do I become a manufacturer if I have an existing piece of furniture modified or refined

What you concretely have to do

Reupholstering a cabinet, supplying a tabletop in a different finish, combining a sofa with a different base: in the furniture industry, modifying and processing is more the rule than the exception. The question that arises is not trivial: does a company's role change from trader to manufacturer as soon as the product is processed before it reaches the customer? The answer determines who will be responsible for the digital product passport — and that is not always the party that originally made the furniture.

The ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) does not tie the manufacturer obligations to who originally designed the furniture, but to who places it on the market under their own name or brand, or who modifies the product in such a way that this has implications for compliance with the requirements. That makes "I only modify the finish" a less innocent action than it sounds.

What is expected of you

Assessing whether the modification entails the manufacturer role

A company that structurally changes an existing piece of furniture — a different frame, different materials, a different construction — effectively places a different product on the market than the product manufactured by the original manufacturer. Article 27 of the ESPR places the manufacturer obligations on the person who manufactures or has manufactured and designed the product and sells it under their name or brand. For a company with 10 to 100 employees, this means that any modification that goes beyond cosmetic changes is reason to determine whether the company itself thereby becomes responsible for the passport — instead of the party that supplied the unmodified furniture.

Determining whether your own brand appears on the product

A piece of furniture sold under its own brand name, even if produced by a third party and only lightly modified, can place the processing party in the manufacturer role. This touches on the same question as with private label: whoever puts the brand on the product typically bears the obligations that come with that brand. Companies that have this as a fixed part of their business model — purchasing a basic piece of furniture, processing it, selling it under their own name — would do well to assess this as standard practice, not case by case. More on this can be found at selling under your own brand.

Determining whether the modification has implications for the requirements in the passport

Some adjustments affect only the appearance, others affect the material composition, durability or repairability of the product — precisely the data that goes into the product passport. An upholsterer who merely replaces the covering with a fabric supplied by the customer probably changes nothing in the core structure. A company that replaces a wooden frame with a different material does change data that is relevant to the passport. For businesses of this size, it is practically relevant to document for each type of adjustment whether the existing passport data are still correct, or whether a new or modified set of data is needed.

Determine who already fulfils which role in the chain

For furniture coming from outside the EU and processed here, an additional layer applies: the original manufacturer may then be outside the Union, and the party that imports and processes may fall under the importer obligations of Article 29 of the ESPR as well as, through processing, effectively act as a manufacturer. Which role precisely applies depends on what is already fixed in the chain. See also on this who is responsible for the digital product passport of furniture and, specifically for the importer question, am I an importer or manufacturer under the ESPR.

Where things go wrong in practice

A furniture maker purchases cabinets from a wholesaler, places its own logo on the product and sells it as its own collection — without realising that applying the brand may entail the manufacturer role.

An upholstery company assumes that it is "merely" providing a service to the original manufacturer, while in practice the company assembles the end product and delivers it to the end customer without involvement of that manufacturer.

An importer has a sofa adjusted in the Netherlands — different base, different legs — and incorrectly assumes that the foreign manufacturer remains responsible for all passport data, including for the modified part.

A company that adapts furniture to measure on a project basis for large customers (offices, hotels) treats each project as incidental, while the adaptations in terms of scope and repetition substantially entail the manufacturer role.

A company takes over the material data from the original manufacturer without verification, while the adaptation (for example a different adhesive or coating) has actually made that data obsolete.

What you can put in order now

• An internal assessment for each type of adjustment: does this change affect only appearance, or also material, construction or durability properties?
• Agreements with the original manufacturer or supplier about who supplies and keeps current which passport data after processing — with a fixed reference to who must provide the passport data for private label furniture as a guide for role allocation.
• An overview of which products are sold under their own brand and which remain under the brand of the original manufacturer.
• Documentation of the adjustment itself: what was changed, which material, which supplier, on which date — this forms the basis for any adjustment to the passport.
• A documented procedure for what to do if the origin or composition of a component is not fully known, including the question of who is liable for incorrect data from a subcontractor — see liability for incorrect supplier data in the passport.
• A brief internal explanation, shared with sales and project managers, about the difference between "processing as a service" and "putting on the market as a manufacturer" — precisely because these two easily become confused in daily practice.

This documentation is not only administratively useful: it is the starting point from which furnipas.eu determines which data are needed to compile the passport, and from whom these must come.