This document provides technical guidance to achieve acoustic quality of open office spaces to support dialogue and formal commitment between the various stakeholders involved in the planning, design, construction or layout of open-plan workspaces: end customers, project owners, prescribers, consultants, etc.

It is applicable to all open-plan offices in which the following activities are performed:

—    Space type 1: activity not known yet – vacant floor plate;

—    Space type 2: activity mainly focusing on outside of the room communication (by telephone/audio/video);

—    Space type 3: activity mainly based on collaboration between people at the nearest workstations;

—    Space type 4: activity based on a small amount of collaborative work;

—    Space type 5: activity that can involve receiving public;

—    Space type 6: combining activities within the same space.

More specifically, this document applies to refitting projects of existing business sites (renovation and/or change or add activities) and layout projects for new spaces and spaces delivered unfurnished.

It covers both the activities and the operations of the following stakeholders:

—    end customers: diagnosis, survey, expression of needs in keeping with their knowledge in the area of acoustics;

—    project owners: drafting contract specifications;

—    project management companies (architects, acousticians, ergonomists, economists and consulting engineers): indicating the performance of acoustic solutions and the layout principles used to achieve the result expressed in the specifications;

—    building traders: reaching a clear and verifiable target with respect to the choices of materials and implementation;

—    Building developer: promoting indoor environmental quality, including acoustic comfort, in estate operations in order to use it as a competitive element;

—    specialists in occupational health, safety and quality;

—    expert assessments and consultancy.