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Noise

Noise from construction can:

• annoy neighbours
• disturb wildlife
• cause health risks to site staff
• cost you money in fines and delays to construction if action is taken against you in court.

The Local Authority can stop you working if you are found to be making too much noise or causing other nuisance.

Why noise good practice is important?

Excessive noise levels on site represent a major hazard to site workers and can annoy neighbours. Noise causes more off-site complaints than any other issue and can rapidly sour relations with your neighbours. Noise can also disturb wildlife and natural heritage.

Key issues include

• Noise will generally radiate in all directions from a construction noise source, and will bend around and over walls and buildings. It will also reflect back from solid surfaces. Some plant and activities generate more noise in one direction than others do, so in some cases careful orientation can pay dividends.
• Various types of control on noise levels from construction sites can be imposed when noise starts to cause a nuisance. These controls can affect a construction programme by limiting the length of time during which noisy activities are allowed and influencing the construction method. Failing to meet noise constraints can result in fines.
• If the local environmental health officer considers the noise excessive, a notice to control noise levels or even an injunction to stop work may be served. Some contractors have faced considerable difficulties when their noise control measures have not proved satisfactory to the local authority and have been subject to statutory powers.
• In some cases residents have taken out civil action against contractors on urban projects. Contractors are recommended to manage noise in a pro-active way rather than wait for complaints to be made.
• It is not only loud noises that cause complaint, but also antisocial activity and irregular or tonal noises such as reversing warnings. Other reasons for complaint include shouting, bad language, radios and out-of-hours deliveries.
• On some projects there are agreements on the hours during which noisy working is allowed. On other projects working hours may be restricted by a limit on the average noise allowed to be generated over a given period. In these cases, if the noise exceeds the limit set then the working period must be reduced.

A housing contractor was fined £1000 by magistrates following complaints by local residents about a noisy housing site where work started at 6.30 each morning.

Figure: Comparing noise created by various construction activities and impact they have above usual "background levels".

Examples of good practice

• Ensure that noise control features on plant are used.
• Always keep doors and hoods of vehicles and machinery closed.
• Screening between the source and a receiver of noise is usually effective if it obscures the direct line of sight between the two.
• The higher a screen is, the more effective it is. A screen that is placed near to either the noise source or the receptor is more effective than one, placed halfway between the two.
• Use only plant conforming with relevant standards and directives on emissions.
• When operating plant, use noise-control equipment such as jackets on pneumatic drills, covers on compressors, shrouds on piling rigs and cranes.
• Hoods and doors on compressors and cranes etc should not only be closed but also be tightly fitting and well sealed. A partly closed door is of little use.
• Electrically powered plant is quieter than diesel- or petrol-driven plant.
• Operate plant properly so that it does not cause excessive noise. Shut down plant when it is not in use.
• Maintain plant properly - adequate lubrication to reduce squeaks and the tightening of loose nuts and bolts to minimise rattles are part of routine maintenance.
• Provide effective silencers for plant, eg pneumatic percussive tools.
• Fix rotating or impacting machines on anti-vibration mountings.
• Ensure that audible warning systems (including reversing alarms) are switched to the minimum setting required by the Health and Safety Executive. Consider the use of alternative systems (eg cab-mounted CCTV) where appropriate. Traffic routes that avoid reversing on site will minimise the impact.
• Use tannoy systems only when necessary.

You are at risk of damaging your hearing when it’s so noisy that you need to shout to be heard by another person who is standing 2 metres (6 feet) away from you.

Picture: A sign should be used to inform workers when they are at risk from noise.

Checklist

• Change the working method to use equipment or modes of operation that produce less noise. For example, in demolition works can hydraulic shears be used in place of hydraulic impact breakers? In driving steel sheet piles, would the ground conditions suit the jacking method (i.e. cohesive soils), which produce only a fraction of the noise of conventional hammer-driven piling? When breaking out pavements can methods other than pneumatic breakers and drills be used. Consider chemical splitters or falling weight breakers.
• Reduce the need for noisy assembly practices, eg fabricate off site.
• Keep noisy plant as far away as possible from public areas.
• Adopt working hours to restrict noisy activities to certain periods of the day.
• Arrange delivery times to suit the area - daytime for residential areas, perhaps night time for inner-city areas.
• Route construction vehicles to take account of the need to reduce noise and vibration.
• Keep haul roads well maintained.
• Use mufflers or silencers to reduce noise transmitted along pipes and ducts.
• Minimise the drop height into hoppers, lorries or other plant (reducing the drop height by a factor of 10 reduces noise by about 10 dB).
• Consider using rubber linings on tippers in very sensitive sites.
• Liaise with nature conservation bodies to minimise noise disturbance (disruption) to any sensitive wildlife.

A judge halted work on a £3 million project because the noise was interfering with court proceedings. The judge warned the contractor it would have to pay legal costs if the jury had to be dismissed because they could not hear.

Liasing with the community

Community liaison is the key to increasing community tolerance to noise. If you inform the local community and residents of what you will be doing on site and for how long, they may accept higher noise levels. Discuss with them in advance what aspects of noisy working is most annoying and see if there are any remedies that will not affect your programme. Consider agreeing to a shutdown at particularly sensitive times, for example halt noisy works at lunchtimes to appease restaurant- and pub-owners. Through good relations, the potential for complaints or civil claims in the long term may be reduced. It is especially important to avoid unexpected early starts in the morning.

An inner-city site manager needed to phase noisy works without disturbing nearby office workers. He even went to the extent of stopping all noisy works during his neighbours' key meetings, which were held three times a year.

Key references:

• BS 5228 (1997) Noise control on construction and open sites.
• BS 6472 Evaluation of human exposure to vibration in buildings.
• CIRIA PR070 How much noise do you make? A guide to assessing and managing noise on site.
• CIRIA C650 Environmental good practice on site.
• CIRIA R120 A Guide to Reducing the Exposure of Construction Workers to Noise.
• CIRIA SP38 Simple noise screens for site use.
• CIRIA TN138 Planning to reduce noise exposure in construction.
• CIRIA TN142 Ground-borne vibrations arising from piling.
• Environmental impacts of surface mineral workings, DETR, HMSO.
• Noise Control: Principles and Practice - Bruel and Kjoer (Naerum, Denmark), 1982.
• PG9 Noise and vibration from piling operations, EA.
• Secretary of State's Guidance - Mobile Crushing and Screening Processes, 1996, Department of Environment, PG3/16(96).

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