The Mayor's Ambient Noise Strategy - Greater London Authority

172 Mayor of London
The Mayor’s Ambient Noise Strategy
northern European countries with higher urban densities than the UK also
have higher standards of external and internal noise insulation. Higher
standards of building management are also common, with more restrictions
and/or shared understandings, such as on times for noisy activities.
4F.9 Poor internal noise insulation increases the risk of problems between
neighbours, adding to the stress people experience and demands on public
services, including the nuisance noise services of local authority
Environmental Health departments. While parties, excessively powerful
home entertainment systems, and other unneighbourly behaviour may
present the most acute problems, many homes are so poorly insulated that
the ordinary everyday activities of neighbours may cause distress. Problems
may be particularly severe in some flats in converted houses, where
households may be separated only by suspended timber floors and thin
plasterboard partitions. Poor internal design of flats or terraces, with
conflicting uses adjacent to each other (for example a living room of one
flat above a bedroom of another) can further increase the likelihood of
neighbour noise conflicts. Cases in 1999 in the House of Lords (often
referred to as ‘Baxter and Mills’ 5 ) resulted in a ruling that a landlord did
not have to rectify poor sound insulation between dwellings or pay
damages to a tenant due to any resulting nuisance. It was also ruled that
reasonable activities by the neighbouring tenants could not be an
actionable nuisance. Property owners and occupiers may be unaware of all
the measures they could take to reduce the impact of external or internal
noise. High costs and uncertain quality of building work may deter people
from improving noise insulation. Acoustic performance is easily undermined
by poor skills, incorrect materials, and inadequate regulation.
4F.10 People may suffer from poor insulation, both against external noise, and
from noise generated within adjacent flats or attached buildings. Just
reducing external noise could make internal noise more apparent. Internal
and external noise problems need to be considered together. Proposals to
raise sound insulation standards and extend the scope of Part E of the
Building Regulations were made by the Government in January 2001. In
addition to new houses and self-contained flats, scope would be
extended to include hotel rooms, hostels, student accommodation, nurses’
homes and homes for older people. Standards regarding low frequency
noise transmission, such as from TV and sound system bass notes, would
be raised. BRE estimated 6 that in new dwellings, as many as 40% of new
separating floors, and up to 25% of new separating walls might fail to
meet the then current standards. Testing was therefore proposed before
final building completion. The Government announced 7 that amendments
to Part E on sound insulation would come into force on 1 July 2003. This
introduced the standards proposed in January 2001, including pre-