Any industrial or commercial development must not cause an increase in background noise levels at the nearest noise sensitive property, or at the boundary of the property. The guidance generally recommends that noise levels within residential properties should not exceed the World Health Organisation values where practicable.
Noise measurement and calculation
BS 4142, BS 8223 and the World Health Guidelines all give values and design ranges for the measurement of noise in certain situations. It is unlikely that anyone other than a qualified noise consultant will be able to carry out an assessment of the noise. A representative assessment will be required to include special circumstances eg tonal values, impact noise, number and loudness of individual events, weather conditions etc.
The assessment needs to cover the noisiest periods, taking into account the character of the area eg shift patterns in businesses. The assessment also needs to include the night time noise levels.
Certain information must be recorded including isolated events which would not be represented in an equivalent noise level [LAeq] taken over a longer period eg a train which passed at 5:00am, or unpredictable impact noise. High incident noise levels for short periods may cause sleep disturbance.
Information required:
Daytime LAeq [7:00am to 11:00pm] at representative points around the site or at various facades
Night time LAeq [11:00pm to 7:00am] at representative points around the site or at various facades
LAmax values for the daytime and night time period.
Further information: