41. This section focuses on those amendments that address areas where the current requirements or guidance are now thought to be inadequate. They generally have a cost compliance implication. Those amendments that are considered to be cost-neutral or perhaps offering a cost saving are covered in detail in the Benefits section below.
42. Data from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) indicates that the number of complaints about domestic noise per million people has risen in the last twelve years. In 1987/88 the number of complaints was just over 1,500 per million people, but by 1997/98 the number of complaints about domestic noise had reached 5,051 per million people. The 1997/98 CIEH Report states that 148,006 complaints about domestic noise were reported from 225 responding local authorities. In the period between 1986 and 1996 the total number of domestic noise complaints has trebled, although the rate of increase has reduced during recent years. Part of the reason for the rise in noise complaints is thought to be due to changing lifestyles and rising expectations. Heightened awareness of the issue following increased media coverage may also play a part.
43. Data regarding reported noise problems was gathered during the 1996 English House Condition Survey (EHCS). This showed that over a third of households (7.0 million households) experienced problems with noise over the last year. Respondents to the EHCS who said they had problems with noise were then asked to identify the source of the noise. 67% (4.7 million) of all households having a problem with noise said that it originated from sources such as traffic, industry, etc. The remaining 33% (2.3 million) said that the noise was due to neighbours (either immediate neighbours, those in common areas or both).
44. EHCS data shows that occupants of flats (10.9%) report a higher number of noise problems from immediate neighbours than those living in houses (4.9%). Residents in detached houses (2.5%) report fewer problems than those living in semi-detached (5.3%) or terraced houses (6.1%). It appears that dwelling age does not have an effect on the extent of reported problems with no significant difference reported by occupants living in post 1980s dwellings compared to those living in dwellings constructed pre 1980.
45. Nearly 80% of the 2.3 million households that claimed that the noise was due to neighbours said that the noise was either wholly or partially the fault of the neighbours in question, and not solely a consequence of a flaw in the design of the building.
46. In summary the 1996 EHCS survey has shown that:
47. NHBC field staff regularly receive complaints about poor sound insulation in new dwellings. For new buildings, those complaints received in the first two years are referred back to the builder to put right and only become formal claims if the builder defaults. For the years 1998/99 there were 163 formal claims processed for poor sound insulation between dwellings18 and these are thought to represent the 'tip of the iceberg'. In many cases each formal claim will front many further sound insulation problems in similar buildings, where owners may be afraid of blighting their properties.
48. Perhaps the main survey on the subjective acceptability of sound insulation across separating walls was carried out by Langdon et al19 and reported in 1982. Whilst the method of rating sound insulation has changed since the survey was published, the target standard is still about the same. The survey found that poor sound insulation was mentioned spontaneously by 20% of respondents, and that 24% of respondents in dwellings at or below the target standard ranked poor sound insulation as the most important of a list of nine housing defects. In response to another question approximately 25% of respondents in dwellings that attained the target standards rated the insulation as poor or very poor, whilst a further 25% rated the insulation as fair. Considerable annoyance was attributed to impact sounds such as footsteps and slamming doors in adjoining dwellings, and as the insulation against airborne sound improved so annoyance from impact sounds became more common.
49. A study undertaken by BRE20 between 1992 and 1994 investigated complaints (mainly to local authorities and housing associations) about sound insulation between dwellings that had been approved under Building Regulations and that appeared to comply with the relevant design guidance in the current version of Approved Document E. The study found that, in the main, complainants lived in dwellings with sound insulation below the standard generally regarded as reasonable for Building Regulations purposes. Noise from amplified music, television, radio, domestic appliances (particularly washing machines, telephones, vacuum cleaners), footfalls, the slamming of doors and plumbing noises could all be heard in complainants' dwellings. The survey also found that some people were dissatisfied even when their home met current standards - although these complaints were often concerned with banging doors and other noises not controlled by regulations.
50. Since the BRE study was confined to dwellings where the occupants were dissatisfied it cannot be extrapolated to indicate what proportion of the total population are dissatisfied with the standard of sound insulation in their homes, nor to investigate what proportion of domestic noise complaints might be attributable to poor sound insulation. However, the study does provide evidence of non-compliance with current standards and that sound insulation problems do arise when non-compliance occurs.
51. BRE estimate that, in new dwellings, as many as 40% of new separating floors and up to 25% of new separating walls may fail to meet the current standards. The changes for new dwellings, particularly the pre-completion testing regime, are intended both to improve standards and to reduce the failure rate to below 5% over 10 years.
52. There are a number of adverse effects that may result from exposure to noise in dwellings and rooms used for residential purposes. These include21:
53. Noise-induced hearing impairment is unlikely to occur in dwellings. For bedrooms the critical effect will usually be sleep disturbance and lack of privacy, but other effects will be more critical in other rooms depending on the individual concerned and the activity taking place. The effects of noise in the domestic environment are embraced by the WHO definition of health: "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity".
54. Quantifying the health risks attributable to exposure to noise is difficult. Research on noise is normally concerned with effects on a population basis, but individuals differ considerably in the extent to which they are affected by noise. There are groups of people within the population for whom the population indicator 'no medical effect of noise' is incorrect. This could include groups more likely to spend long hours in the home such as young children, the sick, the elderly, the disabled and their carers.
55. Nevertheless, the BRE report Building regulation and health22 suggests the number of extremely severe health risks per year in UK homes due to noise at between one and ten, these being suicides or assaults attributed to noise from neighbours. The number of less severe problems (such as stress, migraines, etc.) is estimated to be about 10,000 per year.
18 NHBC. Private communication, August 2000.
19 F. J. Langdon, I. B. Buller, W. E. Scholes, Noise from neighbours and the sound insulation of party walls in houses. Journal of Sound and Vibration 79, pp2205-2228, 1981
20 C. Grimwood, Complaints about poor sound insulation between dwellings in England and Wales. Applied Acoustics, Vol.52, No.3/4, pp.211-223, 1997.
21 Medical Research Council IEH Report on the non-auditory effects of noise. Report R10, ISBN 1 899110 14 3, 1997.
22 BRE. Building Regulation and Health. BRE Report 289, edited by G J Raw and R M Hamilton, 1995.
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