Sound Advice

David Gatfield, Technical Services Manager at flooring and walling manufacturer, Altro, looks at installing the right floor for sound insulation and acoustic design.

We’ve all heard the old adage ‘children should be seen and not heard’, but the reality is that groups of people - no matter what their age - are rarely silent. Workplaces of all types, therefore, tend to be noisy places. In fact, the HSE estimates that over one million employees in the UK are exposed to levels of noise which put their hearing at risk.

There have been a number of regulations introduced over the years designed to minimise the effects of noise in the workplace and flooring contractors, the wider construction industry and building materials specifiers all have a part to play. Part E of the Building Regulations, applies to both new build and refurbishment work and sets out standards including the sound insulation of internal walls and floors and the control of reverberation within communal areas.

For anyone working in the education sector, Building Bulletin 93 (BB93) was also introduced to provide a “regulatory framework for the acoustic design in schools in support of the Building Regulations”. Specific requirements have been set out for different activity areas in recognition that both teaching and learning are acoustically demanding activities.

There is now no overlooking these regulations when it comes to specifying and installing flooring in all types of building projects. Pre-completion sound insulation testing of walls and floors are required to demonstrate to Building Control that compliance with Part E has been achieved. A series of Robust Standard Details (RSDs) have also been developed and adopted as an alternative to pre-completion testing.

Flooring contractors have a vital role to play in reducing noise transfer within new and existing buildings. Careful planning when it comes to selecting new floor and surface finishes and appropriate use of acoustic absorption can do a lot to minimise noise carrying from different areas of the building.

The selection of floor coverings is an important purchase due to the sheer amount of surface area to be covered, making it a key factor in the fight against noise problems. Choosing soft yet resilient flooring such as vinyl, rubber or carpet can help to reduce impact sound from feet and furniture. However, it is worth remembering that carpets may be difficult to clean, especially if spillages may occur, and they are sometimes not considered suitable because of their effect on indoor air quality. Modern vinyl and rubber floor finishes do not suffer from this problem, being specially designed to be both durable and easy to clean. They have some acoustic benefits in their own rights these can be further enhanced by using the floor coverings in conjunction with a specialised acoustic underlay such as Altro acoustic underlay 1101, which fully satisfies the requirements of regulations such as BB93.  This recycled rubber underlay will achieve a sound reduction of 17 decibels when used in conjunction with either a PVC or rubber flooring systems.

The right underlay can also be useful where injury from impact with the floor or wall is a concern, for example in a nursery or infant school.  Rubber underlays have also been used for many years in isolation cells in police stations, prisons and mental health facilities where reducing the risk of injury to prisoners, patients or personnel is paramount. 

When using noise-absorbing materials to change the acoustic characteristics of a work area, it is also worth remembering the type of work environment you are specifying for. Some absorption materials are available in forms which are specially designed to withstand physical impacts; materials which and can be adapted to hygienic environments or where absorption of oil, water etc may be a problem are also available.

This article first appeared in the October 2010 edition of the CFJ.