Acoustics in the Built Environment

Designation Number:
CAN-ASC-2.5/ICC A118
Standard Type:
National Standard of Canada - Domestic
Standard Sub-Type
Joint Canada-U.S. National Standard
Standard Development Activity:
New Standard
ICS code(s):
91.120.20
Status:
Proceeding to development
SDO Comment Period Start Date:
SDO Comment Period End Date:
Posted On:

Scope:

Note: This NOI replaces ASC's NOI for CAN-ASC-2.5/ICC A118: Acoustics in the Built Environment (https://www.scc.ca/en/standards/notices-of-intent/asc/can-asc-25-icc-a118-acoustics-built-environment). The purpose of standard CAN-ASC-2.5/ICC A118 is to ensure the technical requirements for acoustics in the built environment are equity-based. This requires going beyond minimum technical specifications. There are common areas where persons with disabilities may face barriers related to acoustics in the built environment. For example: • Types of noise, such as stationary, non-stationary, and interfering speech. These have a varying impact on human listeners. • Key figures of merit. (A figure of merit is a number representing the characteristics of a device, material, or procedure.) The figures of merit for this standard include: o sound level o reverberation time (how long it takes a sound to decay) o absorption coefficients (the amount of sound energy absorbed by a material) o transmission coefficients (the amount of sound energy that passes through a material) • General acoustic performance: o noise level from internal sources, such as:  equipment in the room  reverberation and echo o noise level from external sources, such as:  impact noise  environmental noise  the building’s heating and cooling equipment • Acoustics of specific spaces. This includes: o Government of Canada workspaces o open-plan offices o closed offices and phone booths (including private and group spaces) o conference and videoconferencing rooms o common areas, such as:  kitchens and bathrooms  quiet rooms and recovery rooms o training and teaching spaces o service counters • Assistive technologies. This includes: o assistive listening systems o captioning systems o the interoperability of these technologies with personal devices

Project need:

Accessibility Standards Canada (ASC) was created under the Accessible Canada Act. Its mandate is to prevent, identify, and remove barriers to accessibility in Canada for people with disabilities. To do this, the International Code Council (ICC) and ASC has partnered together to develop standards. These are based on the needs of people with disabilities. These needs are identified by consulting Canadians with disabilities. This includes the members of the Accessibility Standards Canada Board of Directors. Most Board members are people with disabilities. The ICC and ASC Boards have approved the development of this standard. People with disabilities are involved in the development process: • Its standards are developed using research that is led by people with disabilities or with lived experience. • People with disabilities are members of the organization’s technical committees. These committees produce equity-based requirements for standards. These take into account the needs and perspectives of people with disabilities. • The public review process for this standard will be accessible. This will allow even more people with disabilities to be part of the development process.

Note: The information provided above was obtained by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) and is provided as part of a centralized, transparent notification system for new standards development. The system allows SCC-accredited Standards Development Organizations (SDOs), and members of the public, to be informed of new work in Canadian standards development, and allows SCC-accredited SDOs to identify and resolve potential duplication of standards and effort.

Individual SDOs are responsible for the content and accuracy of the information presented here. The text is presented in the language in which it was provided to SCC.