If you want to lower the chance of noise disturbance complaints it is essential that location and layout of rooms are taking into consideration from the design stage of the project.
If ‘habitable’ rooms such as kitchens or living rooms are placed against bedrooms the occupiers of these properties are more likely to complain about noise.
Kitchen cupboards doors when closed usually transmit impact noise through the wall partition to the adjacent dwelling, if the room backing onto the kitchen is a bedroom this can lead to annoyance and frustration for the neighbour.
To reduce the chance of noise complaints, hallways/corridors should be placed alongside the adjacent property to reduce the chance of noise transference and reduce the risk of sound testing failure. Failing this a kitchen should be places against a kitchen and bedrooms should back onto other bedrooms.
Planning a good acoustically favourable dwelling layout can help to reduce the number of noise problems that may occur, even if your building passes the Sound Insulation Testing.
Also, if neighbours have varied working patterns, i.e. they work night shifts and arrive back in the early hours of the morning; the layout of the rooms will be of particular importance.
We can advise on all types of acoustic design, whether it’s accomplished during initial construction or during a refurbishment/renovation project. If you would like more information in regards to our sound testing services, please contact us now.