Comparison of acoustical standards and guidelines used in the USA, UK and Europe

Abstract

A comparison of acoustical standards and guidelines used in the USA, UK and some other countries of Europe is presented with examples of applications to projects in the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries. The paper focuses on similarities and differences in acoustical design criteria adopted for building services noise, vibration, airborne and impact sound isolation, environmental noise, room acoustics, and electroacoustics. An example is office speech privacy where the UK uses a different parameter for sound insulation/isolation compared to the USA. Some of the criteria used in different countries are quite onerous and not commercially feasible. This is particularly relevant to hospital and school designs in the UK where large PFI/PPP funded projects require compliance with many standards. Compliance with UK Building Regulations in residential buildings has now become a legal requirement with testing at completion to confirm compliance, as is the case in some other European countries. Alternatively, compliance may require use of a robust standard detail that has been proven by multiple testing without a single failure. The paper concludes with case studies where the financial and legal impact of complying with these standards was a key issue, particularly in the design of mixed‐use developments.