EN 16205:2013/FprA1

Laboratory measurement of walking noise on floors

Extension of the existing standard to resilient flooring, textile flooring and laminate floor coverings; the amended draft to include an annex reporting about the inter-laboratory trials to be conducted, covering representative samples of all CEN/TC 134 product groups.

Messung von Gehschall auf Fußböden im Prüfstand

Mesurage en laboratoire du bruit des pas sur les planchers

Laboratorijsko merjenje hrupa pri hoji po podu

General Information

• Status: Not Published
• ICS: 91.120.20 - Acoustics in building. Sound insulation
• Technical Committee: CEN/TC 126 - Acoustic properties of building products and of buildings
• Drafting Committee: CEN/TC 126/WG 1 - Methods for measuring the sound insulation of building elements and the acoustic performances of buildings
• Current Stage: 5060 - Closure of Vote - Formal Approval
• Start Date: 11-Jan-2018
• Due Date: 04-Oct-2018
• Completion Date: 11-Jan-2018
• Ref Project: SIST EN 16205:2013/kprA1:2018 - Laboratory measurement of walking noise on floors

Relations

• Merged Into: EN 16205:2013+A1:2018 - Laboratory measurement of walking noise on floors
• Effective Date: 19-Jan-2023
• Amends: EN 16205:2013 - Laboratory measurement of walking noise on floors
• Effective Date: 25-Jun-2014

Overview

EN 16205:2013/FprA1 is a European standard developed by CEN that addresses the laboratory measurement of walking noise on floors. This updated standard extends the original EN 16205:2013 to cover additional flooring types including resilient flooring, textile flooring, and laminate floor coverings. A significant enhancement is the inclusion of an annex reporting inter-laboratory trials conducted across representative samples from all CEN/TC 134 product groups, ensuring broader applicability and reproducibility of results.

The standard is essential for acoustic professionals who measure and evaluate walking noise-a key factor in indoor environmental quality-allowing for consistent, reliable testing aligned with European best practices.

Key Topics

• Scope Expansion
  The amendment broadens measurement applicability to more floor covering types beyond traditional hard floors, incorporating:

  • Resilient flooring
  • Textile flooring
  • Laminate floor coverings

• Measurement Methodology
  The standard specifies laboratory conditions and measurement procedures for assessing walking noise generated by footsteps on floor surfaces. Key acoustic parameters and data processing techniques are detailed to ensure precise evaluation.

• Perceived Loudness Calculation
  Annex E explains a method to calculate the perceived loudness (Reflected Walking Sound - RWS) of the walking noise on floors installed as floating coverings.

  • Uses one-third octave band spectrum data to derive a single loudness value in sones.
  • Follows ISO 532 B (Zwicker method) for stationary signals under diffuse field conditions.
  • Provides algorithms and tools such as an Excel macro for sound spectrum analysis and loudness computation, facilitating practical application in laboratories.

• Data Reporting
  The standard prescribes detailed reporting requirements for test results, including specimen description, testing environment parameters, measurement methods, and results both in decibels and loudness units to enhance clarity and usability.

Applications

• Flooring Manufacturers
  Use EN 16205:2013/FprA1 to test products for walking noise performance, helping ensure development of floor coverings with optimized acoustic comfort.

• Building Acoustics Consultants
  Employ the standard to evaluate flooring noise properties during building design or retrofit phases, aiding in compliance with noise control regulations and improving occupant satisfaction.

• Testing Laboratories
  Implement standardized procedures and calculations from the annex for consistent and reproducible walking noise measurements across different flooring types, ensuring credibility of acoustic reports.

• Architects and Designers
  Benefit from performance data aligned with EN 16205 when selecting flooring materials to meet indoor acoustic comfort goals in residential and commercial projects.

Related Standards

• EN ISO 10140 – Laboratory measurement of sound insulation in buildings and building elements, complementary for airborne and impact sound insulation testing.

• ISO 532 – Acoustics method for calculating loudness level, referenced in EN 16205 for loudness computations.

• CEN/TC 134 Product Group Standards – Standards relating to specific floor coverings and materials that align with noise measurement requirements.

• DIN 45631 – German standard referenced for loudness algorithm providing technical basis and calculation models related to ISO 532.

---

By adhering to EN 16205:2013/FprA1, stakeholders ensure reliable laboratory measurement of walking noise on a broad range of floor coverings, supporting high-quality acoustic performance and effective noise abatement solutions in buildings.

