Noise issues are often overlooked at the planning and design stages of a development project leading to operational problems, nuisance complaints, and poor performance. The costs of poor acoustic environments are often hidden but can be significant (e.g. consider speech intelligibility in a poorly designed school classroom). As noise problems are expensive to rectify, it pays dividends to ensure that acoustics and noise control are properly considered prior to construction. There may also be a legal obligation to do so under the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations, or if so required by the Planning Authority.
In particularly noisy environments (above 85 dBA), employers also have legal obligations under health & safety law to protect the hearing of their employees and others. This may involve risk assessment, noise monitoring, noise control measures, personal protective equipment and employee information, instruction and training.
- - Road Traffic Noise
- - Railway Noise
- - Aircraft Noise
- - Construction Noise
- - Industrial and other sources