A number for your address, not a zone on a map.
Most people weighing up a noisy-sounding road either guess, or read a banded zone off a bulk data lookup — the same classification for every property inside it. AcoustaPLOT calculates an actual decibel figure for your specific address and assessment boundary, with a stated accuracy range, and sits in the gap between that and appointing a consultant for a question that might not need one yet.
Three ways to answer the same question — and what each one actually costs.
| Guesswork | A bulk data lookup | AcoustaPLOT | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it's based on | Instinct, or an estate agent's reassurance | A coloured band read off a national map, at whatever resolution the map itself renders at | Defra's own Strategic Noise Maps, or CRTN 1988 calculated from DfT traffic counts where they don't reach — plus real elevation data for Barrier Design |
| Tells you if there's no problem | Rarely — a guess is usually driven by whoever's doing the reassuring | Only at the map's own resolution, not your specific plot | Yes, plainly — a LOW risk band is stated as clearly as a SEVERE one |
| States what standard it's checked against | No | Occasionally, loosely | Always, by name — see the Standards page |
| Time to an answer | Immediate, and often wrong | Immediate, at whatever the map already shows | About 10–15 seconds for Screening, 1–3 minutes for Barrier Design |
| How specific the result is | Nothing specific at all | A banded zone for the general area — the same classification for every property inside it, not a figure for your exact point | A calculated Lden/Lnight figure for your actual address and assessment boundary, with a stated accuracy range |
| Replaces a full acoustic consultant | No | No | No — and says so. See the Standards page |
| What it typically costs | Free | Often a few pence, bundled in among many unrelated property-risk checks | £34.99 for Screening — with Insight, Barrier Design, Complete and Whole-Site options above it if you need more, see Pricing |
"Noisy" isn't a feeling. It's a number on a scale.
Guesswork and a generic map both stop at a vague impression. AcoustaPLOT states your result against the same reference points every UK planning and health guideline actually uses -- see the full standard behind each one.
The dashed marker shows a worked example: a result of 61 dB with its stated range of at least ±5 dB (a typical calculated screening result) — wide enough to reach into the band either side. Read a figure like that as “probably here”, not a certainty to the decibel; the exact range for your own report depends on which tier and data source produced it (see Methodology).
Full detail on every figure and dataset is on the Standards & compliance page.
It doesn't replace a qualified acoustic consultant where one is genuinely required — and says so, every time.
- ✓Automated and modelled — produced by our software from national datasets, not measured at your property.
- ✓No site visit and no individual human review of your report.
- ✓Every report states its uncertainty range. Figures are estimates within that range.
- ✓Not suitable as the sole or primary evidence for a planning application or appeal, legal proceedings, an insurance claim, or anything else needing a precise measured level.
- ✓In a purchase or price negotiation it is supporting context for your own decision — not a valuation, and not a measured figure the other side has to accept.
For a figure that has to stand up for planning, a legal dispute or an insurance claim, a Measured Survey by a qualified consultant is what confirms it — see what happens if a report is wrong.
Find out which one your property is.