BS ISO 22955:2021: The UK Office Acoustics Standard
Most acoustic complaints in open-plan offices come down to the same mismatch: the room was designed for one kind of work, and the people in it are doing several different kinds at once. BS ISO 22955:2021 exists precisely because of that mismatch. It's the standard written specifically for open-plan acoustics, rather than adapted from a cellular-office standard that assumed walls were doing most of the work.
Why open-plan needed its own standard
Published in 2021, BS ISO 22955 gives architects, acousticians and clients a shared framework for planning, designing and fitting out open workspaces. Before it existed, most UK office acoustic briefs borrowed targets from standards written for closed rooms, then applied them loosely to a floor with no walls at all. The results were predictable: specifications that looked reasonable on paper and failed the moment the floor filled up.
The standard's activity-based approach
Rather than setting one blanket target for the office, BS ISO 22955 recognises that different work needs genuinely different acoustic conditions, and it groups open-plan activity accordingly. The categories it works from include individual focused work, where minimising distraction from nearby conversation is the priority, collaborative and group work, where speech needs to travel clearly within a team, tele and video communication, where background noise has to stay low enough that a call doesn't pick it up, creative and collaborative work, typically a livelier zone where some ambient sound is acceptable, and confidential communication, where speech privacy is the whole point.
Treating all five of those the same way is exactly how most open floors end up failing somebody. A layout tuned for quiet focus work will frustrate a team trying to collaborate loudly nearby, and a layout left lively for collaboration will leak every confidential call straight across the floor.
What the standard actually asks you to build
The headline practical requirement is ceiling absorption. BS ISO 22955 points to Class A absorptive ceiling treatment, the highest sound absorption class under BS EN ISO 11654, covering roughly 50 to 60% of the ceiling area as the primary control mechanism for an open floor. The ceiling is the largest untreated surface in most offices and the first place reflected sound builds up, which is why it does most of the acoustic work.
Wall panels play a supporting role, useful for targeted absorption near noise sources or glazed partitions, but they can't substitute for ceiling coverage at that scale. Flooring, by contrast, contributes relatively little to airborne reverberation control regardless of finish. Sound masking, acoustic furniture and desk-height screens all have a place, but the standard is clear that none of them replace proper ceiling absorption, they refine what the ceiling has already achieved.
Why landlords are starting to require it
BS ISO 22955:2021 increasingly gets specified alongside the WELL Building Standard's Sound concept, since WELL certification requires a documented approach to acoustic quality and BS ISO 22955 gives landlords and design teams exactly that framework. On a growing number of UK leases, meeting it isn't optional, it's written into the specification the tenant inherits.
Common questions
Is BS ISO 22955:2021 a legal requirement? It's a British and international standard rather than statutory law, but it's increasingly required by landlords, certification schemes and design teams as the reference for open-plan acoustic quality.
Does the 50 to 60% ceiling coverage figure apply to every office? It's the standard's general guidance for Class A treatment; the exact coverage a specific floor needs still depends on ceiling height, existing hard surfaces and occupant density, which is why a survey matters more than a rule of thumb.
Can a small office ignore the activity-type approach? The principles still apply at any scale, though a smaller floor with fewer distinct zones needs a lighter specification than a large, mixed-activity floor plate.
Getting your office specified against it
See our guide to fixing open-plan office acoustics or book a free survey to find out what Class A coverage your specific floor actually needs.
Related product guides: acoustic ceilings: tiles, baffles or rafts, acoustic screens, acoustic pods.
From first survey to final finish
One team handles all seven stages, the same way on every project, so you always know what happens next.
A surveyor visits the site, or works from your drawings and photos when a visit isn't practical. Either way, the room, its surfaces and how it is used are recorded before any advice is given.
Reverberation, ambient noise and noise transfer are read against what the space is used for. The findings arrive as a written report with recommendations, yours to keep with no obligation to proceed.
Treatment is modelled against a reverberation target, then drawn up with panel positions, fixings and finishes. Nothing moves forward until you have approved the design.
Every quotation comes with the specification behind it, listing products by type, quantity and finish with costs set out line by line. What is quoted is what the design calls for.
Panels, baffles, ceilings and screens come from our Acoustic Solutions range and are supplied to the approved specification. What arrives on site matches what was designed.
Our own engineers fit to the approved drawings, checking positions and fixings as they go. One team supplies and installs, so nothing is handed between contractors.
Optional: after fit-out the space can be measured again and compared with the original survey, so the improvement is measured rather than assumed. Results are reported against the relevant standards and the written record goes into your building file.
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