ASTM-E557:12(R2020) pdf free download – Standard Guide for Architectural Design and Installation Practices for Sound lsolation between Spaces Separated by Operable Partitions.
5.2.3 Generally, track systems for operable partitions are installed during the early phases of building interior construction. The panels are often among the last items installed in the building. The barrier above the track may be built between these two events. To level the track after the weight of the panels is applied, manufacturers and installers of operable partitions request access to the area above the track. This can conflict with the need to build a harrier in the same area. It is important to work out a design that provides an adequate acoustical harrier and allows access for adjustment of the trdck. If built-in access doors or removable gypsum board panels are used for this purpose, they should be sealed at the periphery with solid or closed cell gaskets.
5.2.4 If doors or removable panels used to cover openings in a monolithic ceilings to gain access for servicing partition drive train components, the openings should be sufficiently large to permit all service operations without modification or damage to the ceiling. The covers should be sealed at the periphery with solid or closed cell gaskets. Fig. 3 shows the recommended l(xations of access panels. The doors or removable access panels should have a sound transmission loss equal to or greater than the ceiling transmission loss. Seals should he provided in the header wall at penetrations such as for ducts and pipes.
5.3 Floor Below Partilion:
5.3. I Some types of floors are intentionally designed with hollow spaces below (for example, some gymnasium wood floors or computer room access floors). Where there is a hollow space under the operable partition, sound may pass down through the floor on one side and up through the floor on the other, or flank through a light floor structure. A harrier should be erected directly below the operable partition. The harrier, in conjunction with the floor, should have a sound transmission loss equal to or greater than that of the partition (see Fig. 4, (a) and (b)). Wood or other light floor structures should have a break in them under the partition to limit flanking through the t1(x)r surface.
5.3.2 lithe floor is carpeted. it will be difficult to obtain a good seal at the bottom of the operable partition. It is preferable to replace the carpet with a strip of smooth material, such as metal, wood, or vinyl, where the bottom seals make contact with the floor (see Fig. 5 (a) and (h)).
5.3.3 The seals at the bottom of the partition should make airtight contact with the floor. The floor immediately under the partition should not vary from a smooth level surface by more than ±½ in. (±3.2 mm) in 12 H (3.7 m) non-accumulative. A steel member, such as a standard terrazio strip, can be placed in a concrete floor to ensure this accuracy (see Fig. 5 (b)). Test Methods E1155 and El 155M are test methods for measuring floor flatness and levelness.
5.3.4 When floors under operable partitions are on upper stories, they are subject to live load deflections. lithe detlections exceed the ability of the bottom seals of the operable partition to extend, all seal contact will be lost, opening a large sound leak. Either the floor should be designed to limit the detlections to less than the extension offered by the operable partition, or an operable partition whose bottom seals oiler sufficient extension to maintain contact with the floor under these conditions should be specified.