Best flooring for apartments: quiet, finish and fit

The right apartment floor belongs to the whole home. Its colour should work with the light, its edges should meet the joinery neatly, and its sound should suit the rooms below as well as the rooms you live in.

Work from your building’s requirements towards a floor and underlay combination, then compare the finishes within that shortlist. This guide brings the acoustic evidence, approval questions and practical details into that order.

Why apartment flooring is different

In a house, a noisy floor is mostly your own problem. In an apartment, your floor sits on a structure you share with the people below, and every footstep is their problem too. Three things make apartment flooring a different decision from flooring a house: the kind of noise, the slab, and the by-laws.

The first is the kind of noise. The ABCB handbook (Appendix B.2) separates airborne sound, such as voices, TV and music, from impact sound, such as footsteps, dropped objects and furniture moving on the floor above. Impact sound travels as vibration through the structure, and the handbook says it is reduced by isolating that vibration with a resilient layer. A floor finish and its underlay mostly change impact sound. They do little for the voices and music that come through walls and ceilings.

The second is the slab. In a concrete building, a heel strike puts vibration straight into the slab, and the slab carries it to the ceiling of the unit below. A field study of South-East Queensland apartments, presented at Inter-noise 2014, measured bare 180 mm slabs with no ceiling at L’nT,w 68 to 76, and bare 200 mm slabs at 65 to 69. The same paper says the most common slab thickness in that region is between 180 and 220 mm. Every one of those bare-slab results is louder than the NCC’s on-site limit of 62. So the layers you put on top of the slab do most of the acoustic work, and a thin or badly laid layer shows up quickly in the unit below.

The third is the paperwork. Your strata scheme, body corporate or owners corporation has by-laws or rules that bind owners and tenants. In NSW that is section 135 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015. In Queensland, section 169 of the Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 lets by-laws regulate the use of lots. In Victoria, section 141 of the Owners Corporations Act 2006 makes the rules binding on owners, tenants and occupiers. The Queensland Government’s body corporate office puts the problem plainly on its improvements page: “putting hard floors (like timber or tiles) in a lot is the reason for many body corporate disputes.”

What does the NCC require, and why is that not the whole story?

The National Construction Code sets the sound rules for new apartment buildings in Volume One, Part F7. Clause F7D5 of NCC 2022 says a floor in a Class 2 or 3 building “must have an Rw + Ctr (airborne) not less than 50 and an Ln,w (impact) not more than 62” if it separates sole-occupancy units, or separates a unit from a plant room, lift shaft, stairway, public corridor, public lobby or parts of a different classification. Clause F7D4 says the Ln,w is worked out from laboratory measurements, or the floor must match a construction in Specification 28.

The same Part also states the requirement in on-site terms. Clause F7P1 asks for a DnT,w + Ctr of not less than 45 and an L’nT,w (the NCC writes LnT,w) of not more than 62, and clause F7V1 checks this by measuring the finished floor in the building. NCC 2025 keeps the same clause numbers and the same figures. The ABCB adoption table shows Victoria adopted NCC 2025 on 1 May 2026, and NSW and Queensland adopt it on 1 May 2027. For floors, the numbers do not change either way.

You may still see “Ln,w + CI not more than 62” on older spec sheets and websites. That was the wording up to NCC 2015. The ABCB handbook (Appendix D.1) says the CI term “was removed from the BCA in 2016 at the request of industry”. CI is usually negative on a bare slab, so a figure with CI added looks better than the same floor rated without it. If you compare two reports, check that both leave CI out.

Why the NCC is not the bar in an existing building

The NCC is a code for building work. It is written for the builder of a new apartment block, not for an owner who swaps carpet for timber ten years later. Whether replacing a floor finish in an existing apartment counts as building work that must meet Part F7 depends on each state’s building laws, and we have not confirmed a state-by-state answer. If you need to know, ask a registered building certifier or surveyor in your state.

What the ABCB does say is a warning. Section 3.2.2 of its handbook says some floor designs “require carpet and underlay to meet the NCC provisions” and that “a carpet should not be replaced with acoustically non-compliant hard floor coverings.” Section 5.1.1 says that when carpet is replaced by a hard floor, the reduction in impact performance “can result in as much as 25 to 30 dB extra sound transmission”, and that even with resilient ceilings and floors, a compliant system “may still transmit sound at 15 to 20 dB higher than the original carpet design.”

