National foreword

This Published Document is the UK implementation of ISO/TS 12913‑2:2018.

The UK participation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee EH/1/3, Residential and industrial noise.

A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its committee manager.

Contractual and legal considerations

This publication has been prepared in good faith, however no representation, warranty, assurance or undertaking (express or implied) is or will be made, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by BSI in relation to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of this publication. All and any such responsibility and liability is expressly disclaimed to the full extent permitted by the law.

This publication is provided as is, and is to be used at the recipient’s own risk.

The recipient is advised to consider seeking professional guidance with respect to its use of this publication.

This publication is not intended to constitute a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application.

This publication is not to be regarded as a British Standard.

Compliance with a Published Document cannot confer immunity from legal obligations.

This Published Document was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 31 August 2018.

Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types of ISO documents should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of any patent rights identified during the development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see www.iso.org/patents).

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an endorsement.

For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 43, Acoustics, Subcommittee SC 1, Noise.

A list of all parts in the ISO 12913 series can be found on the ISO website.

Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

Introduction

The ISO 12913 series on soundscape was developed in order to enable a broad international consensus and to provide a foundation for communication across disciplines and professions with an interest in soundscape. ISO 12913‑1 provides the definition of and a conceptual framework for the term “soundscape”.

The concept of soundscape was adopted to provide a holistic approach to the acoustic environment, beyond noise, and its effect on the quality of life. Soundscape suggests assessing all sounds perceived in an environment in all its complexity. To do this, soundscape studies use a variety of data collection related to human perception, acoustic environment and context. Importantly, the study of soundscape relies primarily upon human perception and only then turns to physical measurement.

1 Scope

This document specifies requirements and supporting information on data collection and reporting for soundscape studies, investigations and applications.

This document identifies and harmonizes the collection of data by which relevant information on the key components people, acoustic environment and context is obtained, measured and reported.

2 Normative references

3 Terms and definitions

4 Descriptors and indicators

4.1 General

4.2 Acoustic and psychoacoustic indicators

5 Data collection

5.1 General

5.2 Soundwalk

5.3 Questionnaire

5.4 Guided interview

5.5 Sound source taxonomy

5.6 Binaural measurements

6 Reporting requirements

Bibliography

PD ISO/TS 12913-2:2018

Acoustics — Soundscape - Data collection and reporting requirements

Current

Published:

31 Jan 2026