Building regulations and sound testing for HMO?

A friend of mine suggested using a private building control inspector (known as Approved Inspectors in the industry) They will notify the council and take over all the inspections and certify the work when finished. Becasue they will be working for you it is possible to have a more meaningful and solution orientated discussion about what is and isn’t necessary. They cost a bit more than the council Building Control service but could potentially save you thousands by avoiding unneccessary sound proofing and acoustic testing.

Hi Ian,

I just stumbled across this useful discussion and wondered how you proceeded in the end?

We are currently converting a terraced house into a 5 bed multi let over 2 floors (thus not a licenced HMO) and are being asked to sound test between floors and rooms. We did a similar conversion 3 months ago and weren’t asked to do this. In addition they are asking us to apply for a change of use which we didn’t do last time.

Likewise, we recently purchased a modern detached property and building control are wanting us to sound test throughout there. The work required would make it untenable and as they recently signed off a licensed HMO without asking for any of this, it’s pretty confusing!

Did you find any definitive guidelines for this?

Many thanks,

Matt

I decided not to fight them, as I wish to put in the sound proofing anyway. The building needs a COMPLETE back to brick renovation (building start on site next week), so the only additional cost is the cost of the sound test.

However I know now that it would have been cheaper to use a “private building control” company and must less likely to get this type of issue, this has been discussed on one of the Facebook HMO groups this week see https://www.facebook.com/groups/housesofmultipleoccupancy/permalink/936407706378714

This is a very interesting discussion.

I have converted a 2 bed terrace into a multilet with 4 rooms over 3 floors plus a self contained studio in the basement. Building control are now asking for sound insulation to walls and floors after the work has been finished. I know I should have checked with them before the work was done but it is too late now.

Can anyone suggest a sound insulation company who can assess the situation and provide the most economical solution? The property is in South Yorkshire.

I recently installed what are called DB boards http://www.soundstop.co.uk/ZDBBOARD.php or Phonewell boards http://www.phonewell.co.uk/ — quite expensive per m^2, but super easy to install over plasterboard, so you save a lot on labour or your own time. They are basically cardboard wafer with sand inside, pretty amazing at blocking transmitted and impact sound.

Thanks David for the product details.

You indicate that you used the DB boards from Sound Stop which are sand filled and quite heavy. Did you consider the boards from Phonewell which look to be a better product designed to meet Part E Resistance to the passage of sound of the building regs?

Hi Robert — they’re actually the same board, under two different names. Made by a German manufacturer– they are quite heavy but you can glue them on quite easily.