In an existing building, the number that decides your floor is the one in your by-laws or your approval conditions. Tribunals have said the building code is a floor, not a ceiling. In McLeod v Body Corporate for Stradbroke Tower and Villas [2015] QCATA 146 at [29], Queensland’s appeal tribunal said the BCA “is a minimum construction standard with which builders must comply. It does not set levels for the purposes of good neighbourly relations”. In NSW, Norman v The Owners Strata Plan No 60182 [2022] NSWCATCD 152 refused to set aside a by-law that required flooring works to reach an IIC of 57 and be certified by an engineer, although the owner argued it went beyond the building code.

So by-laws can set a stricter number than the NCC. Examples from decisions: one Brisbane tower’s by-law asked for an L’nT,w “of not more than 45” (Admiralty Towers II), a Spring Hill by-law set 55 or less (The Republic Apartments [2022] QBCCMCmr 290), and an Ultimo scheme amended its by-law to require AAAC 5 star (Jiang v Sui [2023] NSWCATCD 127). These are single buildings, not a state standard. Your building’s number is the only one that matters to you.

Which acoustic ratings will you meet?

You will meet four families of numbers when you shop for an apartment floor. Our guide to acoustic ratings explained covers each one in detail; here is the short version.

• Ln,w is a laboratory impact rating for a tested build-up. Lower is quieter. It is the NCC’s deemed-to-satisfy figure.
• L’nT,w (also written LnT,w) is the impact level measured in a real building, so it includes the slab, the ceiling, the walls and the installation. Lower is quieter. By-laws and AAAC stars use it.
• ΔLw is the laboratory improvement an underlay gives on a standard bare slab. Higher is better. It is not a rating for your floor.
• IIC and FIIC are American ratings where higher is better. Some Queensland by-laws have used FIIC. The AAAC guideline (section 6.0) says you can subtract either number from 110 “to approximately indicate the other”.

AAAC star ratings appear in by-laws, approval conditions and marketing claims. The AAAC says its guidelines are advisory and “not statutory documents”, that the stars measure “the actual installed performance” in a finished apartment, and that only an AAAC member firm may issue a star rating certificate (AAAC guideline V1.0, sections 2.0 and 5.0).

For floors between tenancies, the NCC’s on-site limit of 62 sits between the AAAC’s 2 star figure (below 65) and 3 star figure (below 55). The AAAC’s explanatory note (May 2023) adds that “it cannot be claimed that any one building product in isolation (especially an acoustic underlay), is guaranteed to achieve a certain acoustic rating or AAAC Star Rating.” A “5 star” label on a box is a result from one test, not a promise for your apartment.

Flooring types ranked for impact noise

The table below compares nine ways to floor an apartment on a concrete slab. It is ordered by the published field evidence for impact noise, from the lowest (quietest) published results down to the floors where we found no published field figure. Where a source gives a figure, it is an on-site L’nT,w or an on-site improvement over the bare slab, with its conditions. Where no source gives one, the table says so. The approval risk column is our reading of the rules and decisions cited on this page, not a rule itself.

Sources for the table: carpet, floating timber and the Brisbane tower figures from Body Corporate for Admiralty Towers II v Johnson [2017] QCATA 29 at [12]; the carpet deemed construction from clause S28C8(3) of NCC Specification 28; cosmetic work from section 109(2)(e) of the NSW Act; improvement ranges and tile results from the Inter-noise 2014 study; the hybrid and vinyl plank results from a Vipac engineering memo of 25 May 2023, commissioned by a flooring retailer; the laminate results from The Owners - Strata Plan No 7704 v Kim [2023] NSWCATCD 39 and Jiang v Sui [2023] NSWCATCD 127.

What is the quietest flooring for an apartment?

Carpet on underlay, by a wide margin in the results we found. In the Brisbane tower in Admiralty Towers II, existing carpet and underlay measured L’nT,w 33, the bare 180 mm slab measured 75, and six floating timber and bamboo systems measured 41 to 52. Carpet is also the only finish the NCC names in a deemed construction: clause S28C8(3) of Specification 28 says a “200 mm thick concrete slab with carpet on underlay” meets Ln,w 62.

Among hard floors, there is no quietest type. The spread inside each type is wider than the gap between types, because the underlay, the slab, the ceiling below and the installation matter more than the board. That is why the approval question is never “is timber allowed?” but “does this system, on this slab, meet this number?”

Is hybrid flooring a good choice for an apartment?

It can be. Hybrid (a rigid core with a wear layer, usually click-joined and floating) is a hard floor. NSW law does not name hybrid, but section 110(3)(c) of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 lists “installing or replacing wood or other hard floors” as a minor renovation, and NSW Fair Trading’s renovations page says “wood, tile or other hard flooring”. We read hybrid as falling in that group, and we suggest you treat it that way in any state.

