Pre Completion Sound Testing
Construction Guidelines
Site Conditions Required for Sound Testing

The New Approved Document E, (2003 Edition) was implemented on 1st July 2003 (with an amendment in 2004). Its primary objective is to raise the standard of sound insulation in all dwellings to counter the rising level of complaints received about noise transmission. Noise nuisance has a detrimental effect on a homeowner or resident's quality of life so the aim is to improve the sound insulation both between and within dwellings, as well as between rooms in hostels, hotels and residential homes. The scope has been extended to cover reverberation in common parts of blocks of flats and acoustic conditions in schools.

Pre Completion Sound Testing

• The new regulations require that buildings are to be tested prior to completion in order to confirm they meet or exceed Part E standards.
• The Regulations require that one in ten of each construction type require testing.
• The person carrying out the building work should arrange for sound insulation testing to be carried out by a test body with approved qualifications and affiliations.

• All tests are at the Building Inspectors discretion.
• Failure in the test will result in the sound insulation needing to be improved and the construction type re-tested.
Full details of pre-completion testing are explained in Section 1 of the Approved Document.

Who is affected?

• Buildings where there has been a change of use relating to conversions and refurbishments - Effective from 1st July 2003.
• New build houses and flats - Effective from 1st January 2004.
• Domestic Extensions.

Approved Document E is split into four sections
E1 – Protection against sound from other parts of the building and adjoining buildings.
E2 – Protection against sound within a dwelling/house etc
E3 – Reverberation in the common internal parts of buildings containing flats or rooms for residential purposes
E4 – Acoustic Conditions in Schools

E1 and E2 of the document gives examples of constructions which if built correctly should achieve the sound insulation values set out in Table 1a and Table 1b below.

Table 1a: Dwellings-houses and flats – performance standards for separating walls,
separating floors, and stairs that have a separating function.

Description of Area	Airborne Sound Insulation D_nT,w + C_tr dB (Minimum Values)	Impact Sound Insulation L’_nT,w dB (Maximum Values)
Purpose built dwelling-houses and flats Walls Floors and stairs	45 45	- 62
Dwelling-houses and flats formed by material change of use Walls Floors and stairs	43 43	- 64

Table 1b: Rooms for residential purposes – performance standards for separating walls,
separating floors, and stairs that have a separating function.

Description of Area	Airborne Sound Insulation D_nT,w + C_tr dB (Minimum Values)	Impact Sound Insulation L’_nT,w dB (Maximum Values)
Purpose built dwelling-houses and flats Walls Floors and stairs	43 45	- 62
Dwelling-houses and flats formed by material change of use Walls Floors and stairs	43 43	- 64

E3: Reverberation in the common parts of buildings containing flats or rooms for residential purposes
A new requirement to control reverberation in the common parts of buildings containing flats and ‘rooms for residential purposes’. Pre-completion site testing is not required. To satisfy Requirement E3, sound absorption measures described in Section 7 of the Approved Document will need to be followed.

E4: Acoustic conditions in schools
New schools are now controlled under the Building Regulations. This includes sound insulation, reverberation time and indoor ambient noise levels. The normal way of satisfying requirement E4 will be to meet the values for sound insulation, reverberation time and internal ambient noise which are given in section 1 of Building Bulletin 93 ‘The Acoustic Design of Schools’ produced by DfES. (IBSN: 0 11 271105 7).

See http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/ for more information about planning and http://www.communities.gov.uk/ for building regulations.

Construction Guidelines

The new performance requirements are considerably more stringent than those set out in the 1991 Edition. This is due to the addition of a low frequency correction factor (Ctr), which is applied to the airborne sound insulation values. As a consequence, the new values will be more difficult to achieve for many conventional types of constructions. Section E1 and E2 of the approved document gives examples of types of construction likely to meet the performance requirements.

In all cases, good design and installation practice should be followed. It is important that measures to eliminate or minimise flanking sound transmission are employed at the design stage and the builder installs the specified products correctly. Failure to do so may lead to limitation of acoustic performance and the requirements of the Building Regulations not being met. When attempting to make any sort of construction compliant to the Part E Regulations, it is important to note that sound does not always go straight through the building element. If the wall or floor concerned has good sound reducing capabilities then the sound will simply find the easiest way around it. In short, if the sound can’t go through the wall, it will go up and over or around the side. This is called Flanking Transmission and occurs when sound travels along elements shared by adjacent structures. If measures to tackle Flanking are not correctly specified or constructed, Flanking Transmission can exceed direct transmission and damage the overall capabilities of the construction. One way of dealing with this issue is to use isolation strips around the perimeter edges of floors and walls, as well as the use of an acoustic sealant wherever possible. The New Approved Document E provides detailed advice with respect to flanking details.

Approved Document E can be downloaded free from http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/england/professionals/en/4000000000263.html

Site Conditions Required for Pre Completion Sound Testing

A Quiet Site
The measurements we take are very sensitive to noise such as someone talking in an adjacent room, hammering, grinding, walking up and down stairs, use of a compressor / generator or other external groundwork equipment. Such noises can adversely affect the test results. It is important that all trades should be suspended for the duration of the testing (about 2 to 3 hours for a typical set of tests), or workmen sent to another part of the site where their work will not affect the test area. We can carry out sound testing out of normal weekday working hours or over a weekend. There will be an additional cost for this.

Completion
Rooms should be available in pairs, either vertically (separated by the party floor) or horizontally (separated by the party wall) and should be complete but unfurnished.

· All wall and ceiling surfaces must be complete and skimmed
· Skirting boards, architraves and covings fitted
· All kitchen units in place
· Electrical sockets, light fittings and switches in place
· All windows in place and fully closeable with fully working trickle vents
· Internal doors in place and fully closeable
· External doors to flats and houses must also be fitted

We will require power on site to carry out sound testing. If power is not available, please make this known to us at the time of booking the tests.

Floor finishes
Carpets and laminates should not be fitted as impact testing should take place on the bare floor i.e. directly on the surface of the chipboard floating floor or on the surface of the concrete floating screed with the exception of "Type 1" floor which is a concrete floor with a soft covering. If a proprietary ‘acoustic underlay’ is used as an impact layer on a timber floor, then this can be left in place and we will test using a piece of MDF or plywood under the tapping machine. If a laminate or timber floor finish is to be supplied by the builder/developer, then impact testing should be carried out on a sample of the floor finish, at least 1 square metre.

Access and preparation
We will use our discretion to select rooms for testing unless specific arrangements have been made with the building control officer. Therefore, there must be reasonable and safe access to all parts of the building to be tested. Rooms should be cleared of all building materials, tools etc. and the floors swept clean. Staircases and corridors must be free of obstructions and trip hazards.

Plans and other details
To prepare a full report, we will need plans of the building showing the room layouts and flat or plot numbers. We will need full details of the floor construction, the ceiling construction and wall construction, including densities of plasterboard and concrete etc. We will require the full names and addresses of the client, the builder/developer and the principal contractor.

Safety
Our test engineers will attend site in their own safety equipment (PPE) i.e. ear defenders, hard hat, safety shoes and high-visibility vest or coat and will comply with all site safety requirements. Any other persons wishing to be present during testing should provide their own safety equipment as listed above.