FINAL DRAFT UGANDA 
STANDARD  
  FDUS 1908  
First Edition  
2018-mm-dd  
 
 Reference number 
FDUS 1908: 2018 
© UNBS2018  
  
Furniture — Steel filing cabinets for general offic e purposes — 
Specification 
 FDUS 1908:2018 
ii © UNBS 2018 – All rights reserved
 Compliance with this standard does not, of itself c onfer immunity from legal obligations 
A Uganda Standard does not purport to include all n ecessary provisions of a contract. Users are 
responsible for its correct application  
© UNBS 2018   
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form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, inc luding photocopying and microfilm, without prior wr itten 
permission from UNBS. 
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The Executive Director 
Uganda National Bureau of Standards 
P.O. Box 6329 
Kampala 
Uganda 
Tel: +256 417 333 250/1/2 
Fax: +256 414 286 123 
E-mail: info@unbs.go.ug  
Web: www.unbs.go.ug  
 FDUS 1908:2018 
© UNBS 2018 – All rights reserved  iii
 Foreword 
Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is a par astatal under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and 
Cooperatives established under Cap 327, of the Laws  of Uganda, as amended.  UNBS is mandated to co-
ordinate the elaboration of standards and is  
(a) a member of International Organisation for Stan dardisation (ISO) and  
(b) a contact point for the WHO/FAO Codex Alimentar ius Commission on Food Standards, and  
(c) the National Enquiry Point on TBT Agreement of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). 
The work of preparing Uganda Standards is carried o ut through Technical Committees. A Technical 
Committee is established to deliberate on standards  in a given field or area and consists of key stake holders 
including government, academia, consumer groups, pr ivate sector and other interested parties.  
Draft Uganda Standards adopted by the Technical Com mittee are widely circulated to stakeholders and th e 
general public for comments. The committee reviews the comments before recommending the draft standard s 
for approval and declaration as Uganda Standards by  the National Standards Council. 
The committee responsible for this document is Tech nical Committee UNBS/TC12,  Furniture.   
 
 FINAL DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD FDUS 1908:2018 
 
© UNBS 2018  – All rights reserved  1
 Furniture — Steel filing cabinets for general offic e purposes — 
Specification  
1 Scope 
This Final Draft Uganda Standard specifies requirem ents for materials, sizes, construction and finish and tests 
of steel filing cabinets for general office purpose s . 
2 Normative references 
The following referenced documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their  content 
constitute requirements of this document. For dated  references, only the edition cited applies. For un dated 
references, the latest edition of the referenced do cument (including any amendments) applies. 
ISO 1520, Paints and varnishes — Cupping test 
ISO 2009, Slotted countersunk flat head screws — Product grad e A 
ISO 4624, Paints and varnishes — Pull-off test for adhesion  
ISO 4950-1, High yield strength flat steel products — Part 1: G eneral requirements   
ISO 6860, Paints and varnishes — Bend test (conical mandrel)  
ISO 9567,  
ISO 11503, Paints and varnishes -- Determination of resistance  to humidity (intermittent condensation) 
ISO 15184, Paints and varnishes — Determination of film hardne ss by pencil test 
ISO 16925, Paints and varnishes — Determination of the resista nce of coatings to pressure water-jetting  
ISO 28762, 
US ISO 6361-1, Wrought aluminium and aluminium allo ys — Sheets, strips and plates — Part 1: Technical 
conditions for inspection and delivery 
ISO 12633-1, Hot-finished structural hollow section s of non-alloy and fine grain steels — Part 1: Tech nical 
delivery conditions (tube) 
US 1633, Cold rolled low carbon steel flat products  for cold forming — Technical delivery conditions 
ISO 16143-3, Stainless steels for general purposes -- Part 3: Wire 
US ISO 6362-1, Wrought aluminium and aluminium allo ys — extruded rods/ bars, tubes and profiles — Part  1: 
Technical conditions for inspection and delivery 
ISO 9692-3, Welding and allied processes -- Types o f joint preparation -- Part 3: Metal inert gas weld ing and 
tungsten inert gas welding of aluminum and its allo ys  
2 © UNBS 2018 – All rights reserved
 3 Material requirements 
3.1 Mild steel sheets  
Mild steel sheets shall conform to grade 0 of ISO 4 950. 
3.2 Screws  
Screws shall conform to ISO 2009. 
4 Types 
The filing cabinets shall be of three types, namely  
a) two-drawer type,  
b) three-drawer type, and  
c) four-drawer type. 
5 Dimensions and tolerances 
5.1 General  
5.1.1  The overall dimensions of the three types of filin g cabinets shall be as given in Table 1 (see Figure  1). 
5.1.2 The minimum clearances required for the filing cabi nets to be put into recesses or openings, where 
required, shall be as follows: 
a) for top of cabinet: 20 mm;  
b) for each side of cabinet: 10 mm; and  
c) for depth of cabinet: 5 mm. 
Table 1 — Overall dimensions of steel filing cabine ts 
S/No. Dimensions Two drawer 
type Three drawer 
type Four drawer 
type 
i.  Overall height from finishing floor to top of 
the cabinet including pedestal 750 1 080 1 380 
ii.  Depth from face to back 700 700 700 
iii.  Width 470 470 470 
 FDUS 1908:2018 
© UNBS2018 – All rights reserved  3
 
