SURVEY BASIS

Standards create consistency. Good surveys create understanding.

Marine requirements can originate from conventions, flag administrations, class rules, building contracts, owner specifications, makers, ports and voluntary initiatives. We confirm the governing basis before mobilisation and identify the criteria used in every report.

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Marine surveyor checking vessel survey standards and calibrated measurement equipment on the bridge

MULTI-SYSTEM OVERVIEWClear evidence→

VESSEL DOCTORMULTI-SYSTEM OVERVIEW

STANDARDS UPDATE

ISO 6954:2000 has been withdrawn.

ISO 20283-5:2016 is its replacement for ship habitability vibration. Legacy contracts may still cite ISO 6954, so the governing contractual and class basis must be confirmed before testing.

⌕30 references

Noise & acoustics

SOLAS regulation II-1/3-12

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IMO resolution MSC.337(91), Code on Noise Levels on Board Ships

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ISO 2923 — measurement of noise on board vessels

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ISO 16283-1 — field measurement of airborne sound insulation

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ISO 717-1 — rating of airborne sound insulation

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ISO 3382 series — room-acoustic parameters

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IEC 61672 series — sound level meters

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IEC 61252 — personal sound exposure meters

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IEC 60268-16 — objective rating of speech intelligibility

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Current ESI / NEPTUNES Noise Measurement Protocol

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Vibration & condition

ISO 20283-2 — structural vibration of ships

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ISO 20283-4 — ship propulsion machinery vibration

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ISO 20283-5:2016 — vibration with regard to habitability

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ISO 21984 — habitability vibration on specific ships where applicable

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ISO 20816 series — machinery vibration where applicable

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ISO 17359 — condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines

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Applicable class rules and approved torsional-vibration calculations

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Environmental & habitability

IMO Ballast Water Management Convention and regulation D-2

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BWM.2/Circ.70/Rev.1 — BWMS commissioning testing

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BWMS Code and applicable type-approval documents

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ISO 16000 series — selected indoor-air measurements

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ISO 7726 — thermal-environment instruments

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ISO 7730 — analytical interpretation of thermal comfort

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Applicable MLC, flag, class and owner habitability requirements

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MEPC.1/Circ.906 — revised underwater-radiated-noise guidelines

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ISO 17208 series — underwater sound from ships

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Structural & service-supplier requirements

Classification-society rules for thickness measurement and structural assessment

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Service-supplier approval requirements for class-credited work

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Confined-space, hazardous-area and vessel permit-to-work requirements

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Accredited laboratory and chain-of-custody requirements where applicable

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Publication note

Standards, circulars, class rules and interpretations can change. A reference is not a substitute for project scoping: vessel type, build date, tonnage, flag, class, notation, contract and intended use determine applicability.

SURVEY EVIDENCE ROUTES

Confirm the technical basis, supplier route and report recipient before attendance.

Two requests that sound like simple onboard tests can involve very different acceptance routes. This planning gate helps owners, managers, yards and superintendents brief a low-location-lighting survey or ballast-water test without confusing product approval, service-supplier qualification, statutory witnessing and project-specific report acceptance.

Low-location lighting on passenger ships

Use the ship low-location-lighting survey canonical for photoluminescent or electrically powered escape-route LLL inspection and measurement.

Send before scope confirmation

Vessel type, passenger applicability, flag, class, survey event and intended report recipient.
LLL arrangement drawing, installed system type, manufacturer information, previous findings, repairs and affected escape routes.
Agreed rule edition, charging or isolation condition, required elapsed measurement times, witnessing and access window.
Instrument and calibration expectations, point plan, route-continuity evidence, photographs, defect schedule and matched retest need.

Technical source boundary

IMO Resolution A.752(18) addresses evaluation, testing and application of LLL on passenger ships. ISO 15370:2021 and its 2023 amendment address arrangement, approval, installation and maintenance. The vessel-specific governing basis controls the actual points, conditions and limits.

