U.S. – CPSC Publishes Direct Final Rule Adopting New ASTM Standard for Gates and Enclosures

Vol. 1276 | 19 Oct 2021

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has published a direct final rule in the Federal Register adopting ASTM F1004-21 as mandatory safety standard for gates and enclosures. This rule is effective on January 2, 2022, unless the CPSC receives a significant adverse comment by October 28, 2021.

In 2020, the CPSC published a final rule that incorporated by reference ASTM F1004-19, as the mandatory standard for gates and enclosures, with modifications to the standard to further reduce the risk of injury. ASTM published F1004-21 in June to incorporate the modifications by the CPSC staff that were part of Federal requirement but not in the F1004-19 standard for gates and enclosure such as:

• Visual side-pressure indicator for pressure-mounted gates that do not incorporate wall-cups or other hardware which must:
  • Visually alert the user to the status of the pressure-mounted gate via contrasting colors, lights or other similar means.
  • Must be conspicuous and readily identifiable
  • Monitor the pressure for each point of contact with the mounted surface of each individual contact point, each rail, and / or the entire gate
• Instructions for pressure-mounted gates with visual side-pressure indicators must describe the function, use and importance of the indicators and how to make adjustment to achieve the required side pressure
• The warning that must be included with pressure mounted gates that use wall cups or other mounting hardware has the following additional requirements:
  • Be separate from all other warnings
  • Be on the top rail
  • Be as close as possible to the side of the product where the locking mechanism is located

Public comment deadline for this rule is October 28, 2021. The direct final rule can be viewed at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2021-09-28/pdf/2021-20851.pdf

For questions, please contact Matthew Nudell (matthew.nudell@intertek.com, +1 716-225-9006) or Pratik Ichhaporia (pratik.ichhaporia@intertek.com, +1 847 212 8273).