Soundproofing homes close to Schiphol (11/50)

Remediation of existing homes
Nowadays, with high demands being placed on new housing projects, M+P expertise is now being used in the preliminary phase. “Unfortunately, this working method did not yet apply to the homes already around Schiphol in 2011,” explains Marc. “And the residents were being exposed to more noise every year. The 2011 “Geluidisolatie Schiphol 3” sound remediation programme was the third sound insulation project to reduce aircraft noise pollution in homes. This was a programme in which homeowners who had been unable to participate during the first two projects could do so voluntarily. The national government released a budget for the sound insulation of these houses, and contractors were given an opportunity to register to make the necessary adjustments. Because this unexpectedly turned out to be quite a difficult job, Rijkswaterstaat called in an acoustics bureau to advise the contractors on how they could improve the quality of their adjustments to façades and roofs.” 

M+P was brought in for quality control
Suzanne continues: “Our work mainly consisted of carrying out a thorough quality control check. The contractors hired us for practical instructions on how to put Rijkswaterstaat’s advice into practice. And upon delivery, we provided feedback to Rijkswaterstaat to let them know all the work had been carried out properly. This working method was made obligatory by the government. Of course, this did create some tension; we had to check the contractors' work and tell them if they had done something wrong, and they had to pay us for the privilege. Luckily they generally took it all in their stride.”

More social than technical deployment of talents 
This required a personal visit to residents to check the work of the contractors. “I sometimes found the visits distressing,” recalls Suzanne. “I visited farms where I had to run away from dogs, but also met Polish families of up to 10 people living in shabby houses that were in such bad states that they weren’t really worth updating.” Marc can still picture a lady who, while enjoying a self-rolled cigarette, loudly expressed concern about the amount of radiation his measuring equipment and mobile phone would cause in her house.

Not easy, but it generated a lot of laughs afterwards.“Because the remediations were put out to tender ‘in pieces’ and different contractors were involved, there were occasions when several contractors were working simultaneously in one street. If adjustments were made to one house, and they were different compared to the neighbours, we had to watch out for potential awkwardness,” Marc says. “It was also the time when the crisis period hit and contractors had little work. Some even bid below cost for the job without seeing the houses in advance. And so it was difficult for them already, and then they got a bill from us as well.” Susan concludes: “Yes, that was uncomfortable, and there was a lot of arranging and planning. But the goal, improving the living environments of the residents, was achieved thanks to the project. And it was also very nice to look back; we made a lot of contacts and had many lovely conversations with the residents and the contractors.”