Ballast-water commissioning or diagnostic testing

Use the ballast-water sampling and testing canonical for commissioning-test planning, operational investigation and post-repair verification. The commissioning-testing checklist explains sampling, chain of custody and unsuccessful-result diagnosis.

Send before scope confirmation

Survey purpose, flag, recognized organization or class, witness, BWMS make/model and report recipient.
Sampling point, tank and uptake history, treatment cycle, holding time, discharge opportunity and system-design limitations.
Required organism classes, indicator microbes, indicative or detailed method, laboratory or service-supplier qualification and chain-of-custody controls.
Self-monitoring records, alarms, neutralization, preservation, deviations, failed-result history and retest decision.

Technical source boundary

The IMO BWM Convention and guidelines record that the MEPC.325(75) commissioning-testing amendments entered into force in June 2022. IMO's current guidance index identifies BWM.2/Circ.70/Rev.1 as the 2020 commissioning-testing guidance. The attending authority determines the accepted route.

Acceptance boundary: IACS does not approve service companies. A society-approved or recognized supplier requirement, flag-administration requirement, product approval, class notation, attending-surveyor witness, owner or yard contract, and acceptance of a particular report are separate questions. Vessel Doctor does not claim class or flag approval on these pages. Confirm the exact requirement before mobilisation.

COMMUNICATION EVIDENCE ROUTE

Separate alarm audibility, speech intelligibility and room reverberation before acceptance testing.

A loud announcement is not automatically intelligible, and a reverberant room is not automatically a PA/GA system fault. This evidence route helps owners, managers, yards and commissioning teams select the measurement path, operating condition and report package before attendance.

PA/GA audibility and speech transmission

Use the ship PA/GA audibility and intelligibility survey for alarm coverage, background masking, zone operation and understood-message evidence. The technical test plan explains receiver selection and complete-path testing.

Evidence to define

Alarm or announcement type, zone drawings, approved configuration, test source and intended receiver spaces.
Representative machinery, HVAC, doors, occupancy and background-noise state.
Sound-level coverage for audibility, plus STI/STIPA or another agreed method when spoken-message understanding is the decision.
Source-to-microphone-to-processing-to-amplifier-to-loudspeaker path, receiver grid, calibration traceability and any noise correction.

Method boundary

IEC 60268-16:2020 defines objective STI measurement and prediction methods and documents important validity limitations. It does not itself provide a universal ship-specific certification criterion; the applicable vessel requirement, specification and reviewing party control acceptance decisions.

Reverberation and room-acoustic diagnosis

Use the onboard reverberation and speech-intelligibility service when echo, masking, spatial variation or unclear speech may be controlled by the room as well as the transmission system. The RT/STI planning guide explains the combined diagnostic path.

Evidence to define

Room geometry, finishes, furnishings, occupancy, coupled spaces, doors and HVAC condition.
Agreed reverberation method, source arrangement, frequency bands, source and receiver positions and decay-quality controls.
Background spectrum, level distribution and STI/STIPA positions under the same representative operating condition.
Before/after controls for absorption, loudspeaker aiming, zoning, level balance, repair or commissioning retest.

Method boundary

ISO 3382-2:2008 specifies reverberation-time measurement procedures for ordinary rooms, including apparatus, positions and reporting. Vessel-specific criteria, class or flag context and contract acceptance remain separate inputs.

Acceptance boundary: Supplier qualification, product approval, a statutory or class survey, surveyor witnessing, contract acceptance and review of a particular measurement report are separate questions. IACS does not approve service companies, and Vessel Doctor does not claim class- or flag-approved status on these pages. Confirm the governing basis and report recipient before mobilisation.

START A TECHNICAL DISCUSSION

Need to confirm the applicable survey basis?

Share the vessel particulars, build date, flag, class and project specification. We will help identify the references that should be agreed before measurement.

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