New Swiss legislation to protect persons from vibrations and structure-borne noise

摘要

An ordinance has been drafted which protects persons in buildings against the harmful effects or nuisance of vibration and structure-borne noise such as from railways. The ordinance will enter into force soon. The legislation is based on the classical principle of an evaluative determination with subsequent rating on the basis of exposure limits. The vibration exposure limits are orientated on the basis of the perception threshold. For structure-borne noise, the exposure limits are described by energy-equivalent units and are stipulated for an audible range distinctly above threshold. Furthermore, maximum levels are also applied at night so as to take sleep disturbance into account. Aspects such as proportionality and stipulated remediation deadlines facilitate implementation of the legislation. However, remediation is problematic in relation to rail transport facilities in particular. This is due to the high complexity of implementation measures and the related costs. The technical developments demanded in the ordinance should make a beneficial contribution to realising the long-term goals.