Standards Content (Sample)

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
SIST EN 16205:2013/oprA1:2017
01-april-2017
Laboratorijsko merjenje hrupa pri hoji po podu
Laboratory measurement of walking noise on floors
Messung von Gehschall auf Fußböden im Prüfstand
Mesurage en laboratoire du bruit des pas sur les planchers
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: EN 16205:2013/prA1
ICS:
17.140.01 $NXVWLþQDPHUMHQMDLQ Acoustic measurements and
EODåHQMHKUXSDQDVSORãQR noise abatement in general
91.060.30 Stropi. Tla. Stopnice Ceilings. Floors. Stairs
SIST EN 16205:2013/oprA1:2017 en,fr,de
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

SIST EN 16205:2013/oprA1:2017
SIST EN 16205:2013/oprA1:2017
DRAFT
EUROPEAN STANDARD
EN 16205:2013
NORME EUROPÉENNE
EUROPÄISCHE NORM
prA1
January 2017
ICS 91.120.20
English Version
Laboratory measurement of walking noise on floors
Mesurage en laboratoire du bruit des pas sur les Messung von Gehschall auf Fußböden im Prüfstand
planchers
This draft amendment is submitted to CEN members for enquiry. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee CEN/TC 126.

This draft amendment A1, if approved, will modify the European Standard EN 16205:2013. If this draft becomes an amendment,
CEN members are bound to comply with the CEN/CENELEC Internal Regulations which stipulate the conditions for inclusion of
this amendment into the relevant national standard without any alteration.

This draft amendment was established by CEN in three official versions (English, French, German). A version in any other
language made by translation under the responsibility of a CEN member into its own language and notified to the CEN-CENELEC
Management Centre has the same status as the official versions.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia,
Finland, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania,
Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland,
Turkey and United Kingdom.
Recipients of this draft are invited to submit, with their comments, notification of any relevant patent rights of which they are
aware and to provide supporting documentation.

Warning : This document is not a European Standard. It is distributed for review and comments. It is subject to change without
notice and shall not be referred to as a European Standard.

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

CEN-CENELEC Management Centre: Avenue Marnix 17, B-1000 Brussels
© 2017 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. EN 16205:2013/prA1:2017 E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

SIST EN 16205:2013/oprA1:2017
EN 16205:2013/prA1:2017 (E)
Contents Page
European foreword . 3
1 Modification to page 5, Clause 2, Normative references . 4
2 Modification to pages 16 and 17 (between Annex D and Bibliography) . 4
Annex E (informative) Calculation of perceived walking loudness on floor coverings
installed floating . 5
E.1 General . 5
E.2 Terms and definitions. 5
E.3 Data processing . 5
E.4 Data measured . 5
E.5 Calculations . 6
E.5.1 Sound spectrum L . 6
i,loud
E.5.2 Loudness RWS . 6
E.6 Test report . 6
E.7 Example of Macro . 7
3 Modification to the Bibliography . 21

SIST EN 16205:2013/oprA1:2017
EN 16205:2013/prA1:2017 (E)
European foreword
This document (EN 16205:2013/prA1:2017) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 126
“Acoustic properties of building elements and of buildings”, the secretariat of which is held by AFNOR.
This document is currently submitted to the CEN Enquiry.
SIST EN 16205:2013/oprA1:2017
EN 16205:2013/prA1:2017 (E)
1 Modification to page 5, Clause 2, Normative references
Add the following reference:
“ISO 532, Acoustics — Method for calculating loudness level”.
2 Modification to pages 16 and 17 (between Annex D and Bibliography)
Add the following new informative Annex E: “
SIST EN 16205:2013/oprA1:2017
EN 16205:2013/prA1:2017 (E)
Annex E
(informative)
Calculation of perceived walking loudness on floor coverings installed
floating
E.1 General
This annex specifies a method for calculating the perceived acoustic properties of floor coverings
installed floating regarding reflected walking sound. Reflected walking sound is the sound radiated in a
room from walking in the same room. The method describes how to calculate the perceived loudness of
the radiated sound whereby the frequency-dependent values of the drum sound from Clause 6 are
converted into a single number of the loudness. It shows a positive correlation to the sound generated
by a walking person with a hard heel.
E.2 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this standard, the following terms and definitions apply.
E.2.1
Reflected Walking Sound (RWS)
subjective perceived loudness radiated from a floor when a person with hard heel is walking on it
E.2.2
joudness
perceived strength of steady-state sound calculated according to Zwicker. Its unit is sone.
NOTE 1 to entry: Loudness is a linear measure; hence a redoubling of the sone value results in a redoubling of
the perceived loudness.
NOTE 2 to entry: Loudness is based on the concept of critical bands.
E2.3
critical band
human hearing system processes perceived sound in sub-bands called critical bands
NOTE 1 to entry: Critical bandwidth differs within the frequency range.
NOTE 2 to entry: The critical band produces the critical band scale. Its unit is Bark
E.3 Data processing
E.4 Data measured
The data used for the calculation consists of:
— individual 1/3 octave band spectra L , with (impact sound pressure level measured in the upper
i
room, when a sufficiently large specimen is lying on the test floor).
SIST EN 16205:2013/oprA1:2017
EN 16205:2013/prA1:2017 (E)
E.5 Calculations
E.5.1 Sound spectrum L
i,loud
The outcome of the data processing is one average 1/3 octave band spectrum (100 Hz to 5 000 Hz). This
resulting spectrum will be used as input for the loudness calculation.
The sound spectrum L' is the energetic average of the measured spectra:
i,loud
n
 ' 
01) L
1 ( ik))with )
'
 
