Separating wall
Separating WallsA separating wall is defined as a wall that separates adjoining dwelling houses, flats or rooms used for residential purposes.
There are significant increases in the number of semi detached, terrace and flat type dwellings being built. The protection from noise offered by these types of dwellings from the adjoining units is therefore an important issue.
In England and Wales the Building Regulation Part E was revised in 2003 to ensure better performance of properties in this respect. The changes required performance to be established by on-site testing before compliance could be achieved, and placed emphasis on low frequency noise. It is now also acceptable to adopt ‘Robust Details’ to meet compliance; which negates the requirement for on site testing.
The potential performance of a separating wall is influenced by its mass, by the separation that is created between the two faces of the wall and by the sound absorption properties of materials that are installed in cavities in the wall. Rockwool Flexi and Rockliner have excellent sound absorption properties and are used widely in separating wall constructions to enhance their ability to reduce airborne sound transmission.
Regulations
. Performance standards for Separating Walls England & Wales
Airborne Sound Insulation D nT,w + Ctr dB (min values)
| Purpose build dwellings, flats and 'Rooms for Resindential Purposes' | | | Separating walls | 45 | | Dwelling homes and flats formed from 'material change of use' | | | Separating walls | 43 |
Scotland and Ireland
In Part H of the Technical Standards in Scotland and Part E of the Irish Regulations, compliance can be achieved either by adopting specified constructions or by testing to show that non-specified constructions meet the performance standarts set out in the tables below.
. Performance standards for Separating Walls - Scotland
Airborne Sound Insulation (D nT,w )*
| Element | Mean value (dB) | Individual value (dB) | | Separating walls | 53 | 49 |
*As defined in BS EN ISO 717-1:1997 . Performance standards for Separating Walls - Ireland
Airborne Sound Insulation (D nT,w )*
| Element | Individual value (dB) | Mean value in at
least 4 pairs (dB) | Mean value in at
least 8 pairs (dB) | | Separating walls | 49 | 53 | 32 |
*As defined in BS EN ISO 717-1:1997
Note that Scotland and Ireland have not adopted the D nT,w sound spectrum for testing that must be
used in England and Wales. The performance standards are therefore not directly comparable.
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