On the degradation of sound insulation by fire stopping at the floor/wall junction in wood frame multi-family dwellings

The National Building Code of Canada requires that fire stops be located in wood frame party walls at the floor/wall intersection. A recent study at the Institute for Research in Construction (IRC) has shown that fire stops can significantly degrade the apparent sound insulation between horizontally separated dwellings. This paper summarizes the result of the IRC project that systematically investigated the impact of the materials or techniques listed in the Code.