L = 10lg 10 (E.1)
i)loud
∑
 
n
k=1
 
with
k = 1.n (number of measurement);
i = 1/3 octave band number;
L'i,with,k individual sound spectrum of the k-th measurement.
E.5.2 Loudness RWS
The RWS value is calculated according to ISO 532 B (1975), using method B (Zwicker) for stationary
signals and for diffuse field condition. The input is the one-third octave band spectrum L’ . The
i,loud
conversion routine requires the full frequency range from 25 Hz to 12 500 Hz. The missing levels for
frequencies below 100 Hz and above 3 150 Hz are set to −60 dB. The critical bands are listed in
Table E.2.
NOTE 1 There exists a free downloadable Excel sheet which performs all the calculations of Annex E (scaling
plus loudness calculation). The loudness algorithm is published as a Basic program in DIN 45631 [9] or Zwicker
[10] and it is programmed as a Visual Basic Program within this Excel sheet.
Table E.1 — Critical bands according to Zwicker [10]
Critical Band (Bark) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Centre frequency 50 150 250 350 450 570 700 840
(Hz)
Bandwidth (Hz) 100 100 100 100 110 120 140 150
Critical Band (Bark) 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Centre frequency 1 000 1 170 1 370 1 600 1 850 2 150 2 500 2 900
(Hz)
Bandwidth (Hz) 160 190 210 240 280 320 380 450
Critical Band (Bark) 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
Centre frequency 3 400 4 000 4 800 5 800 7 000 8 500 1 0500 1 3500
(Hz)
Bandwidth (Hz) 550 700 900 1 100 1 300 1 800 2 500 3 500
NOTE Example of Macro for Microsoft Excel Professional 2013 for calculation of RWS, see E.10.
E.6 Test report
The results in sone according to this annex can be expressed in addition to the result in dB(A).
SIST EN 16205:2013/oprA1:2017
EN 16205:2013/prA1:2017 (E)
The test report shall include at least the following information:
a) reference to this standard (i.e. EN 16205:2013/prA1:2016);
b) name and address of the testing laboratory;
c) manufacturer's name and product identification;
d) name and address of the person or the organization who ordered the test;
e) name and address of the person or the organization in charge of sampling, details of sampling, and
name and the address of the person or the organization in charge of installing the test object;
f) date of taking of the test object or test material, date of installing the specimen;
g) date of the test;
h) date of the issue of the test report;
i) detailed description of the bare floor: dimensions, mass per unit area, material;
j) detailed description of the floor covering including size of the specimens, details of the fitting into
the test facility and of the fixing to the bare floor;
k) description of the test facility: type of suppression of the flanking transmission, volumes of the test
rooms;
l) air temperature, static air pressure and humidity in both rooms during the measurement;
m) short description of the measuring method and a list of measuring equipment;
n) Results: Sone over Bark (Range 1 Bark to 24 Bark) and RWS-value as described in E.4.
E.7 Example of Macro
Example of Macro for Microsoft Excel Professional 2013 for calculation of RWS:
Option Explicit
Option Base 1
Sub Loudness()
Dim N As Single
Dim NS(240) As Single
Dim i As Integer
Dim Res(28) As Sing
...