Environmental noise refers to (undesired) noise in general living environment.

NOTE 1 Annexes JA and JB provide outlines of provisions of JIS C 1509-1 regarding frequency weightings A and C, and time weightings F and S that are used as a basis for environmental noise assessment.

NOTE 2 Annexes JC to JJ provide outlines of measuring methods for different types of noise sources that are actually used in Japan to assess environmental noise in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations such as the Noise Regulation Act and the Basic Environment Act.

NOTE 3 The International Standards corresponding to this Standard and the symbol of degree of correspondence are as follows.

ISO 1996-1:2016 Acoustics—Description, measurement and assessment of environmental noise—Part 1: Basic quantities and assessment procedures

ISO 1996-2:2017 Acoustics—Description, measurement and assessment of environmental noise—Part 2: Determination of sound pressure levels (Overall evaluation: MOD)

In addition, symbols which denote the degree of correspondence in the contents between the relevant International Standard and JIS are IDT (identical), MOD (modified), and NEQ (not equivalent) according to ISO/IEC Guide 21-1.

It is recognized that specific requirements and protocols of some social studies may not permit the use of some or all of the present specifications. This document in no way lessens the merit, value or validity of such research studies.

The scope of this document is restricted to surveys conducted to obtain information about noise annoyance “at home”. Surveys conducted to obtain information about noise annoyance in other situations, such as recreational areas, work environments and inside vehicles, are not included.

This document concerns only the questions on noise annoyance used in a social survey and the most important additional specifications needed to accomplish a high level of comparability with other studies. Other elements which are required to provide high-quality social surveys, but which are not specific for social surveys on noise (such as sampling methods), can be found in textbooks (see References [1] and [2]).

Conformity with the recommendations of this document does not guarantee the collection of accurate, precise or reliable information about the prevalence of noise-induced annoyance and/or its relationship to noise exposure. Other aspects of study design, as well as uncertainties of estimation and measurement of noise exposure, can influence the interpretability of survey findings to a great extent.

The scope of ISO/TS 15666:2003 is restricted to surveys conducted to obtain information about noise annoyance "at home". Surveys conducted to obtain information about noise annoyance in other situations, such as recreational areas, work environments and inside vehicles, are not included.

ISO/TS 15666:2003 concerns only the questions on noise annoyance used in a social survey and the most important additional specifications needed to accomplish a high level of comparability with other studies. Other elements which are required to provide high-quality social surveys, but which are not specific for social surveys on noise (such as sampling methods), can be found in textbooks.

Compliance with the recommendations of ISO/TS 15666:2003 does not guarantee the collection of accurate, precise or reliable information about the prevalence of noise-induced annoyance and its relationship to noise exposure. Other aspects of study design, as well as uncertainties of estimation and measurement of noise exposure, can influence the interpretability of survey findings to a great extent.

The measuring process requires observation and analysis of the noise exposure conditions so that the quality of the measurements can be controlled. ISO 9612:2009 provides methods for estimating the uncertainty of the results.

ISO 9612:2009 is not intended for assessment of masking of oral communication or assessment of infrasound, ultrasound and non-auditory effects of noise. It does not apply to the measurement of the noise exposure of the ear when hearing protectors are worn.

Results of the measurements performed in accordance with ISO 9612:2009 can provide useful information when defining priorities for noise control measures.

In order to ensure minimum requirements of precision and comparability between different test procedures including speech recognition tests in different languages, ISO 8253-3:2012 specifies requirements for the composition, validation and evaluation of speech test materials, and the realization of speech recognition tests. ISO 8253-3:2012 does not specify the contents of the speech material because of the variety of languages.

Furthermore, ISO 8253-3:2012 also specifies the determination of reference values and fulfilment requirements for the realization and manner of presentation.

ISO 8253-3:2012 specifies procedures and requirements for speech audiometry with the recorded test material being presented by air conduction through an earphone, or from a loudspeaker for sound field audiometry. Methods for using noise either for masking the non-test ear or as a competing sound are described.

Some test subjects, for example children, can require amended test procedures not specified in ISO 8253-3:2012.

Specialized tests such as those used for evaluating directional hearing and dichotic hearing are outside the scope of ISO 8253-3:2012.