Noise Assessment Reporting

Environmental and workplace noise — measured, modelled and reported.

Noise Measurement Services provides acoustical consultancy services in the assessment, management and control of environmental and workplace noise. Our site-specific reports present sound level measurements recorded and analysed, discuss the noise criteria to be achieved, identify noise mitigation measures and recommends options to achieve the required design criteria. Noise management plans can be developed for industrial activities where different levels of compliance may be required over time.

Projects undertaken requiring noise monitoring and assessment include:

Residential development affected by road, rail and aircraft noise.
Industrial and commercial noise control.
Assessment of effects from quarries, mining, and other extractive industries.
Occupational noise exposure (Work, Health & Safety).
Assessment of intrusive noise (noise that disturbs or annoys).
Environmental noise management plans.

Noise monitoring, modelling and assessment are key parts of every report to illustrate immediate and long-term effects of noise on the development. NMS staff are fully trained to gather relevant information about the site, the effect of noise on the development and how the development may affect its neighbours.

Reporting includes building construction assessment to the Building Code of Australia and the requirements of ‘Queensland Development Code Mandatory Part 4.4 – Buildings in Transport Noise Corridors’. The Code provides requirements for new houses, townhouses, units, hotel and motels as well as renovations for residences near main roads.

Noise Monitoring and Assessment

A typical noise monitoring program provides continuous monitoring of sound levels and is ideally suited to short- or long-term monitoring. Data is processed using software to obtain results over daily, weekly, monthly and even annual periods together with numerical tables, time history and spectrograms of Leq and Ln.

The Sound Level Meter is used as a measurement front-end receiving, for example, the Leq and 1/3rd octave data every second. Reports are typically produced as 10 min, 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week or 1-month updates that can be published to a website and/or emailed to designated recipients.

Monitoring of noise is achieved with a range of instruments including:

Class 1 Larson Davis 831 sound level meters
Class 2 Rion NL21 sound level meters

Remote telemetry Larson Davis systems are employed as necessary for long-term monitoring and have in-built calibration and solar power. Audio recording is standard with the Larson Davis 831.

Occupational noise and vibration assessments are undertaken with Cirrus dosebadges for noise and the Norsonic NOR-136 6-channel vibration meter for hand-arm and whole-body vibration.

Residential and Industrial Noise Prediction

Our site-specific report discusses noise criteria to be achieved, identifies noise mitigation measures and recommends options to achieve required design criteria.

NMS applies standard prediction techniques under ISO9613-2, CONCAWE and BS5228 Parts 1 and 2, for assessment of noise to relevant noise management legislation, guidelines and codes of practice. Prediction calculations are undertaken with PEN3D, SoundPLAN, and standard analysis protocols.

The predictions are based on ‘most-likely’ placement of plant and equipment to give a representative assessment for different plant and activities operating in different locations and for varying times of day or night. Both single point and noise contour calculations are used to determine the noise level at noise sensitive premises.

Noise contours show the range of noise levels in the locality. Refinement may be made through collection of reliable sound power level data, modelling for variable source locations, topographic effects and meteorological conditions.