 
 
5.2 Drawer dimensions 
The minimum clear internal dimensions of the drawer s for all the three types shall be suitable for hol ding a 
standard suspension holder running on cradle strips  having centre to centre distance of 385 mm, the he ight of 
the largest holder being 255 mm including 15 mm hig h tab. The depth of the drawers shall be not less t han 
600 mm. The bottom of the lowest drawer shall be mi nimum 75 mm above the floor level.  
5.3 Tolerances  
The dimensions specified in 4.1 shall not vary by m ore than f 5 mm. 
6 Fabrication 
6.1 Sides and back 
The sides and back shall be made from steel sheet n ot less than 0.8 mm thick and without any burrs or dents. 
The width of the side sheets shall correspond to th e depth of the cabinet. The width of the back sheet  shall 
correspond to the width of the cabinet. A top cover  shall be provided and the sides and back shall ext end from 
the bottom edge of the top cover to the floor.  
4 © UNBS 2018 – All rights reserved
 6.2 Top and bottom  
The top and bottom shall be of steel sheet not less  than 0.8 mm thick. The width of the top and bottom  shall 
cover the width of the cabinet and the length shall  cover the depth of the cabinet. 
6.3 Filing drawer 
The drawer shall be made from steel sheet not less than 0.63 mm thick. The drawer front shall have a b ack 
cover secured to it to make it box type. The drawer  shall have an arrangement on the sides to seat it on the 
slides and an arrangement by a locking mechanism to  stop it when fully pushed in. 
6.4 Clutch compressor plate or cradle strips 
The clutch compressor plate shall be made from stee l sheet not less than 1.0 mm thick and shall be sui tably 
guided throughout the depth of the drawer. It shall  have an arrangement for clutching the drawer at an y 
desired position. If instead of clutch compressor p late cradle strips are provided, they shall be fitt ed to each 
drawer in pairs extending over the depth of the dra wer. They shall be of aluminum, galvanized steel or  mild 
steel. In the case of mild steel cradle strips, the y shall be either painted and provided with a plast ic or 
aluminum cladding, or cadmium plated. 
6.5 Checks 
Each drawer of the cabinet shall be removable but s hall be fitted with a positive stop to prevent inad vertent 
withdrawal. The drawers may be fitted with an autom atic check to prevent rebound, if required by the 
purchaser. 
6.6 Drawer suspension 
The drawer suspension shall be one of the following  types to ensure withdrawal of the full depth of th e drawer: 
a) ball-bearing suspension; 
b) solid-roller suspension; and 
c) ball-bearing-roller suspension. 
6.7 Handles 
Each drawer shall be provided either with a handle made from corrosion-resistant material and fixed to  the 
front of the drawer or with a built-in pull. The dr awer handle shall be strong enough to take a normal  minimum 
pull of 50 N. There shall be no sharp corners or ed ges to avoid injury and damage to clothing. 
6.8 Label holders 
The label holders shall be made from corrosion resi stant metal sheet or mild steel sheet, not less tha n 0.63 
mm in thickness, to hold card of size 100 mm x 50 m m and shall be fixed to the front of the drawers. M ild steel 
label holders shall be properly finished as laid do wn in Clause 8. 
6.9 Locks 
Locks, if provided, shall be of the automatic unit type having not less than six levers or of the pin cylindrical 
type having not less than four pins, with duplicate  keys of non-corrosive metal. FDUS 1908:2018 
© UNBS2018 – All rights reserved  5
 6.10 Locking mechanism 
The locking mechanism shall be made from steel shee t not less than 1.6 mm thick: The arrangement shall  be 
such as to lock all the drawers simultaneously from  the front of the cabinets. At the time of locking the whole 
cabinet if one of the drawers has not been pushed i n fully and thus remains partly open, that drawer s hall 
remain unlocked. As soon as that drawer is pushed i n fully, it shall get locked automatically without further 
operation by the user. 
7 Assembly 
The components shall be assembled by bolting, weldi ng or riveting. 
8 Finish 
8.1 All dents, burrs and sharp edges shall be removed f rom the various components. The components shall 
be individually pickled, scrubbed and rinsed to rem ove grease, rust, scale or any other foreign elemen t. 
