DIN 18041:2016-03

This standard specifies the acoustic specifications and planning guidelines for ensuring acoustic quality primarily for speech communication, including the measures required for this purpose. This standard applies to rooms with a volume up to about 5 000 m ³, as well as to sports halls and indoor swimming pools up to 30 000 m ³. Two applications are differentiated in the standard, the acoustic quality over medium and large distances (rooms in group A), such as in classrooms in schools, group rooms in child day-care centres, conference rooms, courtrooms and council chambers, seminar rooms, lecture theatres, conference rooms, rooms in senior day-care centres, sports halls and indoor swimming pools, and small distances (rooms in group B), such as in circulation areas where people might spend a short period, dining spaces, canteens, play hallways and changing areas in schools and child day-care centres, exhibition rooms, entrance halls, halls with service counter areas, or offices. In group A rooms, the acoustic quality over smaller distances is understood to be included. However, in group B rooms, the acoustic quality over large distances is greatly limited. The standard does not cover the acoustic quality of rooms with special requirements, such as theatres, concert halls, cinemas, sacred spaces, or in rooms for high-quality recording of music and speech (for example studios, central control rooms for radio, film, television and sound storage media productions). However, this standard can be applied by analogy to rooms for general musical presentations, multi-purpose rooms (for example town halls) and all rooms of a large volume up to approximately 30 000 m ³. Rooms for classical music performances do not fall within the scope of this standard. This standard does not concern dwellings or living spaces. To ensure inclusion in building construction, the needs of people with impaired hearing are to be considered from the very start of the design process. Communication not only takes place in the typical "function rooms", but in all spaces where people meet, such as in hallways, foyers, recreation areas etcetera. This standard takes the current knowledge with regards to acoustic quality and inclusion into consideration. A fully scientific basis for the exact numerical specification values cannot currently be given. However, it is known that appropriately chosen sound absorption is beneficial to general acoustic quality. This standard had been prepared by Subcommittee NA 001-02-03-03 UA at Standards Committee Acoustics, Noise Control and Vibration Engineering.