Floor Vibration Control as a Serviceability Requirement in Design Standards and Practices: Review

Serviceability requirements are considered in any building design to maintain the occupants’ comfort and protection for nonstructural elements. Specifically, floor system deflection and vibration are two important issues that need to be considered in design for serviceability. For the most part, design codes all have provisions for deflection control. However, this is not necessarily true in regard to vibration. Although the vibration in a floor system may be related to the deflection, depending on the type of floor system, specific requirements may need to be considered for vibration control, which may not necessarily be satisfied through deflection control only. In fact, depending on the level of serviceability and occupant comfort required, a detailed study focusing on floor system vibration and dynamic response may be necessary. This is to make sure that the vibration amplitude and frequency of the floor system affected are within occupants’ tolerance levels. Although some codes offer provisions for vibration control, many others do not address the issue, even though the subject has been studied relatively well and reported in the literature. This article examines and summarizes vibration control as a serviceability requirement as suggested by various codes and standards and also as reported in published papers. Specifically, the article focuses on deflection and vibration control for floor systems based on the occupancy and usage, the structural types, and sources of vibration that may be present in a building. Methods to alter existing floor system designs to control vibration are also reviewed and summarized.