🔊 Determination of emission sound pressure levels of machinery and equipment at a work station and at other specified positions (e.g. bystander positions) in an essentially free field over a reflecting plane — in a hemi-anechoic room or outdoors — without environmental corrections, with correction for background noise only; A-weighted level, if required in frequency bands and C-weighted peak level; accuracy grade 1 (precision) or 2 (engineering), class 1 sound level meter according to IEC 61672-1, PN-EN ISO 11201

Environment PN-EN ISO 11201

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. We read the text of the standard in two iTeh samples: SIST EN ISO 11201:2010 (English text) — title page, European foreword and Annex ZA of EN ISO 11201:2010 — and ISO 11201:2010 (English text) — from the title page through the contents, foreword, introduction and Clauses 1–4 to 5.1 (test environment, general) on page 7. Outside the samples remain criteria for the suitability of the environment and background noise (from 5.2), measured and determined quantities (6, 7), mounting and operation of the machine (8), microphone positions (9), measurements (10), uncertainty (11), information to be recorded (12), test report (13) and Annexes A (allocation of accuracy grade), B (background noise criteria in bands), C (uncertainty), D (principles of the methodology) and E (example of a test table).

ACCORDING TO THE TEXT OF ISO 11201:2010 AND THE FOREWORD OF EN ISO 11201:2010. The standard was prepared by ISO/TC 43 “Acoustics”, Subcommittee SC 1 “Noise”, in collaboration with CEN/TC 211 “Acoustics” (secretariat DS); CEN approved EN ISO 11201:2010 on 22.04.2010 without modification to ISO; it superseded EN ISO 11201:2009; it was prepared under a mandate from the European Commission and EFTA, and Annex ZA relates it to the essential requirements of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC — once cited in the Official Journal of the EU and implemented as a national standard, compliance with its normative clauses confers, within its scope, a presumption of conformity with the corresponding essential requirements. The second edition replaces the first (ISO 11201:1995) as a technical revision and incorporates the corrigendum ISO 11201:1995/Cor.1:1997. Introduction: the standard belongs to the ISO 11200–11205 series of methods for determining the emission sound pressure level at a work station and at other specified positions; the choice of method is guided by ISO 11200; it differs from the other methods of the series in applying no environmental correction; environmental requirements are specified for accuracy grade 1 (precision) and 2 (engineering) indoors and outdoors; grade 1 measurements can generally be made in hemi-anechoic rooms or outdoors, and in some cases also on larger open areas in an industrial setting free from reflecting objects; ISO 11201:1995 gave grade 2 only — the present edition contains essentially the same grade 2 method and a more precise grade 1 method, and users and drafters of noise test codes should state clearly which grade is used; emission levels are generally less than or equal to those when the machine operates in its normal surroundings, because the effects of background noise and of reflections (other than from the reflecting plane) are excluded; calculating the level at the operator’s position in a room requires both sound power level and sound pressure level and information on the room (a method in ISO/TR 11690-3); commonly observed differences are 1–5 dB, in extreme cases more. Scope (1): a method for determining the emission sound pressure levels of machinery and equipment at a work station and at other specified positions nearby, in an essentially free field over a reflecting plane; the work station is occupied by an operator and may be in open space, in the room with the machine, in a cab fixed to the machine or in an enclosure remote from it; specified positions may be near the work station or near an attended or unattended machine (bystander positions); levels are determined as A-weighted levels and, if required, also in frequency bands and as C-weighted peak levels; results are of accuracy grade 1 or 2; corrections are applied for background noise but not for the acoustic environment; the standard gives instructions for mounting and operating the machine and for choosing microphone positions; one purpose is to compare units of a given family of machines under defined conditions; according to the note the data can be used for declaring and verifying emission values according to ISO 4871; the method is suitable for all types of noise according to ISO 12001 (steady, non-steady, fluctuating, isolated bursts etc.) and all types and sizes of sources; an essentially free field over a reflecting plane (indoors or outdoors) is required; it covers work stations near the machine (many industrial machines and domestic appliances), in a cab integral to the machine (many industrial trucks and earth-moving machines), in an enclosure or behind a screen supplied by the manufacturer, work stations surrounded by the machine, bystander positions and other specified positions, also a path along which the operator moves. References (2): ISO 3744, ISO 3745, ISO 3746, ISO 5725, ISO 12001, IEC 60942:2003, IEC 61260:1995 (with Amd.1:2001), IEC 61672-1:2002, ISO/IEC Guide 98-3:2008. Terms (3) include: emission; emission sound pressure — at a work station or other position near a source operating under specified conditions on a reflecting plane, excluding the effects of background noise and of reflections other than from permitted planes; emission sound pressure level Lp = 10 lg(p²/p0²) dB, p0 = 20 µPa; time-averaged level Lp,T; peak emission sound pressure and peak level (usually C-weighted, LpC,peak); single event emission sound pressure level LE (normalized to 1 s); free field over a reflecting plane and essentially free field; frequency range of interest — octave bands 125–8000 Hz or one-third-octave bands 100–10 000 Hz; work station, operator, specified position; operational period and cycle (example: dishwasher — washing, rinsing, drying); measurement time interval; time history; background noise and background noise correction K1; reference box and reference measurement surface SM; environmental correction K2 (in this standard only as an indicator qualifying the environment) and local environmental correction K3 (not applied here, used in ISO 11202 and ISO 11204). Instrumentation (4): the measuring system including microphones, cables and windscreen shall meet IEC 61672-1:2002 class 1 and the filters IEC 61260:1995 class 1; before and after each series of measurements the whole system is checked with a class 1 sound calibrator according to IEC 60942:2003 — the difference in readings without adjustment shall not exceed 0,5 dB, otherwise the results of the series are discarded; the calibrator and the compliance of the system with IEC 61672-1 are verified periodically in a laboratory providing traceability — unless national regulations require otherwise, the calibrator should be calibrated annually and the system checked at intervals not exceeding 2 years. Environment (5.1): grade 1 or 2 in an essentially free field over a reflecting plane, where environmental correction is neither necessary nor permitted; the user chooses the grade, which is recorded and reported; the requirements are strict and often impossible to meet in situ; grade 1 or 2 is possible in a hemi-anechoic room and outdoors on a reflecting plane without reflecting objects affecting the result, and grade 2 — indoors and outdoors if background noise and reflections do not exceed certain limits.

