We do a lot of Approved Doc E Building Regulation Sound Testing – a lot! So when we do unfortunately highlight a sound test failure we do know where to start looking first, and that’s behind cupboards and flooring perimeters – especially kitchen and bathroom fittings. Why? because sound behaves like water and if you put water in a bucket with holes then (duh) it’s going to leak. Sound is the same, sound will find the weakest path in your construction. So even if you have built those walls or those floors with multiple layers of plasterboard, used mineral wool, even perhaps utilised resilient b ..read more

British Standard BS 4142: 2014 – Methods for rating and assessing industrial and commercial sound is used for the assessment of noise of a commercial and industrial nature. It provides methods for rating and assessing sound of an industrial and/or commercial nature, including industrial and manufacturing processes, fixed installations of mechanical and electrical plant and equipment, sound from the loading and unloading of goods and materials at industrial and/or commercial premises and mobile plant and vehicles that is an intrinsic part of the overall sound emanating from premises or processe ..read more

Soundguard Acoustics Ltd was appointed to the interesting challenge of measuring driver noise exposure on the 13o year old Lynton & Lynmouth Cliff Railway. The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 (CONAWR) is the current standard relating to the noise exposure of employees. We all know that manufacturing and engineering may be perceived as ‘noisy’ businesses but workplace noise assessment requirements cover a wider range of industries such as the entertainment sector, call centres, food and drink, forestry and 1000’s of other workplaces deemed to be noisy. Soundguard Acoustics worked ..read more

South West England receives the least noise complaints per population. The figure, released annually by the Chartered Institute for Environmental Health (CIEH), confirms that in 2018/19, the region received on average 35 complaints per 10,000 of the population and equates to roughly half of the national average for England. The World Health Organisation report that noise is a significant burden to health, second only to that from air pollution, yet noise remains the single largest issue of complaint made to local authorities in England1 with a 9% increase in the number of noise complaints in t ..read more

Greenfarm Hostel is a development in Cardiff built entirely with shipping containers. The purpose of the building is to provide emergency social housing and was designed by ISO Spaces South West Ltd. Shipping containers present a number of challenges when designing to meet Building Regulations, something that had been carefully considered within the internal design. Soundguard Acoustics Ltd was approached by the Truro based firm ISO Spaces South West Ltd and asked to sound test the eight apartments and provide the neccessary certification to meet the performance standards for New Build homes u ..read more

Soundguard Acoustics Ltd has been working with Barnstaple based firm Pearce Developments who have completed the second apartment development on the Anchorwood Bank site in Barnstaple, Devon.  The new build riverfront apartments are part of the larger development and Soundguard Acoustics Ltd was appointed for the Approved Doc E Sound Testing Certification. ‘The sound testing performance was excellent’, says Acoustic Consultant & Director Rob Shaddick of Soundguard Acoustics, ‘We are happy to award the necessary certification for Building Control’. If you require sound testers in barnstaple ..read more

This week Soundguard Acoustics Ltd was contracted to provide an internal noise impact assessment for a proposed House of Multiple Occupancy development within an existing Grade II listed building in Barnstaple, Devon. The Environmental Health Officer and the Local Planning Department had concern regarding the proximity of other commercial premises, including ventilation plant and amplified music from a nearby public house and restaurant wihtin the town centre development. The monitoring took place over four evenings and included and assessment of the soundscape during the busier Friday and Sat ..read more

This week Soundguard Acoustics Ltd sound tested a conversion of a former dwelling into three flats in Exeter, Devon. Whilst the Approved Doc E airborne tests of the floors all passed, the impact testing failed by a small margin of 2dB in some areas – but why would that be? Discussion with the developer determined that the joists were very uneven and therefore the acoustic overlay flooring system would not lay flat without bouncing, they had therefore fitted the skirting boards tight to the flooring to keep it in place and also there was evidence of nail holes suggesting that the floors had als ..read more

Sound Testing is an essential requirement at the completion of any new build or conversion project and the requirement when testing the LnTw  impact performance of floors is that the carpets are either removed, or lifted to accommodate the imapct testing equipment. The reason is that the Approved Doc E requirement is to test the structural integrity of the floor for sound insulation performance, thereby removing the variable of tenants or owners altering the floor covering in the future. So whether lino, laminate or carpet is preferred by the owner / tenant the impact testing of the exposed fl ..read more

The requirements of sound testing Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMO’s) is not clear within the Approved Doc E Standard and much of the decision is based upon the interpretation of the written guidance and the opinion of Building Control Officer. Soundguard Acoustics Ltd can assist within this interpretation and offer third party advice between the BCO and the developer. We consider that HMO’s are ‘rooms for residential purpose’ which is defined in Regulation 2 of the Approved Doc E as ‘a room’, or a ‘suite of rooms’, which is not a dwelling house or a flat and which is used by one or more pers ..read more