Noise Complaint Log: Measure and Record Neighbor Noise

How to log noise for a complaint

1. Put the phone or laptop where you hear the noise, ideally in the bedroom or living room it disturbs, away from your own TV, fridge or fan. Keep windows as they normally are at night and write that down in the notes.
2. Press Start measuring, then Start log. Each minute gets a row with the average (LAeq), the loudest moment (LAFmax) and when it happened, L10 and L90.
3. A row is marked ▲ when its LAeq for that minute is above 30 dB(A) or its LAFmax above 45 dB(A). WHO’s night values for bedrooms are 30 dB LAeq averaged over the whole night and 45 dB for single noises, so a marked minute shows when the noise went above those levels, not a breach of the guideline. An uncalibrated phone can read near 30 dB even in a silent room, so calibrate before you rely on the LAeq marks.
4. When the noise stops, press Stop log and download the CSV or the PDF report. The PDF lists the marked minutes, the calibration status and your notes.

What makes a log useful to a landlord or council

Authorities act on patterns they can check. Citizens Advice recommends noting every time the problem happens, with what happened, how long it lasted and how it affected you, and offering a copy of your records when you complain. The Welsh Government’s guide Sound Advice on Noise (2019) adds that for intermittent noise an officer may ask you to keep a diary of the dates and times, or to call again so they can try to witness it. Several nights of logs that show the same late-night peaks make that visit easier to arrange than a single recording.

Pair the log with a short written diary: what the noise was (music, footsteps, a dog, a party), which room you heard it in, and what it stopped you doing, such as sleeping or working. The meter supplies the times and levels; only you can say what the noise was. Keep the phone’s position and the windows the same each night so the nights compare fairly, and calibrate once against a reference meter if you can borrow one.

How the law differs from place to place

This page gives guidance, not legal advice. WHO’s values describe what protects sleep; they aren’t legal limits anywhere. Laws differ, and many don’t use a fixed number. In England, a council investigates any noise that unreasonably interferes with the use of your home as a possible statutory nuisance; separately, under the Noise Act 1996 it may issue a warning notice when noise between 11pm and 7am, measured inside your home, exceeds 34 dB(A), or 10 dB above the underlying level of noise where that is above 24 dB(A) (GOV.UK, Noise nuisances: how councils deal with complaints). Wales sets the same levels in the Permitted Level of Noise (Wales) Directions 2007, and its approval for measuring devices (2007) sets the method: the noise as an LAeq over 5 minutes, and the underlying level as the A-weighted level not exceeded for 0.6 seconds. England has its own approval, which we haven’t checked. New York City’s noise code limits music from commercial establishments, such as bars and clubs, to 42 dB(A) measured inside a neighboring home, and counts sound from a device, such as a stereo, that is 7 dB(A) or more above the ambient level between 10pm and 7am as unreasonable noise. Check your own council’s or city’s rules, and ask the officer how they measure.

How this page is set up

This is the same meter as the standard decibel meter, opened with different settings. You can change any of them while it runs, and your calibration works on every page.