The one published field test of hybrids we found is a Vipac memo of 25 May 2023. It measured two 6.5 mm rigid-core hybrids with built-in underlay at L’nT,w 48 and 49, living room to living room, on a 180 mm slab with no ceiling, where the bare slab measured 66. A loose-laid 2.5 mm vinyl plank with no underlay measured 62 in the same building. The test was commissioned by a flooring retailer and covers one room pair, so it shows what is possible, not what every hybrid does.

The choice between an attached pad and a separate underlay is a system question. The AAAC explanatory note says a maker’s claims “should be evidenced by laboratory or field test results and the complete floor/ceiling system build-up clearly listed.” Our guide to acoustic hybrid flooring covers core thickness, attached pads and how to read a hybrid test report.

Can you put a timber floor in an apartment?

Yes, and floating engineered timber has a good published field record. The Brisbane tower tests gave 41 to 52 for floating systems, and the Inter-noise 2014 study found floating timber on underlay improved the bare slab by 15 to 22 points. In Hogan v Stebnicki [2022] NSWCATCD 63, a floating timber floor laid around 2006 tested at 3 star with some 4 star results, and NCAT found it met the standard floor coverings by-law.

A strict by-law can still be hard to meet. In Admiralty Towers II, the owner proposed French oak on a dimpled rubber underlay, tested at about 51, against a by-law limit of 45. The committee refused it. The adjudicator then found the by-law invalid, but the appeal tribunal set that decision aside and sent the matter back, noting that one tested system reached 45 at 42 mm. Glued and solid timber floors are only as quiet as the mat or batten system under them, so ask for a test of the exact build-up.

Tile, laminate and vinyl

Tile depends entirely on the mat under it. The Inter-noise 2014 study found tile stuck straight to the slab improved it by only 0 to 2 points, while tile on an acoustic underlay improved it by 5 to 15. In 18 Kingsford Street [2016] QBCCMCmr 78, porcelain tiles laid without an acoustic underlay measured L’nT,w 75 to 80, and the owners were ordered to cover them with carpet or re-lay them over an acoustic membrane.

Laminate shows why a certificate is not a result. In Kim, 12 mm laminate on 2 mm underlay was approved “for a 5 star rating” on a contractor’s certificate, then measured 60 and 61 on site. In Jiang v Sui, a supplier’s certificate showed L’nT,w 44, and the owner’s own post-installation report measured 51 and 54. Vinyl sits in between: the Queensland study found 3 to 9 mm vinyl on underlay improved the bare slab by 8 to 21 points.

Underlay: where most of the acoustic work happens

On a concrete slab, the underlay or acoustic mat is the part of the floor that isolates your footsteps from the structure. The NCC does not rate underlay on its own; it rates the whole floor, and the only underlay named in the deemed constructions of Specification 28 is carpet underlay.

An underlay data sheet usually shows a ΔLw, the laboratory improvement on a standard bare slab. You cannot subtract that figure from your building’s number. In the Inter-noise 2014 case study, the same five underlays improved a 190 mm slab by 4 to 17 points with no ceiling, but by only 4 to 11 points once a plasterboard ceiling was added below. Thickness claims need checking too: in the Jiang v Sui appeal, Sui v Jiang [2024] NSWCATAP 128, the Appeal Panel noted evidence that the underlay actually installed was only about 2 to 3 mm thick.

Our acoustic underlay guide explains thickness, materials and what to check on a data sheet. For the two most common apartment choices, read acoustic underlay for hybrid flooring and acoustic underlay for timber floors.

Does it matter if your building is concrete or timber-framed?

Yes. The same floor can give very different results on different structures. The AAAC explanatory note says a timber floor and underlay above a concrete slab “will be very different” from the same floor above a joisted timber floor with a plasterboard ceiling.

Concrete buildings differ among themselves too. In the Inter-noise 2014 field data, bare 180 mm slabs measured 68 to 76 and bare 200 mm slabs 65 to 69, with no ceiling. A suspended plasterboard ceiling below changed that to 62 to 72 and 58 to 66. In one case study, a single layer of 13 mm plasterboard improved a bare 190 mm slab by 14 points, from 69 to 55. So a test report from a 200 mm slab with a ceiling tells you little about a 180 mm slab without one. Ask your strata manager for the slab thickness and whether the unit below has a suspended ceiling.

