Approved Document E

The first set of national building standards was introduced in 1965. Now known as the building regulations, they set out:

• What qualifies as 'building work' and so fall under the control of the regulations.
• What types of buildings are exempt.
• The notification procedures that must be followed when starting, carrying out, and completing building work.
• Requirements for specific aspects of building design and construction.

The 'approved documents' provide guidance for how the building regulations can be satisfied in common building situations. There is no obligation to adopt the solutions presented in the approved documents, the building regulations can be satisfied in other ways.

Approved Document E: Resistance to the passage of sound, was last published in 2015.

It deals with requirements for sound insulation in buildings, including both new dwellings and the conversion of buildings to form dwellings. It covers sound reduction between rooms for residential purposes and designated rooms in dwellings, and acoustic conditions for common areas in flats and schools.

The content of the Approved Document includes:

• Section 0: Performance standards.
• Section 1: Pre-completion testing – Provides guidance on an appropriate programme of sound insulation testing for a sample of properties. See Pre-completion sound testing.
• Section 2: Separating walls and associated flanking constructions for new buildings – Provides examples of wall types and their junction requirements.
• Section 3: Separating floors and associated flanking constructions for new buildings – Provides examples of floor types and their junction requirements.
• Section 4: Dwelling-houses and flats formed by material change of use – Includes guidance on work to existing construction, corridor walls and doors, wall, stair and floor treatments, junction requirements .
• Section 5: Internal walls and floors for new buildings – Includes guidance on doors, layout, and junction requirements
• Section 6: Rooms for residential purposes.
• Section 7: Reverberation in the common internal parts of buildings containing flats or rooms for residential purposes.
• Section 8: Acoustic conditions in schools.
• Annex A: Method for calculating mass per unit area.
• Annex B: Procedures for sound insulation testing.
• Annex C: Glossary.
• Annex D: References.
• Annex E: Design details.

[edit] The Requirements of Approved Document E

The 2003 edition of Approved Document E (ADE) (incorporating 2004, 2010, 2013 and 2015 amendments) contains four requirements.

[edit] Requirement E1 - Protection against soudn from other parts of the building and adjoining buildings

Requirement E1 is as follows,

"Dwelling-houses, flats and rooms for residential purposes shall be designed and constructed in such a way that they provide reasonable resistance to sound from other parts of the same building and from adjoining buildings."

In practice, ADE goes on to elaborate that compliance can be demonstrated by pre-completion sound insulation testing of separating walls and floors.

In purpose-built dwelling-houses and flats, separating walls and floors must achieve at least 45 dB DnT,w + Ctr in an airborne sound insulation test. Separating floors must also achieve at most 62 dB L'nT,w in an impact sound insulation test. In dwelling-houses and flats formed by a material change of use, the requirements at 43 dB DnT,w + Ctr and 64 dB L'nT,w respectively.

[edit] Requirement E2 - Protection against soudn within a dwelling-house etc.

"Dwelling-houses, flats and rooms for residential purposes shall be designed and constructed in such a way that:

a) internal walls between a bedroom or a room containing a water closet, and other rooms; and

b) internal floors

provide reasonable resistance to sound."

In practice, this requirement can be achieved by using walls with a minimum laboratory Weighted Sound Reduction Index of Rw 40 dB.

[edit] Requirement E3 - Reverberation in the common internal parts of buildings containing flats or rooms for residential purposes

"The common internal parts of buildings which contain flats or rooms for residential purposes shall be designed and constructed in such a way as to prevent more reverberation around the common parts than is reasonable."

The intention of this Requirement is to prevent reverberant noise build-up in common areas which open directly into dwellings, to mitigate the noise of occupants coming and going passing through neighbouring front doors.

[edit] Requirement E4 - Acoustic conditions in schools

"(1) Each room or other space in a school building shall be designed and constructed in such a way that it has the acoustic conditions and the insulation against disturbance by noise appropriate to its intended use.

(2) For the purposes of this Part - 'school' has the same meaning as in Section 4 of the Education Act 1995[4]; and 'school building' means any building forming a school of part of a school"

Detailed requirements to achieve compliance with Requirement E4 are contained in Building Bulletin 93: Acoustic design of schools - performance standards.

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki

• Airborne sound.
• Approved documents.
• Approved Document A.
• Building acoustics.
• Building Regulations.
• Decibel.
• Noise nuisance.
• Part E compliance.
• Pre-completion sound testing.
• Reverberation.
• Robust details certification scheme.
• Room acoustics.
• Sound absorption.
• Sound absorption coefficient.
• Sound frequency.
• Sound insulation in buildings.
• Sound insulation in dwellings: Part 1: An introduction (GG 83-1).
• Sound v noise.
• Structure-borne sound.

This article was last updated by Timbral Acoustic Consultants on 3 May 2024.

--Timbral Acoustic Consultants 16:35, 03 May 2024 (BST)