Sound insulation in residential building - the latest state of standardisation

A new draft of a complete standard series DIN 4109 "Sound insulation in buildings" with four parts - "Requirements", "Verification of compliance with the requirements by calculation", "Building elements catalogue" and "Guidance for testing acoustics in buildings" was published in 2013. These include significant changes regarding sound protection in line with qualities that have been regularly determined in monitored buildings with standardised construction methods. It includes a few more stringent requirements for airborne and impact sound insulation compared with DIN 410 9:1989. Another significant alteration is the new Part 4 "Guidance for testing acoustics in buildings". This delivers a detailed practical description of how the sound reduction or the level of impact sound can be measured. Part 4 also provides assistance to the user with the measurement of airborne sound in the lower frequency range. This article also investigates how it can be advantageous to consider a greater range of frequency for the evaluation of sound insulation.