Timber-framed apartment floors are built differently. The NCC’s deemed construction for a timber floor, clause S28C10(2) of Specification 28, uses 19 mm particleboard on 190 x 45 mm joists, R2.5 insulation, isolation mounts and two layers of 16 mm fire-protective plasterboard below. Much of the acoustic work there happens in the ceiling, which you cannot usually change from above. The ABCB handbook (section 5.1.2) says an acoustically rated ceiling would need to be installed when the building is built, “as there is no guarantee of access to the unit or dwelling underneath to retrofit later.”

What if your unit is above a car park or shop?

The NCC’s floor rule still applies to new work. Clause F7D5 of NCC 2022 covers a floor that separates a unit from “parts of a different classification”, and the NCC’s guide text gives the example of “a floor separating ground floor shops from an apartment level above”. Under NCC Part A6, a car park is Class 7a, a shop or cafe is Class 6 and an office is Class 5, while an apartment building is Class 2. So a floor over any of those is a floor between different classifications.

A ground-floor unit on a slab with nothing below it is different. On a plain reading of F7D5, that slab separates the unit from nothing the clause lists, so the clause does not reach it. Your by-laws may still require approval for hard floors on every level, so read them before you assume you are exempt.

How do you get strata approval for new flooring?

The steps below work in any state. The legal detail for NSW, Queensland and Victoria follows, and each state guide goes further.

1. Get the current by-laws or rules

   Ask your strata manager or secretary for the registered by-laws or rules, including every change since the scheme began. Read each one that mentions floors, floor coverings, noise, renovations or approvals.

2. Ask for the standard in writing

   Email the committee and ask which rating the by-law uses (L'nT,w, FIIC or AAAC stars), the number, which rooms it covers, whether it is a laboratory or on-site figure, and who must do any test.

3. Choose a system with a matching test report

   Shortlist floors whose test report lists the full build-up: board, underlay and thickness, slab thickness and any ceiling. Prefer an on-site result if your by-law uses an on-site number.

4. Get advice if the margin is small

   If the tested figure is close to your limit, or your slab or ceiling differs from the test, ask an acoustic consultant whether a sample should be laid and tested in your building first.

5. Lodge a complete written application

   Give the committee the plans, the product and underlay data sheets, the test report, the installer's name and qualifications, the dates and hours of work, and how rubbish will be removed. Describe the exact system you will lay.

6. Wait for the written decision

   Do not order or lay the floor until you have the approval in writing. Read every condition, including any post-installation test, the rooms covered and who pays.

7. Install exactly what was approved

   Lay the same board and underlay as the approved system. Keep a gap at walls and skirting, and take dated photos of the underlay before the boards go down.

8. Complete the post-installation steps

   Arrange any test your conditions require, give the committee the report, and keep the approval, invoices, photos and report with your property records.

New South Wales. Section 110 of the Strata Schemes Management Act 2015 makes “installing or replacing wood or other hard floors” a minor renovation, approved by resolution at a general meeting. Before approval, the owner must give written notice with details of the work, plans, the timing, who will do it and their qualifications, and how rubbish will be handled (s 110(4)). Approval “may be subject to reasonable conditions” and “cannot be unreasonably withheld” (s 110(2)). Since 1 July 2025, where a by-law delegates these decisions to the strata committee, the committee must refuse with written reasons within 3 months, or the request is taken to be approved (s 110(6A) and (6B)). NSW Fair Trading’s renovations page says a flooring application should include “an acoustic certificate to show sound insulation”. The motion must describe what you will actually lay: in Roseby v The Owners - Strata Plan No 2400 [2018] NSWCATCD 72, a refusal stood because the motion described a different build-up from the one tested. A flat ban is unlikely to hold: in Gurram [2018] NSWCATCD 39, a by-law banning hard floors above the ground floor had no effect because it conflicted with section 110.

Queensland. The Body Corporate and Community Management Act 1997 sets no acoustic rating for floors and has no flooring by-law in its default set. Any approval step comes from your scheme’s own by-laws, and section 180(7) says a by-law “must not be oppressive or unreasonable”. Under section 58 of the Standard Module, the committee must decide an owner’s motion within 6 weeks, or give notice and decide within 12 weeks; if it does not, the motion is taken to be not agreed to. In The Republic Apartments, a by-law standard of L’nT,w 55 was upheld because it could be met and kept a discretion to approve other floors.

