those products could apply as well.

Part 2, EN 747-2:2024, is the test methods. SATRA describes testing to those methods. You do not need to buy the standard to use a bed. You do need the maker’s marking and instructions.

Markings SATRA lists

SATRA says beds are permanently marked with the manufacturer or importer and the maximum mattress thickness. Bases higher than 600 mm carry the under-six warning or a pictogram. The number and year of EN 747-1:2024 should be marked, and, where it applies, “WARNING – This product must be attached to a wall or building structure”.

Flair’s buyer summary adds the figures they draw from the standard: continuous barriers, an access opening of 300–400 mm, barrier top at least 260 mm above the base, mattress top at least 160 mm below the barrier, and at least 750 mm between the lower base and the underside of the upper base. Flair presents that table as a plain-English summary, not a substitute for the standard. We have not reproduced the paid text.

What we will not say

We do not say a bed on this site “meets BS EN 747” unless the maker says so, and even then we have not seen the test report. Ask the seller for the report for the exact model and the edition it was tested to. Flair’s list of questions for a supplier is the right list: report or certificate, domestic or non-domestic testing, marked mattress thickness, and the assembly instructions.

Questions people ask