Virginia Administrative Code › Title 12 - HEALTH › Agency 5 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH › Chapter 125 - REGULATIONS FOR BEDDING AND UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE INSPECTION PROGRAM › Section 12VAC5-125-10 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 24, July 15, 2024
The following words and terms when used in this chapter shall
				  have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates
				  otherwise:
"Antique" means any product that is at least 75 years
				  old.
"As is" means a sales term to describe bedding and
				  upholstered furniture products as any condition other than in new or undamaged
				  condition.
"Bedding" means any mattress, mattress pad, box spring,
				  upholstered bed, davenport, futon, upholstered sofa bed, quilted pad, packing
				  pads, hammock pad, comforter, quilt, bolster, cushion, pillow, featherbed,
				  sleeping bag, studio couch, or any other bag, case, pillow, cushion, or cover
				  made of leather, textile, or other material that is stuffed or filled in whole
				  or in part with concealed substance that can be used by any human being for
				  sleeping or reclining purposes.
"Bedding Program" means the Bedding and Upholstered Furniture
				  Inspection Program, a unit of the Department of Health authorized by the
				  commissioner to carry out the duties and responsibilities of this
				  chapter.
"Board" means the State Board of Health.
"Commissioner" means the State Health Commissioner, his duly
				  designated officer or agent.
"Department" means the State Department of Health.
"Designee" or "designated officer or agent" means any person
				  or group of persons designated by the commissioner to act on his behalf.
"Distributor/wholesaler" means any person who receives
				  bedding, upholstered furniture, or filling materials from another company for
				  the purpose of resale.
"Filling material" means cotton, wool, feathers, kapok, down,
				  hair, liquid, plant or vegetable fibers, or any other material or substance or
				  combination thereof, loose or in batting, pads, or any prefabricated form,
				  concealed or not concealed, that is used or that may be used in articles of
				  bedding or upholstered furniture.
"Importer" means any person who for the purpose of
				  manufacture or resale receives bedding, upholstered furniture or filling
				  material from any country other than the United States.
"Inspector" means department employees designated by the
				  commissioner to inspect, examine, investigate, evaluate and conduct tests,
				  review documentation, interview witnesses, take samples and provide testimony
				  in the enforcement of Title 32.1 of the Code of Virginia and § 59.1-200 of
				  the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.
"Law label" means the tag bearing legal information
				  concerning the contents and manufacturing location as required by §
				  32.1-219 of the Code of Virginia. A white tag certifies all new materials. A
				  yellow label indicates used materials.
"License" means permission granted in accordance with §
				  32.1-217 of the Code of Virginia for every person manufacturing, importing,
				  distributing/wholesaling, processing or selling any filling materials to be
				  used in new bedding and upholstered furniture, and reupholstering or renovating
				  bedding or upholstered furniture being returned to its original owner.
"Licensing state" means any of the United States that require
				  a manufacturer, importer, distributor/wholesaler, supply dealer, reupholsterer,
				  or renovator to apply for a license in order to sell bedding and upholstered
				  furniture products in that state.
"Manufacturer" means a person who, using new materials, makes
				  or has employees or agents who make any article of bedding or upholstered
				  furniture in whole or in part, or who covers or upholsters any unit
				  thereof.
"New" means not previously used for any purpose. Uncovered
				  floor models and customer returns shall not be considered new. Manufacturing
				  process shall not be considered prior use.
"Permit" means consent granted in accordance with §
				  32.1-216 of the Code of Virginia to approve a process to sanitize or sterilize
				  filling material, bedding or upholstered furniture by a person treating used
				  products for resale.
"Person" means an individual, corporation, partnership,
				  association or any other legal entity.
"Renovator" means a person who rebuilds, repairs, makes over,
				  re-covers, restores, renovates or renews used bedding.
"Retailer" means any person engaged in commerce who sells any
				  article of bedding, upholstered furniture or filling materials to a consumer of
				  the article as purchased.
"Reupholsterer" means a person who, either by himself or
				  through employees or agents, repairs, reupholsters, recovers, restores, or
				  renews upholstered furniture; or who makes to order and specification of the
				  user any article of upholstered furniture, using either new materials or the
				  owner's materials.
"Sanitize" means to reduce the level of microbiological
				  agents to a level not injurious to health.
"Sanitizer" means a person who sanitizes articles of bedding
				  or upholstered furniture.
"Secondhand" means having been made prior use of or
				  containing any filling material of which prior use has been made or that has
				  been in a customer's possession.
"Sell" or any of its variants, includes any of, or any
				  combination of, the following: sell, offer or expose for sale, barter, trade,
				  deliver, give away, rent, consign, lease, possess with an intent to sell or
				  dispose of in any other commercial manner.
"Shoddy" means any material that has been spun into yarn,
				  knit, or woven into fabric and subsequently, cut up, torn up, broken or ground
				  up.
"Shoddy pad" (also called "insulator pad") means a nonwoven
				  material made from byproducts of textile or manufacturing processes and is free
				  from dirt, insects, and other contamination.
"Soiled or torn" means articles of new or used bedding or
				  upholstered furniture that contain stains, dirt, ripped edges or covers, or
				  damaged frames.
"Sterilize" means to render free of viable microbiological
				  agents.
"Supply dealer" means a person who manufactures, processes or
				  sells any felt, batting, pads, woven or plastic fabrics, or loose material in
				  bags or containers, concealed or not concealed, to be used or that could be
				  used in articles of upholstered furniture or bedding.
"Uniform registry number" (also called "registration number"
				  and "REG. NO.") means a unique number assigned to a licensee by a licensing
				  state to identify the name and each location of a manufacturer, reupholsterer,
				  sanitizer, renovator, or importer of bedding and upholstered products. The
				  Uniform Registry Number begins with the initials of the licensing state,
				  followed by the assigned number, then the initials of the state or country
				  where the manufacturer, reupholsterer, sanitizer, renovator, or importer is
				  physically located. Each location of a manufacturer, reupholsterer, sanitizer,
				  renovator, or importer uses only one Uniform Registry Number.
"Upholstered furniture" means any article of furniture
				  designed to be used for sitting, resting or reclining that is wholly or partly
				  stuffed or filled with any filling material. Upholstered furniture may include,
				  but is not limited to, children's furniture, furniture used exclusively for the
				  purpose of physical fitness and exercise, medical equipment, or furniture or
				  seats in RVs, boats or automobiles. Upholstered furniture may be movable or
				  stationary, made or sold with cushions or pillows, loose or attached, or is
				  itself stuffed or filled in whole or in part with any substance or material,
				  hidden or concealed by fabric or any other covering, including cushions or
				  pillows belonging to or forming a part thereof, together with the structural
				  units, the filling material and its container and its covering that can be used
				  as a support for the body of a human being, or his limbs and feet.
"Used" means bedding or upholstered furniture that has been
				  previously owned or used by another person.
"Wholesaler" means a person who, on his own account, sells
				  any article of upholstered furniture or bedding or filling materials to another
				  for the purpose of resale.
Filling material definitions will be in accordance with
				  definitions published in the 2004 Edition of the International Sleep Products
				  Association Handbook.
Statutory Authority
§ 32.1-12 of the Code of
					 Virginia.