Impact and revision of UK legislation on school acoustics

Since 2003 new school buildings in England and Wales have been subject to Building Regulations which impose a legal requirement for spaces in schools to meet acoustic performance criteria for ambient noise levels, reverberation times and sound insulation. The criteria are specified in the Department of Education publication ‘Building Bulletin 93’ (BB93). In 2008 it was agreed that BB93 would be updated. The Labour government endorsed the need for good acoustic design of schools and agreed to a minor revision of the legislation. However, the new government elected in 2010 recommended the removal of legislation on school acoustics, in order to reduce the cost of new school buildings. The acoustics community in the UK successfully lobbied the government to keep the legislation and it has been agreed that the acoustic regulations relating to the performance of a building in use will be retained. BB93 is currently (June 2012) being redrafted and the acoustic performance specifications revised. This paper will use the results of a recent large scale survey of the acoustics of secondary schools in the UK to examine the impact of BB93 on school design over the past 10 years, and will discuss the current revision of the legislation.