Technical Memorandum for the Assessment of Noise from Places Other Than Domestic Premises, Public Places or Construction Sites

1. PRELIMINARY

1.1

Citation and Commencement

This Technical Memorandum is issued pursuant to section 10 of the Noise Control Ordinance and may be cited as the Technical Memorandum for the Assessment of Noise from Places other than Domestic Premises, Public Places or Construction Sites. This Technical Memorandum shall replace the existing one that was originally published under section 11(1) of the Noise Control Ordinance in Special Supplement No.5 to Gazette Extraordinary No.38 Vol. CXXX on 7 November 1988 and came into operation on 7 December 1988. This Technical Memorandum shall come into operation in accordance with section 12 of the Noise Control Ordinance.

1.2

Application and Scope

This Technical Memorandum details the procedures that should generally be adopted by the Authority:

for the measurement and assessment of noise emanating from places other than domestic premises, public places or construction sites;

for the issuing of Noise Abatement Notices pursuant to section 13(1)(c) of the Ordinance; and

for determining whether or not any Noise Abatement Notice is being complied with.

1.3

Interpretation

In this Technical Memorandum, unless the context otherwise requires, the following definitions apply:

"Authority" has the same meaning as in the Ordinance;

"construction site" has the same meaning as in the Ordinance;

"domestic premises" has the same meaning as in the Ordinance;

"Ordinance" means the Noise Control Ordinance;

"place" has the same meaning as in the Ordinance; and

"public place" has the same meaning as in the Ordinance.

Standard acoustical terminology is used throughout this Technical Memorandum. Other terms are as defined in the Ordinance or in the text of this Technical Memorandum.

1.4

General Introduction to the Procedures

When investigating a complaint regarding noise emanating from places or premises falling within the scope of this Technical Memorandum the Authority shall generally act in accordance with the following procedures which are detailed in subsequent sections. The Authority shall:

(a)	determine the appropriate Acceptable Noise Level for the Noise Sensitive Receiver in question (in accordance with Section 2);

(b)	conduct measurements to obtain the Corrected Noise Level of the noise under investigation (in accordance with Section 3); and

(c)	compare the Corrected Noise Level with the Acceptable Noise Level to determine if a Noise Abatement Notice may be issued (in accordance with Section 4).