Acoustic regulation of buildings

In France, regulations governing noise abatement in buildings set minimum acoustic quality requirements, depending on the intended use of the building. It is up to the client to take account of special circumstances and, if necessary, to request higher performance levels than those required by the regulations. This should be the case, for example, when the planned building is located in a particularly quiet environment.

Building acoustics regulations mainly apply to new buildings, additions and extensions.

All builders are bound by regulations concerning the acoustic characteristics of buildings. These texts are peppered with terms that are not always universally understood:

• sound pressure levels ;

• decibels ;

• A-weighted decibel ;

• octave intervals centered on a frequency ;

• noise spectrum ;

• normalized sound insulation for pink emission noise ;

• standardized sound insulation ;

• standardized impact sound pressure level ;

• reverberation time ;

• equivalent absorption area...

In the thirty years between the first acoustic regulations applicable to residential buildings (June 14, 1969) and the most recent (June 30, 1999), methods for predicting a building's acoustic performance have been refined, but the vocabulary used, the units and the calculation methods have not changed. As a result, builders have been able to develop reflexes that enable them to adapt the means to be implemented to the results required.

In 2000, it became necessary to "translate" the acoustic performance of buildings and construction elements into the "European language" specified in mandatory European standards. The result was a change in acoustic terminology, the expression of results and calculation methods. We felt it essential that this presentation of building acoustic regulations should show the differences between what has been practised for thirty years and what must be used now. However, we have assumed that the reader is already familiar with the basic concepts of decibel, decibel A and noise spectrum. Nevertheless, as the unit "decibel" is a special one, a reminder of the tools for handling it will be given.