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The humble filing cabinet scarcely attracts a great deal of thought by office in today’s hectic office environments but a quality filing cabinet should give years of trouble free service. Even in these days of the supposed paperless office, file cabinets are still in great demand as the reality is that most offices still generate large amounts of written documentation and paperwork that needs to be filed away.

Filing cabinets are usually constructed from either metal (usually steel) or wood (usually melamine faced chipboard with a realistic wood grain effect). Of the two common materials used, metal filing cabinets are lighter, stronger, longer lasting and usually come with a manufacturer’s guarantee of up to 15 years depending on the quality of the filing cabinet that has been purchased. Wooden filing cabinets are still very functional but generally are supplied with a guarantee of between 1 and 5 years.

Filing cabinets are designed to store suspension file folders (often called tab files) that hang on runners inside each drawer. One key feature to watch out for when choosing a filing cabinet is “100% drawer extension”. Basically this is where the internal drawers are designed to pull out 100% so that even the files at the back of the drawer can be easily accessed without having to fumble blindly by reaching back into the cabinet to retrieve files. Another important feature is the anti tilt mechanism which operates by preventing more than one drawer being opened at once as the weight of the files could easily cause a cabinet to top over. Files are recommended to be loaded into the bottom drawers of the filing cabinet first to aid stability of the unit.

There are two common sizes of suspension file in Europe, foolscap and A4. Foolscap is by far the most popular size used in Britain and Ireland, whereas A4 is the most popular size in continental Europe. The runners that support the suspension files are usually built into the top of the drawer sides in a standard filing cabinet so the suspension files are designed to run from front to back. Some filing cabinets include conversion fittings to allow either foolscap or A4 sizes to be stored. It is important to note that the drawer bases in filing cabinets (and particularly in wooden filing cabinets) are not generally designed to support great weight and so the filing cabinets are not designed to be used as standard drawers.

Alternatives to the standard design of filing cabinet are the side filer which is basically an extra wide filing cabinet where the suspension files are designed to run sideways instead of front to back. The alternative method of storing suspension files is tambour cupboards with either a wooden or metal carcass that have been fitted out with roll out suspension file frames. GDB office furniture manufacture a comprehensive range of tambour storage cupboards with a wide range of internal filing fitments. This design is far more popular in continental Europe. Roll out suspension filing frames usually accept A4 suspension files as standard though most can be adapted to store foolscap suspension files.

Bisley filing cabinets are undoubtedly the leading brand for steel filing cabinets and their flagship BS range of cabinets which are built to last with a 15 year manufacturer’s guarantee. These feature fully welded construction with double skin drawer fronts and drawers are mounted on roller ball bearing slides which provide ultra-smooth action and 100% extension. The Bisley BS range includes two, three, four and five drawer versions and will accept both foolscap and A4 filing. The BS4E 4 drawer filing cabinet will store 2.2 linear meters of suspension files.

Tags: Bottom Drawers, Common Materials, Continental Europe, Drawer Extension, Drawer Sides, File Cabinets, File Folders, Filing Cabinet, Foolscap, Fumble, Melamine Faced Chipboard, Metal Filing Cabinets, Office Environments, Paperless Office, Suspension File, Suspension Files, Tab Files, Tilt Mechanism, Wood Grain, Wooden Filing Cabinets