A typical cabinet can take a beating just from everyday use. Dirt and grease can build up. Constant opening and closing of doors can weaken hinges. Small hands can weigh heavily on drawers and doors.

And, while cabinets can withstand most beatings – especially those cabinets certified to industry performance standards – there are some cabinets that take an exceptional pummeling. 

These are called severe-use cabinets, and the KCMA has developed a newly revised performance standard to give manufacturers specific details on how to meet performance standards while not forcing them to use specific construction materials. The KCMA Severe Use 2024 Performance and Construction Standard for Severe Use Cabinets is a separate standard from the KCMA’s well-known A161.1 Quality Certification. 

Chuck Arnold, KCMA Vice President, Standards & Certification, said that the need for severe use standards dates to the 1960s when the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) agency first recognized the need and started adopting standards for building products in the 60’s, including the KCMA's A161.1 quality standard.

Fast forward to the 1990s when HUD hired an architectural firm to develop a severe use standard for cabinets. What was developed was a construction standard for HUD governed projects that mandated specific construction materials be used and those materials be constructed in specific ways. The KCMA used these specs for its early severe use certification program.

“It was not a performance standard,” said Arnold. “The standard resulted in a very durable cabinet, but it very much limited design and innovation, and it also limited the aesthetics of the cabinets. The cabinets had all had a similar look. To be honest, they were not pretty cabinets.”

Around 2018, Arnold noticed that certain public housing authorities around the country were making exceptions to the KCMA severe use standard. “They (housing authorities) would say that for those apartments, they wanted to use severe use cabinets, but they wanted something more appealing and would allow, for instance, a five-piece door or a shape or style door. That started me thinking that I should approach the KCMA standards and certification committee about revising our severe use specifications.” 

Arnold, and the KCMA Standards and Certification committee, decided to transform the HUD construction standard to a KCMA performance standard. “Regardless of the materials used in the construction of the cabinets and how those materials are put together, we came up with a set of test methods that would predict how a cabinet would perform in a severe use environment,” Arnold said.

The new 2024 version of the KCMA severe use standards makes testing standards more robust. This includes more cycling or more impacts on the cabinets during testing. For instance, the drawer cycling test for the standard KCMA A161.1 standard requires the drawer be weighted with 15 pounds per square foot and cycled 25,000 times. Was that enough?

In researching, the committee read the Building Hardware Associations’ heavy-duty standard and found that the BHMA required 35,000 cycles to test heavy duty slides. “We adopted that into the severe use standard,” said Arnold. “We went from the 25,000 cycles to 35,000 cycles, still with 15 pounds per square foot in the drawer. And we did a similar thing with the door cycling test for the heavy duty hinges.” 

Additions to the standard included a requirement that manufacturers include a mechanical means to ensure that shelves and drawers were made more difficult to remove. “Some of the public housing authorities said that when they would go in after a tenant left, they found shelves and drawers missing,” he said. 

The committee also added verbiage in terms of cleaning. Some housing authorities found that reagents, chemicals and kitchen and bathroom cleaning products were not listed in the current standard. In response, the committee added tested to verify resistance to specific cleaning products as well as types of chemicals to the section regarding stains. Also added was a repeated cleaning resistance test to ensure cabinets can withstand deep cleaning, which is needed more often in housing units in which tenants move in and out more frequently.

Not everything was changed. Specifications the committee left in place include the requirement for 180-degree hinges. The purpose for that is that is if the hinges do not allow the door to completely open, and the door comes to a stop before it rests against something, there is a potential that forcible opening of the door could cause damage to the door, to the hinge or the cabinet box or frame. 

The following is the KCMA Severe Use performance standard. For more information, visit the KCMA website at kcma.org.

1.0 Scope and Purpose 
1.1 This standard covers residential severe use kitchen and vanity cabinets. Wall hung vanity cabinets are excluded from the scope of this standard. 

1.2 This is a performance and construction standard only. It is not intended to specify cabinet design (mechanics or appearance) or materials, except where noted. This standard is intended to be used to evaluate and measure how well a severe use cabinet can be expected to perform when properly installed in accordance with manufacturer’s instructions, used in a severe use environment, and properly maintained. 

1.3 The purpose of this document is to establish a standard for residential severe use cabinets. This standard may also be used to evaluate cabinet quality when using new construction methods and/or materials. 

1.4 A Glossary of common cabinet related terms can be found in the ANSI/KCMA A161.1 standard. 

2.0 Severe Use Compliance to ANSI/KCMA A161.1 Requirements 
2.1 Severe Use cabinets must comply with the current edition of the ANSI/KCMA A161.1 standard except as noted below for additional performance and specification requirements. 

3.0 Additional Structural Tests for Severe Use Cabinets 
Structural tests are conducted to assure the structural integrity of the severe use cabinet. Each of the following tests are designed to measure the ability of the severe use cabinet to withstand service loadings and remain functional. For all tests, original functionality and appearance shall remain after the testing, i.e. no loss of functionality, sign of material failure or damage to appearance in the finish tests. 

3.1 Base Front Joint Loading 
3.1.1 Purpose: To test the strength of base-front joints to withstand potential stresses that may be applied when joining modular cabinets in the kitchen, and to insure reliable front joints that will not open after the cabinet is in service. 

3.1.2 Testing conducted in accordance with section 5.3 of the ANSI/KCMA A161.1 standard with the following exceptions. All loading shall be at 300 pounds regardless of cabinet construction. 

