A pilot study on acoustic regulations and classification for hospitals & Comparison between the Nordic countries

Acoustic regulations or guidelines for hospitals exist in all five Nordic countries, although with varying contents. The main purpose of limit values is to provide good acoustic conditions for the patients under treatment and for the personnel for the various tasks and activities taking place in the many different kinds of rooms in such buildings. Examples are bedrooms, examination and treatment rooms, corridors, stairwells, waiting and reception areas, dining areas, offices, all with different acoustic needs. Some of the countries specify very few acoustic limit values, while others define several criteria. Instead of or in addition to a set of regulations or guidelines, four of the Nordic countries have hospitals included in national acoustic classification standards with four acoustic quality levels A-D, class C being the regulations in three of these countries. As a pilot study, a comparison between the countries has been carried out. The paper includes examples of acoustic regulations and classification limit values for reverberation time, airborne and impact sound insulation, noise from traffic and from service equipment - aiming at discussion and potential learning for those countries wanting to optimize limit values in future acoustic regulations, guidelines or classification schemes for hospitals.