WHEN TO OBTAIN IT?

According to Article 37 of the Law 7/2002, all new buildings must have a certificate accrediting the sound insulation of facade and party walls, horizontal construction elements and separation elements with rooms containing sources of noise. In case of a commercial premise, it is the owner who is responsible for carrying out the control of noise emissions by conducting an acoustic assessment at the starting of the activity.

HOW LONG IS IT VALID FOR?

In case of a dwelling, to get a certificate of construction completion issued by an architect, it must be verified that the acoustic conditions of the house comply with the project’s requirements.

In case of a commercial premise, the sound insulation certificate must be issued at least once every 5 years.

CONTENTS OF THE CERTIFICATE

The sound insulation certificate must contain at least the following:

• Description of business activity.
• Conditions of measurements (date, time and the technician who did that).
• Location of measuring points and description of the methods used.
• Instrumentation used.
• Results.
• Levels of assessment.
• Insulation levels of each construction element of the building.
• Assessment of regulatory compliance.

HOW IS IT PREPARED?

The sound insulation certificate must be issued and signed by a competent company registered in ENAC (National Accreditation Entity). The following steps must be performed to issue the certificate:

• Identify and characterize the main sources of noise. In case of a dwelling, it’s necessary to measure the insulation of the most problematic facade (with most windows to the outside).
• In a dwelling, check the noise level and acoustic insulation of the facade. In case of an industrial facility, the measurements must be performed on the perimeter of the plot.
• Measure the ambient noise level under the same conditions (period, time, working day, etc.) if the business activity were in operation.
• Measure the sound insulation level of the separating elements between the dwellings or, in case of commercial premises, with nearest premises or dwellings.
• Write a report based on the obtained results of the measurements and verification of these results with the Technical Building Code (CTE) to comply with all the parameters.

MEASUREMENT CONDITIONS

• Acoustic testing must be performed in the daytime between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
• The measurements must be carried out in adequate environmental conditions.
• Only a competent engineer or technician and one person representing the contracting parties can be in the dwelling or commercial premise during the measurements.
• For proper results, all construction works must be finished before performing the testing.
• No activity should be carried out in the dwelling or commercial premise.
• Access to all parts of the home or premises must be ensured.
• An electrical supply must be available to connect all the necessary equipment.

HOW MUCH TIME DOES IT TAKE?

In “ARCOSTEC – Architecture & Engineering” we GUARANTEE to all our clients that the sound insulation certificate will be obtained within a maximum period of 15 days.