What is it?
Noise is a physical factor of the indoor environment made up of unwanted or disturbing sounds, which may come from inside or outside the building. It can be continuous, intermittent or impulsive and can have very different origins.
The SBM-2024 includes its assessment among the parameters used to characterise the environmental quality of indoor spaces.
How noise is perceived depends on its intensity, frequency, duration and variability, and on the intended use of each room: the same sound level can be perceived differently in a bedroom than in a corridor or a workspace.
Where can it be found?
Sources may be internal or external. The most common include road, rail or air traffic, the building’s technical installations, lifts, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems, pumps, appliances, machinery, nearby commercial activity, neighbours and other activities in the surroundings.
As well as noise carried through the air, sound is also transmitted through the structure of the building, which means both its origin and its path have to be analysed.
How does it affect the space?
The same sound level does not mean the same thing in every room. What determines whether noise is acceptable is the intended use of the space, together with the duration, frequency and variability of the sound.
Nor does sound travel only through the air: the structure of the building carries it, so the room where it is heard is not always the room where it originates.
How is it assessed?
What the inspection looks at
The technical inspection identifies possible sources and the construction characteristics of the property.
What is recorded for each measurement
Equipment, quantity, unit, location, date, measurement conditions and duration, together with the relevant limitations and the interpretation criterion applied.
How this factor is measured
Measurements are taken with specialist professional instruments to assess sound levels and, where necessary, to analyse how they change at different times or under different operating conditions.
Interpretation takes into account both the values recorded and the nature of the noise, its source and the intended use of the rooms.
In assessments intended as expert evidence, calibrated instruments are used to ensure the reliability and traceability of the measurements.
Criteria
Results are interpreted according to the SBM-2024 and, where appropriate, taking into account the technical standards applicable to the type of assessment carried out.
The assessment does not depend solely on the sound level, but also on the duration, repetition, source and context in which the noise occurs.
This guide does not publish values or thresholds. Technical criteria, legal limits and recommendations are different things and are not presented as equivalent.
Improvement measures
Work always begins by understanding and, where possible, reducing the source, before acting on the path or on the space. Measures are prioritised by expected effect, feasibility and proportionality, and no products are recommended by default.
The action taken depends on the origin identified during the assessment. Options that may be considered include:
- Improving sound insulation.
- Acting on technical installations.
- Reorganising spaces.
- Maintaining equipment.
- Applying construction solutions adapted to each building.
Recommendations are always made on an individual basis, after analysing the full set of results obtained.
How Cemprotecta helps
This factor is not assessed on its own. It is measured as part of an assessment that treats the space as a system, because sound travels through the air and through the structure, and its effect depends on how each room is used.
What an assessment gives you is knowing what is there, where it is and what can be done about it, with an ordered sequence of measures rather than a list of problems.
- Inspection of the space and of accessible installations.
- Measurement in the rooms where people spend most time.
- Combined interpretation with the other factors assessed.
- A report with measures ranked by their expected effect on exposure.
Request an assessment
If this factor concerns you in your home or workplace, tell us about your case. The prior inspection will determine whether it is worth measuring and what else should be assessed alongside it.