8.2 Immediately after pickling, all the mild steel par ts shall be given phosphating treatment conforming to 
ISO 9567.  
8.3 Putty shall be applied to all the surfaces requirin g filling and aluminium primer should also be used   
8.4 Coat/coats of enamel paint shall then be applied as  follows: 
a) finish coat with enamels conforming to ISO 28762 ; and 
b) in case of stoving enamel components shall there after be baked at a specified temperature in a 
uniformly heated oven. The finish shall be smooth a nd uniform with a hard and tough film of enamel 
strongly adhering to the surface. The finish shall be free from all visible defects and shall not chip  
when tapped lightly with a dull pointed instrument.  
8.5 All other components shall be finished as agreed to  between the purchaser and the manufacturer. 
9 Performance requirements of finish 
9.1 Scratch hardness test 
Use ISO 15184. 
9.2 Pull off adhesion test 
Use ISO 4624.  
9.3 Resistance of coating to pressure water jetting  test 
Use ISO 16925. 
9.4 Resistance to humidity (intermittent condensati on) test 
Use ISO 11503. 
9.5 Bend test  
Use ISO 6860.  
6 © UNBS 2018 – All rights reserved
 9.6 Cupping test 
Use ISO 1520. 
10 Tests 
10.1 Drawer suspension 
10.1.1 The suspension slides shall not show any apparent d istortion, cracks or failure to operate in a normal , 
smooth manner after running for 50 000 cycles at a rate of 1 000 cycles per hour with an evenly distri buted 
load of 30 kg ( excluding the weight of the drawer ) in any of the drawer. One opening and one closing  of the 
drawer shall constitute one cycle. For guidance, th e details of the test apparatus and the procedure f or the test 
is given in Annex A. 
10.1.2 When a drawer is loaded with a uniformly distribute d load of 20 kg, the cradle strips shall not deflec t 
by more than 3 mm in the vertical direction. The op erative edges of the cradle strips shall be smooth and 
rounded in order to facilitate easy movement of fil es. 
10.2 Ease of drawer operation 
With an evenly distributed load of 30 kg (excluding  the weight of the drawer) in any of the drawers, t he force 
required to move the drawer from the position of re st shall not exceed 50 N.   
11 Packing 
All component part of the cabinets shah be packed i n such a way that no damage is caused to them durin g 
transit . 
12 Information to be supplied by the purchaser 
12.1  The purchaser shall supply the following informati on to the supplier along with the order: 
a) type required; 
b) desired colour of finish; 
c) whether the drawers to be provided with clutch c ompressor plate or cradle strips; and 
d) whether corners are to be rounded or not . 
12.2 Where alternative methods of construction and fini sh are specified they shall be clearly stated in th e 
order. 
13 Marking 
All steel filing cabinets shall be legibly and inde libly marked with name, address/trade mark of the 
manufacturer, name of the product, and country of o rigin.   
 
  FDUS 1908:2018 
© UNBS2018 – All rights reserved  7
 Bibliography   
IS 3313, Steel filing cabinets for general office purposes —  Specification  
  FDUS 1908: 2018 
© UNBS 2018  – All rights reserved  9
 Certification marking 
Products that conform to Uganda standards may be ma rked with Uganda National Bureau of Standards 
(UNBS) Certification Mark shown in the figure below .  
The use of the UNBS Certification Mark is governed by the Standards Act, and the Regulations made 
thereunder. This mark can be used only by those lic ensed under the certification mark scheme operated by 
the Uganda National Bureau of Standards and in conj unction with the relevant Uganda Standard. The 
presence of this mark on a product or in relation t o a product is an assurance that the goods comply w ith the 
requirements of that standard under a system of sup ervision, control and testing in accordance with th e 
certification mark scheme of the Uganda National Bu reau of Standards. UNBS marked products are 
continually checked by UNBS for conformity to that standard.  
Further particulars of the terms and conditions of licensing may be obtained from the Director, Uganda  
National Bureau of Standards.  
 
 FDUS 1908: 2018  
 
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Price based on nn pages 
© UNBS 2018 – All rights reserved