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Admissible Levels of Noise, NC

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25-35 25-35 25-35 35-45 35-45 25-35 25-35 25 (max) 30-40 40-45	Private residences Private residences Hotels/motels Individual rooms or suites Meeting/banquet rooms Halls, corridors, lobbies Service/support areas Office Buildings Executive and private offices Conference rooms Teleconference rooms Open plan offices Circulation and public lobbies		25-35 30-40 25-35 30-40 30-40 25 (max) ** 25 (max) 35 (max) 40-45	Hospitals and clinics Private rooms Wards Operating rooms Corridors Public areas Performing Arts Spaces Drama theaters Concert and recital halls Music teaching studios Music practice rooms Laboratories (with fume hoods) Testing/research, minimal speech communication

40-50

35-45
25-35
**

40 (max)
35 (max)
35 (max)

30-40

Research, extensive telephone use,
speech communication
Group teaching
Churches, mosques, synagogues
With critical music programs

Schools

Classrooms up to 750 ft² [75 m²]
Classrooms over 750 ft² [75 m²]
Lecture rooms for more than 50
(unamplied speech)

Libraries

25-35
30-40

40-50***

45-55***

Courtrooms

Unamplied speech
Amplied speech

Indoor stadiums and gymnasiums

School and college gymnasiums
and natatoriums
Large seating capacity spaces
(with amplied speech)

* The values and ranges are based on judgement and
experience, not on quantitative evaluations of human
reactions. They represent general limits of acceptability
for typical building occupancies. Higher or lower values
may be appropriate and should be based on a careful
analysis of economics, space usage, and user needs. They
are not intended to serve by themselves as a basis for a
contractual requirement.

** An experienced acoustics consultant should be retained
for guidance on acoustically critical spaces (below NC 30)
and for all performing arts spaces.

*** Spectrum levels and sound quality are of lesser impor-
tance in these spaces than overall sound levels.

"Level of noise data": Reprinted with permission of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. 1995 ASHREA Handbook, HVAC Applications, Chapter 43, Table 2.