OVERVIEW OF PROPOSED CHANGES FOR EXTERNAL NOISE

The purpose of this document is to explain the proposed changes to the

National Construction Code (NCC) that have been included in the public
comment draft for NCC 2014.

Background

Concerns have been raised in the past by various consumers about the
acoustic performance of some buildings, particularly apartments, located near
freeways or railway lines. The issue has also received exposure in the media.
Although some stakeholders are of the view that this is a consumer-choice
matter, the average consumer’s awareness of noise insulation and knowledge
of the science of acoustics may not be sufficient to make an informed decision,
particularly when purchasing off plans. The concerns have been such that
some State Administrations now either have their own requirements or are
developing requirements. The ABCB is of the view that any response to the
problem should be nationally consistent and be included in the NCC.

Administrative responsibility

A consideration in this matter has been the respective responsibilities of State

and Territory development planning and building control authorities and how
they may differ around the country. The approach taken with the NCC
proposals is that the NCC would provide solutions that would only be applied
where the jurisdiction declared a “sound exposure category” for buildings near
road and rail transport corridors. If the jurisdiction does not declare a “sound
exposure category” then the provisions would not apply.

Application of the proposals

It is important to note that the NCC provisions would only apply to rail and road
noise at this time; and not aircraft or shipping noise. Other externally sourced
noises such as neighbourhood nuisance noise or entertainment noise are
covered by State or Territory environmental protection law or by licensing
arrangements. Further, the provisions would only be applied where a sound
exposure category is declared.

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The Consultation Regulation Impact Statement (RIS)

It is a requirement of the ABCB that proposed changes to the NCC be made

public in advance with adequate time being provided for stakeholders to digest
the proposals and make comment. This occurs in the year preceding the
proposed introduction and is usually accompanied by a Consultation Regulation
Impact Statement (RIS) that is also made available for public comment.

For external noise, proposed NCC changes were originally intended for NCC
2013 but because the Consultation RIS was not available at the time when the
draft NCC changes were to be released, the technical changes were not
included in the NCC 2013 public comment draft. However public comment on
the Consultation RIS did proceed in 2012.

Comments received on the Consultation RIS, and subsequent consideration,

resulted in the scope of the proposals being reduced from all dwellings to just
the sole-occupancy units of Class 2 buildings which is where the majority of
problems have occurred.

Comments on technical matters

Also as a result of the RIS process, some technical comments were received on
the proposals because a draft of the technical proposals accompanied the RIS.
As a result of those comments some terminology in the proposal has now been
changed as well as some clarifying text being added.

Some other technical matters were also raised but have not resulted in a
change to the proposals at this time. Stakeholders may wish to further
comment on these matters:

Should there be 5 sound exposure categories and should their range be

changed? Some comments suggested 4 categories and one comment
suggested 5dB steps instead of the proposed 4 dB steps. Too fine a
band may be more difficult to regulate but too course a band may
disadvantage some glazing systems which is where the categories are
mainly used.

What is the impact of energy efficiency provisions on the range of the

proposed categories? Provided a performance based solution is not
pursued for energy efficiency compliance, the energy efficiency Deemed-

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 to-Satisfy Provisions, including sealing, should result in a building that
complies with the proposed category 1, so is category 1 needed?

Is LAeq the appropriate expression to use or should it be intermediate

maxima or both? As part of this, what is the appropriate time period for
the LAeq? Also, does rail noise include horns, level crossings bells etc.?
It was the advice of specialists advising the ABCB that LAeq was the
appropriate expression over the day or night time period, however, one
Administration uses LAmax for railways. Should day and night be
defined such as 7am to 10:00pm for day and 10:00pm to 7:00am for
night?

Any comment on the draft external noise provisions or the questions above
should be submitted as part of the NCC 2014 public draft comments.

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