STATUS (as of 03.10.2026). The PKN search (term “PN-EN ISO 11201”, 03.10.2026) shows PN-EN ISO 11201:2012 (Polish version, “Introduces: EN ISO 11201:2010 [IDT], ISO 11201:2010 [IDT]”) without a withdrawal note and withdrawn earlier editions: two entries of PN-EN ISO 11201:2010 in the English version (one replaced by PN-EN ISO 11201:2012), PN-EN ISO 11201:1999 (Polish version) and PN-B-11201:1996. In the iTeh catalogue (read on 03.10.2026) ISO 11201:2010 has the status “Published”, stage 90.93 (standard confirmed) since 08.07.2026.

HOW MANY LABORATORIES AND IN WHAT FORM (copy of the accreditation scope database, load up to 17.09.2026, read on 03.10.2026). The number 11201 appears in 7 records at 5 laboratories: AB 001, AB 082, AB 116, AB 665, AB 838 (at AB 116 and AB 838 the item is split into two records in the copy). In the current PCA documents (read on 03.10.2026, issues from 02.09.2025 to 04.08.2026) the number appears in 5 rows — one at each; in each of the five documents the number of page markers equals the number of PDF pages, without repetitions; a search of all 1291 PCA documents downloaded from BIP on 03.10.2026 found no laboratories outside the database copy (17 laboratories on the list have no link to a scope document on BIP). The form “PN-EN ISO 11201:2012” (AB 001, AB 082, AB 116), at AB 838 “PN-EN ISO 11201:2012 excluding clause 11” (without the uncertainty clause) next to PN-EN ISO 11202:2012 with A1:2021-10, and “PN-EN ISO 11201” without year (AB 665); at AB 082 and AB 665 in one cell with other standards of the series and noise standards, at AB 116 — with PN-EN ISO 4254-1:2016-02 (Annex B). None of these items is suspended (in the AB 116 document the word “zawieszane” describes mounted agricultural machines, not suspension of accreditation). The “Laboratories” tab (term “PN-EN ISO 11201”) shows all 5 laboratories — checked with a tab query on the production server labcoda.pl on 03.10.2026.

