Sound control is vital, especially in the construction industry. Architects and developers have to make sure that their buildings have effective sound control design. Sound should not leak from one room or area to another. Nobody wants to hear the neighbor’s TV or music, or the washing machine downstairs, nor would you want to stay in a hotel where you are kept awake because you can hear the people in the next room, snoring.

The issue of Sound Control is included in the Health and Safety regulations. This regulation states that individuals have a right to follow a normal domestic life, including eating and sleeping, whilst at home. This covers all aspects of sound and noise, whether airborne sound or impact sound.

Airborne sound is the noise you can hear from loud music, the TV, conversations while impact sounds are produced as a result of something working, or moving, such as the vibration of a washing machine, the pounding bass thump from a loudspeaker in a different room, or footsteps going up and down the stairs.

Airborne sound is meant to be heard but not from next door! Flanking transmissions is when noise leaks from one space or area of the building to another, indirectly such as through a floor or wall. Therefore, walls, floor and stairs need to use acoustic insulation to reduce the transmission of sound. Specially designed wooden flooring, and fixtures are used underneath the actual flooring, so that footsteps and other airborne and impact noise are lessened.

The New Approved Document E in the Building Regulations sets the standard for Sound Control and states how much noise leakage is acceptable. This standard will not only affect new buildings but also affect refurbishment work carried out on existing buildings.

So if you are planning to have work done to your home, or if you are renovating, you should be aware of these provisions. Sections E1, E2 and E3 of the Building Regulations, cover domestic dwellings, such as houses, apartments, boarding houses, hostel rooms, hotels, university halls of residence, and residential homes while Section E4 applies to schools.

Pre Completion Testing for new structures and renovations are required by building inspectors, so they can test whether the Building Regulations have been adhered to. Builders can use a system like Robust Details, which are sound control and acoustic flooring insulation components and accessories that have already passed Building Regulations standards. This way, Pre Completion Testing is no longer necessary.

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