Impact Isolation of Floors Revisited

Impacts on floors of multi-storey buildings, especially footsteps, are a well known source of annoyance to downstairs neighbours. Structural flanking also can add to the problem. A problem recognised in the measurement and rating of impact noise is that the International Standards Organisation (ISO) recommended source, the tapping machine, is an unrealistically loud airborne source and is an almost continuous force when compared with footsteps. In addition, footsteps contain low frequency energy, not generated by the standard source, which can excite floor resonances. A prototype source has been built and tested which simplifies measurement. It requires less skill to construct and readings can be made in dBA with a simplified rating scheme.