Panther® HP-51 high performance access panel by Rondo

Effective acoustic control is becoming an increasingly significant issue, particularly within multi-story buildings where floor and wall cavities, ducts and risers contain pipe-work for soil, waste or water supply. These conduits commonly pass through both habitable and non habitable areas which, according to the current Building Code of Australia, require considerably increased levels of acoustic control.

The BCA requirements in Volume One Part F5 item F5.6 specify that the wall, duct or riser is to have an Rw + Ctr (airborne) acoustic rating of not less than:-
40 if the adjacent room is a habitable room (other than a kitchen); or
25 if the adjacent room is a kitchen or non-habitable room.
Any pipe-work which requires access or maintenance will therefore require a suitable access panel which is able to achieve the required level of acoustic control.

The new Rondo PANTHER® HP-51 Access Panel is a high performance panel which, when installed correctly, maintains a superior level of acoustic performance; so much so, that after extensive testing it was verified by PKA Acoustic Consulting (Project 207 001 April 2007), that this panel "met and exceeded" the BCA standard with an Rw rating of 51 and an Rw + Ctr rating of 41.

The unit features a flanged steel outer frame with a screw fixed outer door, a lead blanketed lockable inner door and acoustic seals where appropriate. The Rondo PANTHER® HP-51 Access Panel is currently made to order in various sizes to suit a range of customer requirements.

This panel is necessarily heavy, and is therefore only recommended for insertion into walls or the vertical face of bulkheads. Rondo does not recommend this product for use in ceilings, as this may compromise the ability to fully seal the unit to its surrounds, and potentially create a noise flanking pathway between the panel and the penetration.