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Equipment and Calibration Requirements

The minimum requirements are as follows:

Airborne (Part 1)

Sound Level Meter

Speaker & Amplifier

Calibrator

Impact (Part 2)

Sound Level Meter

Speaker & Amplifier

Calibrator

Tapping Machine

Calibration Accuracy

All the following specifications are required of all equipment used, which must all be undertaken by a UKAS accredited calibration laboratory accredited for the specific class of calibration required.

Item Accuracy Calibration Requirements
Sound Level Meter
The accuracy of the sound level measurement equipment shall comply and be verified against the Class 1 requirements of BS EN 61672-1:2013;

(which supersedes IEC 60651 and IEC 60804 listed in BS EN ISO 140-4:1998 & BS EN ISO 140-7:1998)
Dedicated UKAS/ILAC accredited facility, calibrated every 2 years or after any damage or repair.
Filters
The filters shall comply with the class 1 requirements defined in IEC 61260-1:2014
Reverberation Time
Reverberation Time (RT) Verification check
Calibrator
The accuracy of the sound calibrator must comply and be verified against the requirements of accuracy class 1 defined in IEC 60942:2017.

The calibrator must produce a noise level of either 94dB or 114dB at a frequency of 1000Hz.
Dedicated UKAS/ILAC accredited facility, calibrated every year or after any damage or repair.
Speaker and Tripod
The speaker and noise source:
• shall be capable of producing at least 90dB at 100Hz, which typically requires a minimum 12inch speaker driver.
• must have a process to isolate the speaker from the floor and lift the speaker by a minimum of 30cm between measurement positions.
To be assessed and checked on each site visit

Tester shall verify for each test they do
Stability Check
The speaker and noise source shall:
• produce a steady, flat spectrum (ensures different parallel frequencies are no more than 6dB different).
Completed either by the tester, or by a 3rd party verification company on entry every 2 years.

Must be documented on the SITMA Portal

(See Section 4.1 - Speaker Stability Assessment)
Directivity Check
• produce a continuous stable noise.
Completed either by the tester, or by a 3rd party verification company on entry every 2 years.

Must be documented on the SITMA Portal.

(See Section 4.2 – Speaker Directivity Assessment)
Those who wish to be in part 2 of the scheme must also comply with the below
Tapping Machine
The Tapping Machine shall comply and be verified with the details as discussed in Annex A of ISO 140-7:1998
Dedicated UKAS/ILAC accredited facility, calibrated every 2 years or after any damage or repair.

Drop heights checked before each test
BS EN ISO-7:1998 Appendix A "one off checks"
Completed either by the tester, or by a 3rd party verification company on entry and every 2 years.

Must be documented on the SITMA Portal

(See section 4.3 - Tapping Machine one off checks)

Competence with Equipment

Testers must be familiar with and competent in the operation of all testing equipment they use for the level of certification they hold to carry out sound insulation tests in accordance with industry Standards called for in Building Regulations, Approved Documents, whether owned, borrowed or hired.

Calibration of Measurement Equipment

Traceable Calibration

Traceable, manufacturers or verified calibration is not acceptable

Precision

Sound level meters shall be able to measure and report sound pressure level to a minimum of 1 decimal place. Sound level meters shall measure and report reverberation time down to 2 decimal places.

Additional Speaker Requirements

Speaker Stability Check

.All testers must conduct a speaker stability check with each of their speakers at least every 2 years. This is to ensure the output level of the speaker does not change during the test, which would impact the overall result.

The process for conducting the stability check is as follows:

SITMA Members can use our template to enter their data in and submit their Speaker Stability Checks

Our current issue is: Issue 2.3 – 6th March 2024

1
In a room with a volume of at least 30.0m3, position the microphone on a tripod 1.5m away from the speaker, to ensure diffuse field conditions, and 1.0m away from all reflective or absorbing surfaces within the room.
2
Turn on and calibrate the sound level meter using the calibrator.
3
Ensure the sound level meter is set to measure from 50Hz to 5000Hz as recommended by SITMA, but at least 100Hz – 3150Hz as an absolute minimum.
4
Turn on the speaker, selecting pink noise, and turn up to the normal sound level expected during the sound insulation test (circa 100dB at all frequencies between 100 and 3150Hz). Note that this is usually ‘max’ volume.
5
Starting within 10 seconds of the speaker being turned on, take a minimum of 18 ‘L1’ source room readings, each lasting between 10 seconds, with a gap no more than 5 seconds between each reading.
o The gap between readings may be 0.0 seconds (using data logging).
o The total measurement time shall be at least 180 seconds.
o Ensure measurements are taken ‘static’ (i.e. the microphone is not moving during the measurement).
6
Turn off the speaker and wait 120 seconds.
7
Turn the speaker on and repeat the 18 measurements as above.
o Remember to start your measurement within 10 seconds of the speaker turning on.
8
You should now have a total of 36 measurements across at least 6 minutes, with a gap of 2 minutes.
9
EExport this data into the excel spreadsheet (FOS016) with column A being the date and time of each measurement, and columns B through to V being each of the third-octave frequency ranges between 50Hz and 5000Hz.
10
Ensure that your speaker meets the following requirements:
Frequency Range Maximum Distrubution Minimum Std Deviation
50Hz to 83Hz
No Requirement
No Requirement
100Hz to 3150Hz
No deviation greater than ±1dB
Standard deviation less than 0.5
4000Hz to 5000Hz
No Requirement
No Requirement
9
Upload the completed spreadsheet onto the SITMA Portal.

Speaker Directivity Check

BS EN ISO 140-4:1998 requires speaker directivity to be checked as part of Annex A. This is a mandatory requirement of the SITMA Certification Scheme and must be completed and recorded onto the SITMA Portal annually.

