Noise and Legal Dispute: Applications and Limits of the Italian Standard UNI/TS 11844

Abstract

In forensic acoustics, a possible area of analysis is represented by unwanted sound that is perceived as a source of intrusion or disturbance within a certain auditory context. This context is defined as the “auditory scene” and refers to the set of sounds present in a specific environment. The presence of unwanted sounds in the auditory scene can cause a wide range of negative effects, including disturbance, discomfort, moral or immoral harm, and other types of negative impacts on the health and well-being of individuals exposed to noise. In 2022, the technical specification UNI/TS 11844:2022 dedicated to the measurement and analysis of intrusive noise was published. The standard introduces the concept of intrusive noise and defines its calculation methods based on environmental measurements. The purposes of this technical specification is to provide an objective support to methods already in used in acoustic disputes, where the assessment of the annoyance of a noise is often a subjective evaluation of the technician. This work delves into application to some real cases, identifying the potentiality and limits of the standardized method.

Keywords

• intrusive noise
• signal detection theory
• acoustic standard
• acoustic disputes