Planning, building and the environment

Revised Part E of the Building Regulations

Requirements on sound insulation testing in the Building Regulations 2000 and the Building (Approved Inspectors etc.) Regulations 2000

Organisations for carrying out pre-completion testing

This circular letter draws your attention to UKAS accredited organisations and to the Registration Scheme of the Association of Noise Consultants (ANC), in the context of sound insulation testing for the purposes of Regulation 20A of the Building Regulations 2000 and Regulation 12A of the Building (Approved Inspectors etc) Regulations 2000.

ODPM Circular 03/2002, dated 19 December 2002, contained guidance on the Building (Amendment) (No 2) Regulations 2002 and the Building (Approved Inspectors etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2002. ODPM Circular 03/2002 is published by TSO, price £6.50, ISBN 011753645-8. It is also available on the ODPM web site.

The Amendment Regulations introduced a revised Part E, Resistance to the Passage of Sound, into Schedule 1 to the Building Regulations 2000. To back this up, the Amendment Regulations, and the Building (Approved Inspectors etc.) (Amendment) Regulations 2002, brought in new requirements for builders to arrange for appropriate pre-completion testing for sound insulation between dwellings, to demonstrate compliance with Requirement E1.

The various transitional provisions governing the coming into force of the revised Part E and the pre-completion testing requirements are explained in ODPM circular 03/2002. Subject to the transitional provisions, the revised Part E applies to all relevant types of buildings from 1 July 2003.

In addition, from 1 July 2003, a sample of:

a) newly built rooms for residential purposes; and

b) rooms for residential purposes, houses and flats, newly formed by conversion of other types of buildings,

should be subjected to testing. "Room for residential purposes" is a term defined in Regulation 2(1) of the Building Regulations 2000, as amended by the Building (Amendment) (No 2) Regulations 2002. The definition reads: a room, or suite of rooms, which is not a dwelling-house or flat and which is used by one or more persons to live and sleep in, including rooms in hotels, hostels, boarding houses, halls of residence and residential homes but not including rooms in hospitals, or other similar establishments used for patient accommodation.

Under the transitional provisions, pre-completion testing for newly built houses and flats is subject to a later coming into force date.

The 2003 Edition of Approved Document E gives guidance, in Section 1, on "appropriate" testing. Annex B2 of AD E sets out the testing procedure approved by the Secretary of State for the purposes of Regulations 20A and 12A. Section 1.41 sets out the approved manner of recording of test results.

Annex B of AD E (paragraph B1.4) says that pre-completion testing should preferably be carried out by testing organisations with UKAS accreditation. Such organisations are listed on the UKAS web site at: http://www.ukas.org

The Association of Noise Consultants (ANC) has set up a Registration Scheme for their members, and at the present time, the ODPM also regards members of this scheme as suitably qualified to carry out pre-completion testing.

Registered organisations will be listed on the ANC web site at:

http://www.association-of-noise-consultants.co.uk/