WHAT THE LABORATORIES TEST (items in PCA). Object: machinery and equipment — noise (AB 838; at AB 665 in the flexible scope of accreditation), machinery and equipment, machines and means of transport — noise (AB 082), self-propelled, mounted, semi-mounted and trailed agricultural machines — noise (AB 116), technical equipment, steel and building structures, their components and protective devices, buildings — noise (AB 001). Characteristics: A-weighted sound pressure level, C-weighted peak and emission level by calculation (AB 001 — range (24–139) dB, direct method), A-weighted level, single event level, levels in octave and one-third-octave bands (100–10 000) Hz, (24–133) dB (AB 082), A-weighted level (40–120) dB, engineering method, emission level by calculation (AB 116), acoustic properties — direct measurements (AB 665), equivalent and maximum A level, single event emission level (24–137) dB, C peak level (69–140) dB, equivalent A level for reference time T (AB 838).

WHERE A SEEMINGLY CORRECT RESULT IS EASY TO GET. With the accuracy grade: it has to be chosen and reported (1 or 2); grade 1 only in a hemi-anechoic room or outdoors without reflecting objects (5.1). With the environment: the standard does not permit environmental correction, and its environmental requirements are strict and often impossible to meet in situ; environmental corrections are applied by other standards of the series (introduction, 3.23, 5.1). With calibration: a calibrator reading difference above 0,5 dB before and after a series invalidates the series (4.2). With instrumentation: class 1 meter and filters (4.1). With interpretation: the emission level is not the operator’s exposure level in a workshop — typically it is 1–5 dB lower (introduction).

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. We did not read the background and environment criteria, microphone positions, mounting and operating conditions of the machine, measurement procedure, uncertainty or the content of the report (from 5.2, Clauses 6–13, Annexes A–E). We do not give permissible noise levels for machines.

Method principle

The machine is installed and operated under specified conditions in an essentially free field over a reflecting plane (hemi-anechoic room or open space), and the sound pressure level at the work station and at other specified positions is measured with a class 1 meter. The result is corrected only for background noise (no environmental correction) and given as the A-weighted emission sound pressure level, optionally in bands and as C-weighted peak, in accuracy grade 1 or 2.

Applications

• Machinery and equipment of all types and sizes, all types of noise — operator positions, cabs, enclosures, bystander positions (1)
• Comparison of units of a machine family; declaration and verification of emission values according to ISO 4871 (1.1); essential requirements of Directive 2006/42/EC (Annex ZA)
• Machinery and equipment, means of transport, agricultural machines, technical equipment — items in the accreditation scopes of 5 laboratories in PCA

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-EN ISO 11201:2012

Title (PL)

Akustyka — Hałas emitowany przez maszyny i urządzenia — Wyznaczanie poziomów ciśnienia akustycznego emisji na stanowisku pracy i w innych określonych miejscach w warunkach zbliżonych do pola swobodnego nad płaszczyzną odbijającą dźwięk z pomijalnymi poprawkami środowiskowymi

Title (EN)

Acoustics — Noise emitted by machinery and equipment — Determination of emission sound pressure levels at a work station and at other specified positions in an essentially free field over a reflecting plane with negligible environmental corrections

Step-by-step procedure

1. Choice of grade and environment

   Grade 1 or 2 recorded in the report; essentially free field over a reflecting plane (5.1). PN-EN ISO 11201:2012 without a withdrawal note (03.10.2026).

2. Calibration

   Class 1 calibrator before and after the series; difference ≤ 0,5 dB (4.2).

3. Machine mounting and operation, microphones

   According to the noise test code or Clauses 8–9 (not read); work station, bystander positions, operator path (1.4).

4. Measurements and result

   LpA (optionally bands, LpC,peak), background correction K1; procedure and uncertainty according to Clauses 10–11 (not read).

Required equipment and apparatus

Health and safety (OHS)

• Work near an operating machine — guards, hearing protection at high levels

Frequently asked questions