Building Acoustics for Construction Projects in Asia

Norsonic acoustic instruments are the tool of choice for acoustic consultants, M&E engineers, and building surveyors on Grade-A office, residential, hotel, healthcare, and education projects across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and the wider ASEAN and GCC region. Our Class 1 systems satisfy ISO 16283 requirements for building acoustic compliance certificates.

Required Acoustic Measurements on Construction Projects

  • Airborne sound insulation (DnT,w) — ISO 16283-1, partition walls and suspended floor assemblies
  • Impact sound insulation (Ln,w) — ISO 16283-2, floor/ceiling systems including screed, floating floor, and resilient layers
  • Facade sound reduction (R'w) — ISO 16283-3, building facades, curtain wall, and glazing systems
  • Room acoustics — ISO 3382-2 reverberation time T20, T30, EDT for offices, classrooms, and healthcare spaces
  • Speech intelligibility (STI, RASTI) — IEC 60268-16 for open-plan offices, classrooms, and public address systems
  • Construction noise monitoring — ISO 1996 ambient monitoring during demolition, excavation, and structural work

Full System for Construction Acoustic Testing

  • Nor150 Dual-Channel Analyser — Primary instrument for ISO 16283: simultaneous two-microphone source/receiver measurement, T20 reverberation, and DnT,w/Ln,w calculation
  • Nor145 Sound Level Meter — Single-channel Class 1 for basic ISO 16283-1 airborne tests and on-site noise monitoring during construction
  • Nor277 Dodecahedral Speaker — ISO 16283-1 compliant 12-driver omnidirectional source; produces sufficient SPL in rooms up to 100 m³
  • Nor279 Standard Tapping Machine — ISO 16283-2 compliant; 5 hammers at 10 impacts/second for Ln,w impact sound measurements
  • NorReview Software — calculates DnT,w, Ln,w, R'w from field data; generates ISO-formatted compliance reports

Building Types and Project Applications

  • Grade-A offices: open-plan STI/RASTI, private office DnT,w, HVAC background noise LAeq
  • Residential towers: inter-unit airborne DnT,w and impact Ln,w pre-handover certification
  • Hotels: guestroom airborne and impact insulation, lift lobby and HVAC noise
  • Hospitals and healthcare: ward partitions, operating theatre noise, nurse station LAeq
  • Education: classroom reverberation T20, speech intelligibility RASTI, music room isolation
  • Data centres: HVAC noise, generator room isolation, and vibration monitoring

Acoustic Standards for Asia Construction

  • ISO 16283-1: Airborne DnT,w
  • ISO 16283-2: Impact Ln,w
  • ISO 16283-3: Facade R'w
  • ISO 3382-2: Room acoustics
  • IEC 60268-16: STI/RASTI
  • Singapore SS 553:2009
  • Malaysia MS 1500
  • UAE Building Code

Case Studies — Asia Construction Projects

  • Grade-A Office, Bangkok — speech privacy: STI 0.55 → 0.40, LAeq -6 to -8 dB(A) through HVAC flanking path correction
  • University Dormitories, Singapore — DnT,w +7 dB achieved, rework avoided on 18 of 24 rooms saving significant remediation costs
  • Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City — nurse station daytime LAeq reduced by 5 dB(A)

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