Speaker Directivity can be checked either by the certified tester, or at a facility that offers this service.

The method for measuring and reporting is provided below:

SITMA Members can use our template to enter their data in and submit their Speaker Directivity Checks

Our current issue is: Issue 1.1 – 3rd August 2023

1
Position the Speaker
Place the speaker on its tripod in a non-reflective environment, ideally an anechoic chamber at a height of around 1.5m ±0.5m.
2
Setup the Sound Level Meter
Setup the sound level meter on its tripod to the same height as the speaker.
Where the speaker cannot be placed in an anechoic chamber, a calculation is produced showing the microphone is only measuring direct noise, not reflected noise.
Where measurements are made at 1.5m, it can be assumed no indirect sound is measured where:
- No reflective surfaces exist within 7m
- Where reflective surfaces to exist, at least 100mm of dense absorbing material is present to reduce reflections
3
Calibrate the Sound Level Meter
Calibrate the sound level meter using its calibrator
4
Align the Speaker and Microphone
Align the speaker and microphone such that the speaker's front (on-axis position) is directly facing the microphone.
5
Turn on the Speaker
Using pink noise, turn on the speaker to its normal sound insulation testing volume (usually circa 100dB in frequencies 100Hz to 3150Hz).
6
Measure On-axis Response
Measure the on-axis response of the speaker at this position, directly in front of the speaker. Measurements shall be made for a minimum of 6 seconds, ideally 10 seconds. The microphone is static during the measurement.
7
Rotate and Repeat
Rotate the speaker 30 degrees and repeat the measurement. repeat this process every 30 degrees until all 360 degrees has been measured (12 measurements in total).
Note – if using a hemisphere polyhedron speaker (cabinet loudspeaker), the microphone itself may need to be moved 30 degrees rather than the speaker.
8
Hemisphere Polyhedron Speakers
This procedure must be completed in 2 planes for hemisphere polyhedron speakers, with at least 50cm change in heights.
9
Analyse Data (self-checking only):
Import the data into FOS017 to plot the recorded data to create a directivity graph.

Ensure the following specification is met: 𝐷𝑖𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑥 = 𝐿360 − 𝐿30, 𝑖

Frequency Range Directivity Index
50Hz to 83Hz
No Requirement
100Hz to 630Hz
±2dB
800Hz
±4dB
1000Hz
±8dB
1250Hz to 5000Hz
±8dB
10
Upload the completed spreadsheet onto the SITMA Portal.

Tapping Machine One-Off Checks

BS EN ISO 140-7:1998 requires one off tapping machine checks to be completed. These checks are required to be completed before the tapping machine can be authorised. Some of these checks may be covered by Calibration of the device from an external laboratory. Where these aren’t covered, measurements must be made by the tester and recorded on the Lodgement portal.

SITMA Members can use our template to enter their data in and submit their “one off” Tapping Machine Checks

Our current issue is: Issue 1.0 – 2nd December 2023

One Off Check Requirement Discussion
Distance between hammers
100mm ±3mm
The tapping machine shall have five hammers placed in a line. The distance between centrelines of neighbouring hammers shall be (100 ± 3) mm.
Supports of the tapping machine
>100mm
The distance between the centre of the supports of the tapping machine and the centrelines of neighbouring hammers shall be at least 100 mm. The supports shall be equipped with vibrational insulating pads.
Diameter of the hammers
30mm± 0.2mm
The impact surface shall be of hardened steel and shall be spherical with a curvature radius of (30 ± 0.2) mm.
Mass of the hammers
500g ±12g
The momentum of each hammer which strikes the floor shall be that of an effective mass of 500g
Time between impact & lift
80ms
Can be self recorded using a slow motion phone camera. Figure to be declared.
Maximum possible fall height
None
No strict requirement. Maximum fall height to be declared. Feet to be raised to a maximum height and maximum drop height measured.

Hired/Borrowed Equipment

Record Keeping
A record shall be kept of all equipment used for testing and pre-completion testing including that which is not owned by the tester. Equipment shall be uploaded to the SITMA Portal.

Using equipment that is not registered on the SITMA Portal will result in instant suspension from the SITMA Scheme. Details of equipment used but not owned by the tester should be included in the information submitted for the next audit. Testers should have procedures in place to ensure that borrowed or hired equipment is (a) in calibration, and (b) performing correctly. Calibration certificates for the borrowed or hired equipment must be presented at the next audit.

Software

Manufacturers Software/Firmware

The Scheme Manager and Technical Committee will investigate and approve if appropriate the latest version of

Bruel & Kjaer

BZ5503

Norsonics

Nor-Xfer

Nor-connect

Own Software

Any Testers wishing to use their own conversion tool must allow it to be check during the audit process (Standard data to aid checking can be provided prior to this).

Using approved software DOES NOT assure a correct result for the sound insulation test is produced. The overall test set up, test and input must be in harmony for the correct result.

Current Equipment Acceptance

The SITMA system works with the following sound level meters:

Make Model Upload Type UK Distributor
Norsonic
Nor-140

Nor-145

Nor-150

Nor-118 (with workaround)
.xlsx
Campbell Associates
www.campbell-associates.co.uk/
Rion
NA-28

NA-58
.xlsx
ANV Measurements Systems
www.noise-and-vibration.co.uk
NTi Audio
XL2
.txt
Bruel & Kjaer
2250

2270
.rnd
Bruel & Kjaer
www.bksv.com/
Svantek
Svantek 979 (with app)

Svantek 977 (with app)

Svantek 971A (with app)
.spr

Ref: PUS007 – Issue 2.4