Adjustable school desks and EN 1729: what one SKU can and can't replace

Anyone who distributes school furniture knows the problem with sizes. A desk model sells well, yet two of its heights are still in the warehouse at the end of the season, because schools ordered a different mix than the year before.

Height-adjustable desks seem to solve this. One product covers several sizes, so there's less to forecast and less to store. That's partly true. EN 1729 sets a few conditions for adjustable furniture, and they're worth knowing before you build a range around adjustable models.

Size marks are based on height, not age

EN 1729-1 divides chairs and tables for educational institutions into eight size marks, numbered 0 to 7. Each has its own colour code. The size marks are defined by students' stature rather than their age, and children in the same year group can differ a lot in height. One class can need furniture in more than one size, which is why school orders often come as a split by size.

For fixed-height furniture, each size mark is effectively a separate product. If a model comes in four heights, you have four SKUs to plan and keep in stock.

What changes with an adjustable desk

An adjustable desk replaces several fixed SKUs with one. The school can also move desks from one group of students to another later on, without buying new furniture.

It helps most when the split by size isn't known at the time the contract is signed. Rooms used by different age groups are another good fit.

Height is only one of the requirements

Under EN 1729-1, adjustable furniture that covers several size marks has to meet the dimensional requirements of each size mark it covers. Height is the obvious one, but the standard also looks at the size of the desktop and the legroom under it.

When you raise an adjustable desk, the legroom gets taller along with the desktop. The desktop itself stays the same size, though, and so do the width and depth of the space beneath it. A desk that can be raised to the height of a larger size mark therefore meets that size mark only if these other dimensions fit it too.

This is why a specification that says "adjustable from X to Y mm" doesn't give the full picture. What a buyer needs to know is which size marks the desk meets.

Questions to ask a supplier

First, which size marks does the desk cover, and which settings correspond to them?

Second, is the desk marked with those size marks? EN 1729-1 requires adjustable furniture to carry a marking of the size marks it covers. On fixed furniture, the colour code lets a teacher check at a glance that a chair and a desk belong together. On an adjustable desk, the marking tells the school which sizes the desk can be set to. It helps even more if the desk also shows which size it's set to right now, so nobody has to get out a tape measure to check.

Third, does the test report cover all the size marks the desk is sold for? Since an adjustable desk has to meet the requirements of each size mark in its range, the documentation should reflect the whole range, not just part of it.

The downsides

Adjustable desks are more expensive and have more parts. Wear usually starts at the adjustment point. Each time the height is changed, metal parts move against each other, and without sleeves or inserts between them the desk is more likely to start squeaking or wobbling over time.

The chair matters as well. If an adjustable desk is set to one size mark and the student sits on a chair of another, the result is no better than a badly matched fixed set. Schools buying adjustable desks should plan the chairs with the same care.

For classes that stay stable from year to year, and for tight budgets, fixed-height desks are still a reasonable choice. Adjustable ones make more sense when the size split is uncertain or the furniture is expected to serve several groups of students over time.

In our range

Our height-adjustable single desks include models 70350, 31182 and 90187. On our adjustable desks and chairs, a small window in the frame shows the colour code of the size mark they're currently set to, so a teacher can see at a glance whether a desk and a chair match.

If you're comparing adjustable and fixed options for a particular project, we can go through the models with you.

Sourcing school furniture for your distribution range or an education project? Send us a message. We'll share our catalogue, help you compare models and prepare a proposal for your requirements.