Furniture for an outpatient clinic: choice and requirements
Furniture for an outpatient clinic must be washable and disinfectable. What to choose for the office, reception and waiting room, and which rules to check?
Renggli TeamEditorial teamPublished: Updated Reading time: 9 min read
Contents
Furniture for an outpatient clinic is chosen by zone: the doctor's office, reception and waiting room have different tasks but share one requirement, hygiene. The Minister of Health regulation on the rooms of a medical entity (opens in a new tab) requires furniture that can be washed and disinfected. That is why we make our medical furniture from acid-resistant steel and powder-coated sheet metal.
What requirements must furniture for an outpatient clinic meet?#
Clinic furniture must allow washing and disinfection: so states the regulation on the rooms and equipment of a medical entity (opens in a new tab). The requirement does not apply to furniture in administrative and staff rooms, in clinics and offices of providers of psychiatric care and addiction treatment, or in practice rooms in a residential premises. Doctor's offices and the waiting room, where patients stay, therefore need surfaces that withstand disinfectants.
The same regulation requires the shape and surface of the rooms to allow equipment to be placed and used properly. A room where examinations or procedures are carried out has a sink with hot and cold water, a soap dispenser, a disinfectant dispenser and a container for disposable towels. The furniture of the doctor's office is planned together with these points.
Rooms that require asepsis, for example a treatment room, and the furniture in them should, according to the regulation, allow washing and disinfection. The CDC guidelines on infection control in healthcare settings (opens in a new tab) also recommend cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces more often than other surfaces.
| Zone | Furniture | Requirement or recommendation | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Doctor's office | examination table, desk, cabinets for medicines and documents | washing and disinfection of furniture | Ministry of Health regulation |
| Treatment room | treatment table, cabinets, work surfaces | asepsis, sink and dispensers | Ministry of Health regulation |
| Reception | counter, workstation with a monitor, chair | desk with a matt surface, adjustable chair, footrest | regulation on display screen equipment |
| Waiting room | chairs, ranked seating, small tables | washing and disinfection, routes without barriers | Ministry of Health regulation, accessibility act |
What furniture does a doctor's office and a treatment room need?#
A doctor's office usually has an examination table or couch, a medicine cabinet, a desk and a cabinet for documentation. Our medical cabinets have compartments for medicines that lock with a key, shelf and drawer configurations and materials resistant to disinfectants.
An examination table and a couch support the patient, so they may be medical devices. The MDCG 2021-24 guidance of the European Commission (opens in a new tab) lists devices for external support of a patient as an example of class I devices. Among them it names hospital beds and dental chairs. It also states that an example alone does not decide whether a given product is a medical device.
We design medical tables to the requirements of the EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR) for class I, the basic risk level. They have electric height adjustment and lockable castors that hold the table still during an examination. Cabinets, side shelves or hanging instrument drawers can be added under the top.
A treatment room adds treatment tables, auxiliary tables and cabinets for medicines and dressing materials, and the furniture works under frequent disinfection. We describe the choice of furniture and materials for such a room in the guide on furniture and certificates in a treatment room.
What furniture does a clinic reception need?#
A reception needs a counter where the patient handles their business and a workstation with a computer for staff. We design furniture for reception, waiting rooms and doctor's offices together with the furniture of staff rooms, so the whole clinic has one layout.
The workstation of a person who works at a monitor for at least half of the daily working time is subject to the regulation on display screen workstations (opens in a new tab). The regulation requires a matt desk top and legroom under the desk that allows a comfortable position and changing it.
The chair at such a workstation has a base with at least five legs and castors, adjustable seat and backrest height, adjustable backrest angle and adjustable armrests. On the employee's request the workstation gets a footrest. The top edge of the monitor stands at eye level.
Among the requirements for architectural accessibility, the act on ensuring accessibility for persons with special needs (opens in a new tab) lists circulation spaces free of horizontal and vertical barriers. The counter, seating and small tables are placed so that they do not narrow the route from the entrance to reception and the doctor's offices.