3.2 Impact on Base Cabinet Front and Door 
3.2.1 Purpose: To test ability of base cabinet, cabinet door, and connection means to withstand impacts expected in a severe use environment. 

3.2.2 Testing conducted in accordance with section 5.5 of the ANSI/KCMA A161.1 standard with the following exceptions. The number of impacts shall be 25 with both the door closed and at the 45⁰ angle. 

4.0 Door Operation Tests 
 

4.1 Door Racking and Hinge Loading 
4.1.1 Purpose: To test the ability of the cabinet, door, hinges, and attachment means to withstand severe use loading. 

4.1.2 Testing conducted in accordance with section 6.1 of the ANSI/KCMA A161.1 standard with the following exceptions. The test load of 65 pounds (29.5kg) shall be placed 12” (30.5cm) out from the hinge line and the number of cycles increased to 20. Final set of no more than 0.065” (1.65mm). The load shall be placed 12” (30.5cm) out from the hinge line or the edge of the door for concealed hinges. 

4.2 Door, Door-Holding, and Hinge Operation 
4.2.1 Purpose: To test the ability of door, door-holding or closure device, hinge, and attachment means to operate during severe use. 

4.2.2 Testing conducted in accordance with section 6.2 of the ANSI/KCMA A161.1 standard with the following exceptions. The number of cycles shall be increased to 50,000.

5.0 Drawer Operation Tests 
5.1 Drawer Operation 
5.1.1 Purpose: To test the ability of the drawer box and drawer hardware to operate with load during normal usage. 

5.1.2 Testing conducted in accordance with section 7.1 of the ANSI/KCMA A161.1 standard with the following exceptions. The load shall be 15 lbs/ft2 (0.63 kg/m2) and the total number of cycles shall be increased to 35,000. 

5.2 Drawer-Closing Impact 
5.2.1 Purpose: To test the ability of the drawer-front assembly to withstand the drawer-closing impact expected in severe usage. 

5.2.2 Testing conducted in accordance with section 7.2 of the ANSI/KCMA A161.1 standard with the following exceptions. The total number of impacts shall be increased to 20. 

5.3 Drawer Impact Test 
5.3.1 Purpose: To test the ability of the drawer to withstand impacts. 

5.3.2 Testing shall be conducted in accordance with section 5.4 of the ANSI/KCMA A161.1 standard with the following exceptions. The drawer shall be opened to the fully opened position, as far as the guides allow, and the impacts conducted at the center of the exposed drawer.

6.0 Finish Tests
6.1 General. These tests create, in accelerated form, the cumulative effects of years of severe use kitchen conditions on factory finished cabinets.

6.2 Chemical Resistance
6.2.1 Purpose: To test ability of finish to withstand substances typically found in severe use environments.

6.2.2 Test Procedure:
6.2.2.1 Testing conducted in accordance with section 9.4 of the ANSI/KCMA A161.1 standard with the following exceptions.
6.2.2.2 Testing shall be conducted in the vertical position for doors and drawer fronts and run in the horizontal position on base cabinet bottoms. In addition to the chemicals listed in the ANSI/KCMA A161.1 standard, Crisco canola oil, regular Cascade liquid (dishwasher detergent), Palmolive Regular (dishwashing detergent), Clorox Disinfectant Bleach Regular, 409 Antibacterial All-purpose Cleaner (non-bleach general purpose cleaner), and Windex Glass Cleaner shall also be used. After exposure, the reagents shall be cleaned using up to a 0.5% detergent and water solution by volume.

6.3 Detergent and Water Resistance
6.3.1 Purpose: To test the door edge, shelves, and base cabinet box for proper application of the finish
or edge treatment.

6.3.2 Testing conducted in accordance with section 9.5 of the ANSI/KCMA A161.1 standard with the following exceptions. For
the doors the sponge shall run the full length of the door edge (door supported ½” (12.7mm) on either side), for the shelf the sponge resting on the shelf, and for the bottom edge the cabinet resting on the sponge. The exposure time shall be 24 hours.

6.4 Water Holdout of Interior Surfaces
6.4.1 Purpose: To test the durability of internal shelves against residual water and heat damage.

6.4.2 Testing conducted in accordance with section 9.7 of the ANSI/KCMA A161.1 standard with the following exceptions. This test shall be repeated 10 times on the same shelf location and waiting at least 4 hours between each exposure.

7.0 Additional Testing not Included in the ANSI/KCMA A161.1 Standard
7.1 Repeated Cleaning Resistance

7.1.1. Purpose: To test the ability of the severe use cabinet to withstand repeated extensive cleaning.

7.1.2 Test Procedure: Using a 50/50 solution of vinegar and water (other cleaning agents to be considered based on future
conversations), wipe the interior and exterior exposed surfaces with
a sponge at least 4 hours apart, for 20 exposures.

7.1.3 Performance Requirement: No swelling, blistering, discoloration or other finish failure shall be observed.

7.2 Drawer Load Test
7.2.1 Purpose: To test the ability of the drawer to withstand a vertical load when opened.

7.2.2 Drawer is opened 6 inches (15.3cm) from the closed position and a point load of 75 (34kg) pounds is applied to the center of the top of the drawer front and shall remain in place for 15 minutes.

7.2.3 Performance Requirement
The drawer shall remain operable and aligned.

8.0 Construction Requirements
8.4 Shelf clips, if used, shall require a mechanical means for disengaging the shelf from the clip.

8.5 Drawer hardware shall be such that mechanical means is required to remove the drawer.

8.6 Hinges shall be 180-degree opening or greater.