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What do the Noise at Work Regulations require on a building site?

Last checked 24-10-2026. A plain guide, not legal advice: check the official guidance below for your job.

The Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 set a lower action value of 80 dB(A), an upper action value of 85 dB(A) and an exposure limit of 87 dB(A), each with its own peak figure. The higher the exposure, the more the employer has to do.

The figures

Regulation 4 sets the values. Daily exposure is the noise averaged over a working day, and an employer may use a weekly average where it varies markedly from day to day. The peak figures cover very short, loud sounds and stand apart from the average.

  • Lower exposure action values: 80 dB(A) daily or weekly, and a peak sound pressure of 135 dB(C).
  • Upper exposure action values: 85 dB(A) daily or weekly, and a peak of 137 dB(C).
  • Exposure limit values: 87 dB(A) daily or weekly, and a peak of 140 dB(C).

Protectors count towards the limit values but not the action values, so ear defenders cannot be used to argue that exposure is under 80 or 85. The Regulations apply in Great Britain.

Rough guides when you have no meter

HSE's rules of thumb, for when you have no measurements:

  • About 80 dB(A): intrusive, like a busy street or a vacuum cleaner, but people 2 m apart can still talk normally.
  • About 85 dB(A): people 2 m apart have to shout to be heard, for more than about two hours a day in total.
  • You probably need to act if workers must raise their voices at about 2 m for part of the day, or use noisy power tools for more than half an hour a day.

These are guides only. Impacts and cartridge-operated tools can do damage on their own, and enclosed spaces push exposure up.

What the employer must do at each level

At any level, the employer must remove the noise risk at source or, where that is not reasonably practicable, reduce it as far as is reasonably practicable. Then:

  • At or above the lower values (80 dB(A) or 135 dB(C)): assess the risk and record the significant findings, give workers information, instruction and training, and make hearing protectors available to anyone who asks.
  • At or above the upper values (85 dB(A) or 137 dB(C)): run a programme of organisational and technical measures to cut the noise, not counting protectors. If that cannot bring exposure under the upper values, provide protectors, make sure they are used and mark hearing protection zones.
  • At the limit values (87 dB(A) or 140 dB(C)): workers must not be exposed above them. If it happens, bring exposure down at once, find out why, and change the measures.

Workers must use the protectors they are given and report defects. Some self-employed people are covered as both employer and employee, so check with HSE if you work for yourself.

Hearing protection zones and protectors

Where anyone is likely to be exposed at or above an upper value, the area must be a hearing protection zone, marked with the mandatory ear protection sign. Access is restricted where practicable, and the employer must make sure, so far as reasonably practicable, that nobody goes in without protectors.

HSE warns against over-protection. Protectors that take the level at the ear below 70 dB can cut people off from speech and warning sounds. It advises aiming at least to get below 85 dB at the ear and using protectors for the noisy tasks rather than everywhere.

Noisy tools and quieter methods

HSE names concrete breakers, pokers, compactors, grinders, disc cutters, hammer drills, chipping hammers, scabblers, needle guns, cartridge-operated tools and heavy plant. Its indicative daily exposures include about 92 for carpentry and 90 to 110 for angle grinding or cutting, and real levels can differ a lot.

Quieter methods it gives include block splitters instead of cut-off saws and boring instead of pile driving. It also lists low-noise tools, maintenance (worn parts add noise), barriers, distance and rotating workers.

Health surveillance and records

Regulation 9 requires health surveillance, including hearing tests, where the assessment shows a risk to health. HSE says that means workers regularly exposed above the upper action values, or at risk for another reason such as existing hearing loss. Checks are usually yearly for the first two years and then every three years, under an occupational health professional. If damage is found, a doctor must see the worker, and if the damage is likely to be noise-related the assessment and controls must be reviewed.

Sources

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