What furniture to choose for a clinic waiting room?#
For a waiting room, choose seating and small tables that can be washed and disinfected, because patients stay in it. The Regulation of the Minister of Health (opens in a new tab) does not apply the washing and disinfection requirement to furniture in administrative and staff rooms, in psychiatric and addiction treatment clinics and offices, or in practice rooms in a residential premises, and the waiting room is not one of them.
The CDC guidelines for healthcare settings (opens in a new tab) help with upholstery. They recommend avoiding upholstered furniture in high-risk areas and wherever contamination with body fluids is likely, for example in paediatric wards. The same guidelines recommend repairing tears and holes in upholstery so that the cover keeps a continuous surface.
Waiting room seating is described by two standards from the PKN catalogue. PN-EN 16139:2025-12 (opens in a new tab) is “Furniture. Safety, strength and durability. Requirements for seating intended for use outside the home”. PN-EN 12727:2016-12 (opens in a new tab) is “Furniture. Ranked seating. Requirements for safety, strength and durability”, that is, the standard for seating permanently fixed to the floor or a wall, both multi-seat and single.
What materials to choose for furniture for an outpatient clinic?#
For doctor's offices and treatment zones, choose materials that withstand daily disinfection: stainless steel and powder-coated sheet metal. We make medical furniture from acid-resistant steel AISI 304 and AISI 316L (frequently asked questions, as of 4 November 2026). In the latter, molybdenum raises resistance to pitting corrosion, that is, small point losses in the surface. We also make cabinets and cupboards from powder-coated sheet metal, including a coating with silver ions.
Chairs in a doctor's office are matched to the height of the desk or work surface and to the agents that will be used to disinfect them. Integral polyurethane upholstery is moulded together with the seat core, so it has no seams and withstands disinfection.
| Material | Where it works well | What it gives |
|---|---|---|
| Acid-resistant steel | work surfaces, treatment tables | resistance to moisture, corrosion and frequent washing |
| Powder-coated sheet metal with silver ions | doctor's office cupboards, cabinets for medicines and documents | smooth coating that makes cleaning easier |
| Integral polyurethane | chair upholstery | surface without seams, resistant to disinfection |
What to check when ordering furniture for an outpatient clinic?#
Before ordering furniture for an outpatient clinic, you settle the layout of the zones, the materials and the documents. This checklist organises the enquiry:
- Prepare a plan or the dimensions of the rooms with sinks, water points and sockets marked.
- List the workstations in each zone: doctor's offices, treatment room, reception, waiting room, staff rooms.
- List the disinfectants used in the clinic, so that the materials of the tops and upholstery can be matched to them.
- Describe the reception workstation according to the regulation on display screens: a desk with a matt top, an adjustable chair, a footrest.
- For medical furniture, ask for a CE declaration of conformity, confirmation of the entry in the medical device register and a PZH hygiene certificate.
We produce medical furniture in a line with a CE declaration of conformity, an entry in the URPL medical device register and a current PZH hygiene certificate, and production follows ISO 13485. For a quote, a room plan or its dimensions, a list of workstations and information about utilities are enough. We prepare the furniture layout and a visualisation before the quote, so it is clear what you pay for.
Frequently asked questions#
A sofa in a waiting room has to be washable and disinfectable, because the Regulation of the Minister of Health requires this of furniture in a clinic, except in administrative and staff rooms, psychiatric and addiction treatment clinics and offices, and practice rooms in a residential premises. The upholstery is therefore matched to the clinic's disinfectants, and tears are repaired, as the CDC guidelines recommend.
For work at a monitor for at least half of the working day, the regulation on display screen workstations requires a chair with a base of at least five legs on castors. The chair also has adjustable seat and backrest height and adjustable armrests. The upholstery is matched to the agents used to disinfect the chair.
A couch may be a medical device when the manufacturer intends it for supporting a patient. The MDCG 2021-24 guidance lists such devices as an example of class I. The declaration of conformity and the entry in the medical device register confirm the status of a specific piece of furniture.
For medical furniture, the buyer may ask for a CE declaration of conformity, confirmation of the entry in the medical device register and a PZH hygiene certificate. Our line of medical furniture has these documents.
With a plan of the rooms with sinks and water points and a list of workstations in each zone. On this basis the furniture layout is drawn up, and then the materials are matched to the clinic's disinfectants.