Victoria. Under section 138 of the Owners Corporations Act 2006, an owners corporation makes rules by special resolution, and section 142 says a rule takes effect when the Registrar records it. If a scheme has no rules, the model rules in Schedule 2 of the Owners Corporations Regulations 2018 apply, and a model rule also fills any gap the scheme’s own rules leave (Act s 139). The model rules have no floor coverings rule. Model rule 5.3 says an owner or occupier “must notify the owners corporation when undertaking any renovations or other works that may affect the common property and/or other lot owners’ or occupiers’ enjoyment of the common property”, and model rule 6.2 covers noise. Section 132 of the Act gives an owner whose lot boundary is the interior face of the building the right to decorate that face, and names “installing floor coverings” as an example. A rule that is oppressive or unfairly prejudicial has no effect (s 140).

Our strata flooring rules hub compares the states side by side.

Sources for the table: sections 134, 227 and 232 of the NSW Act, clauses 35 and 37 and Schedules 2 and 3 of the NSW Regulation; sections 168, 276 and 289 and Schedule 4 of the Queensland Act; sections 139, 153 and 162 of the Victorian Act and Schedule 2 of the Victorian Regulations. For the full detail, read strata flooring rules in NSW, body corporate flooring rules in Queensland and owners corporation flooring rules in Victoria.

Check what your building is likely to ask for

Answer five questions about your state, your building and the floor you want, and the checker suggests which rating scheme your by-laws probably use and what to request from the committee in writing.

What happens at the post-installation test?

Several of the by-laws and approval conditions in the decisions above ask for a test after the floor is laid. An acoustic consultant puts a standard tapping machine on your floor and measures the sound in the room below; the machine has five hammers that drop 40 mm, again and again, as the Inter-noise 2014 paper describes. The result is an on-site L’nT,w, the same kind of number your by-law uses. The AAAC explanatory note says that “for certainty, the finished floor should be tested, and a certificate of compliance be provided by the AAAC member”, and the AAAC guideline says only an AAAC member firm may issue a star rating certificate. Your by-law may name who can test: the Admiralty Towers II by-law asked for a consultant who is a member of the Australian Acoustical Society.

The test needs access to the unit below, so agree a time with your neighbour early. In Jiang v Sui, NCAT ordered the floor owner to arrange testing by a qualified acoustical consultant and ordered the neighbours to allow access on 7 days’ written notice. Who pays depends on your by-law, the approval conditions or a tribunal order; the NSW and Queensland sources we read set no general rule. For how to read the report, see acoustic ratings explained.

What if the floor fails the test?

Expect to fix it, at your cost, within a set time. In Kim, NCAT ordered the new owner of a unit to treat the floor to L’nT,w 50 within 56 days, because the previous owner’s approval conditions had not been met. In Jiang v Sui, the order was to restore carpet or reach AAAC 5 star within 3 months, then retest. In Queensland, McLeod records an adjudicator’s order that let the body corporate require the owner to show the installed floor met FIIC 65, and to require removal or rectification if it did not. An unmet approval condition can follow the floor to the next owner, as Kim shows.

Pro tips before you buy a single board

• Get the by-law number, the rating scheme and the rooms it covers in writing before you choose a product.
• Ask whether the committee's figure is a laboratory Ln,w or an on-site L'nT,w, and whether it includes CI.
• Ask the supplier for the full test report, not a brochure figure or a star label.
• Check that the report's slab thickness and ceiling match your building, and ask your strata manager if you do not know.
• Treat a test from a thicker slab or a unit with a ceiling below as an optimistic guide for a thinner slab without one.
• Keep the board and underlay pair exactly as tested; a different underlay makes the report irrelevant.
• Ask the installer how they will keep the floor clear of walls, skirting, door frames and pipes.
• Photograph the underlay with the product label before the boards go down.
• Tell your neighbour below early; you will need their access for any test.
• Budget for a post-installation test even if the approval does not require one yet.

Most of these come from the decisions above. The perimeter gap matters because the Inter-noise 2014 study found “a common problem for floor impact is poor installation, typically at the perimeter”, where a floor that touches a wall or skirting becomes a path for sound.

What should your final specification include?

Put the floor, underlay, installation method and approval conditions in one file. Add the room plan, threshold details and any testing agreement. This is the version the supplier, installer and committee should all be working from.

If you are replacing carpet with hard flooring, settle the acoustic assessment before removal. For a choice between board types, start with hybrid vs engineered timber or hybrid vs laminate.

What should your final specification include?

Put the floor, underlay, installation method and approval conditions in one file. Add the room plan, threshold details and any testing agreement. This is the version the supplier, installer and committee should all work from.

If you are replacing carpet with hard flooring, settle the acoustic assessment before removal. Compare hybrid with engineered timber or hybrid with laminate to narrow the material choice.