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Hello,
Our apartment block is in NSW.
We have the original standard by-law concerning hard flooring.
“14 Floor coverings
(1) An owner of a lot must ensure that all floor space within the lot is covered or otherwise treated to an extent sufficient to prevent the transmission from the floor space of noise likely to disturb the peaceful enjoyment of the owner or occupier of another lot.
(2) This by-law does not apply to floor space comprising a kitchen, laundry, lavatory or bathroom.”The by-law is open to interpretation.
Our building manager suggested the by-law be changed to include a reference to a noise standard.
He recommended a Cat 5 standard.
Has anyone had experience with this standard of noise insulation?
Is this standard too high or too low?
Is it difficult to find suppliers to install Cat 5 flooring?
Any notable problem using this standard?
Thanks in advance for any help.
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I can’t find any reference to “Cat 5” insulation.
In any case, in my opinion, it’s better to specify the desired outcome – acceptable noise transmission – than the method.
If the cladding scandal has taught us nothing else, we now know for sure that installers of any building products (and their colluding customers) will lie about the quality of the products they install if they can save money.
Put the onus on the person changing the flooring to get it right. Who’s going to get NCAT to order a floor be ripped up to check that it has the right material under it?
If an owners claims the installed the right material but they haven’t or it doesn’t work, then the neighbour below will have to live with the consequences.
Finally, have a look at this page from the OCN (which, I have just realised, quotes me).
Any timber floor over acoustic underlay is a poor substitute for carpet over quality underlay when it comes to sound insulation. Specify the noise reduction, not the product – if only because a better product might come along and you will have to rewrite your by-laws all over again.
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Our by-law includes the following condition prior to approval:
an acoustic testing report, conducted by a member of the Association of Australian Acoustical Consultants (AAAC), on-site, according to the requirements of ISO 140-7:2006 and 717-2:2004, confirming that the acoustic performance of the new floor covering has an LnTw value of 40 or less (6 Star rating) equating to that of medium pile carpet with underlay.