Dwellings

Find the right SoundPro solutions by building element for dwellings

The Approved Document Part E of the Building Regulations, ‘resistance to the passage of sound’, was implemented in July 2003 following a large number of complaints from householders regarding noise from neighbours, and poor compliance and low satisfaction with existing standards – up to 40% of party floors and 25% of party walls failed to meet previous performance standards.

Part E Regulations for England and Wales focus on three main items for dwellings:

E1 – Applies to separating party walls and party floors of dwelling-houses, flats and ‘rooms for residential purposes’. This requirement includes ‘rooms for residential purposes’ in addition to dwelling houses and flats. ‘Rooms for residential purposes’ covers a room or suite of rooms, which is not a dwelling house or flat and which is used by one or more persons to live and sleep in, including rooms in hotels, hostels, boarding houses, halls of residence and residential homes.

There is a requirement for pre-completion site testing. The onus is upon the builder to demonstrate that required levels of sound insulation are achieved.

E2 – Applies to internal partition walls and floors in all new dwelling-houses, flats and rooms for residential purposes.The requirement sets standards for internal walls and floors in dwelling houses flats and rooms for residential purposes. Precompletion site testing is not required. Compliance is based upon laboratory testing.

E3 – Applies to reverberation in the common part of buildings containing flats or rooms for residential purposes

Robust Details

Robust details are construction solutions which provide an alternative to pre-completion sound testing as a method of complying with Part E (resistance to the passage of sound) of the Building Regulations (England and Wales).

Compliance with Robust Details will negate the requirement for pre-completion site testing of new build separating structures for dwelling houses and flats. Robust Details are based upon meeting sound test values which are in excess of those required by Approved Document E.

There are several ways of approaching compliance. It must be stressed that Approved Document ‘E’ is a guidance document; there will be many other ways of designing separating walls and floors that will meet and exceed the requirements in the guidance document. The onus is now placed on the installer to ensure good workmanship on site. With the introduction of pre-completion testing, acoustic failure will prove costly.

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