Construction Site Environmental Monitoring – Noise, Dust & Vibration

Consideration to completing environmental monitoring on construction and demolition projects for noise, dust and vibration is now a standard part of the environmental planning stage.

The use of environmental monitoring consultants provides a number of benefits including compliance and provision of important dispute data. Below is a brief outline of this topic:

Compliance

Several regulatory documents govern what is needed and when in relation to construction and demolition site monitoring. The main documents include:

-          Mayor of London Best Practice Guidance – The control of dust and emissions from construction and demolition

-          BS:5228 Noise and vibration control on construction and open sites

-          Considerate Constructor and Considerate Contractor Schemes

-          Local Authority Requirements

-          DEFRA Guidance

Control Limits

Environmental monitoring for noise, dust and vibration can provide a safe guard against nuisance or damage. By setting control limits, alarms can be set to warn if levels have been breached which have the potential for damage or nuisance. These alarms can be discrete, immediate and automated so that action can be taken before a problem results.

Dispute Prevention and Resolution

Environmental monitoring can provide invaluable data as evidence that the project is not causing damage or nuisance to neighbours. If carried out correctly this can prevent or significantly reduce claims against the contractors involved.

In fact if monitoring is undertaken with the knowledge of the neighbours, it can prevent any disputes from occurring at all, as neighbours can see that the contractor is taking steps to safeguard their properties and prevent nuisance occurring.

Data Integrity

To ensure that the data collected from monitoring devices is useful it is very important that certain criteria are fulfilled. The list below will help to prevent money being wasted on monitoring which does not ultimately provide the evidence or preventative measure required.

-          Design of environmental monitoring plan including control limits

-          Calibration of devices

-          Correct setup and use of devices

-          Impartiality of those taking and logging the results

-          Report quality

For more information on construction site environmental monitoring please contact us.
0870 950 0161

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