scope:

This guideline contains - in the sense of the health protection - in addition to the requirements for the sound insulation of partitions specified in DIN 4109:1989-11 - recommendations for enhanced sound insulation between rooms in the sense of privacy and higher comfort in buildings with dwellings or housing-similar rooms, which serve completely or partly as occupied rooms for people.

The characteristic values of this guideline apply to the protection against

• airborne sound and impact sound from other rooms (e.g. neighbour dwellings), which arise from their intended use,
• noises from technical building equipment which are not installed in the own area as well as from commercial, trade and industrial c ompanies in the same or in structurally associated buildings,
• external noise, e.g. traffic noise and noise from commercial, trade and industrial companies, which are not structurally connected with the occupied rooms needing protection,
• airborne sound and impact sound within the own area

and form the basis for building constructions for new buildings as well as for structural changes at existent buildings.

Noise sensitive rooms are in the sense of this guideline occupied rooms to be protected against noise; that covers in dwellings all rooms with a floor area ≥ 8 m².

Note: For user noises, which often result in complaints (e.g. putting down a toothbrush tumbler on a storage board, opening and closing the toilet-cover, use of toilets, sliding in the bath tub, striking the doors - also of wall cabinets and built-in cabinets, etc.) no characteristic values according to the noise control classes SSt II and SSt III were specified, since these noises are very difficult to reproduce and depend on the specific building situation. It is assumed, however, that these noises - by intended use - are reduced as much as possible by application of conventional arrangements for the impact sound insulation when mounting the sanitary equipment.

The characteristic values of this guideline are not valid

• for rooms, in which due to their normal use continuously sound levels of L_AF ≥ 40 dB are present,
• for kitchens, baths, toilet areas, corridors and secondary rooms regarding the impact sound and the noises from technical building installations,
• against aircraft noise, so far as the measures of sound insulation are regulated by „Gesetz zum "Schutz gegen Fluglärm" (the law for the protection against aircraft noise),
• against low frequency sound in accordance with DIN 45680 (usually, if the difference amounts to L_CF − L_AF > 20 dB).

In this guideline the sound insulation between rooms is expressed by reverberation time related quantities

D_nT,w for the airborne sound,

L'nT,w for the impact sound and

L_AFmax,nT for the average standard maximum level

Thereby, in each case is referred to a reverberation time of T₀ = 0,5 s.

The weighted apparent sound reduction index R′w and the weighted normalized impact sound pressure level L′_n,w are still significant quantities which are required for the planning purposes of the sound insulation of partitions between dwellings.

The differences of sound insulation between rooms can be significant, despite the same sound reduction indices R'_w of the partition, depending upon whether the adjoining rooms are small or large. The introduction of reverberation timereferred sound levels and sound level differences avoids these differences and provides and makes a situation-referred and thus the sound insulationand room-oriented planning possible.