Check the classroom against BB93 before you spec the refurb.
BB93 sets a real reverberation target for teaching spaces — 0.6s or less for a new-build primary classroom, 0.8s for secondary, relaxed slightly for a refurbishment. Many classrooms that fall short of it aren't obviously wrong to sit in; they just are, and nobody checked the number. Echo checks it in under a minute, against the room you actually have.
Check a classroom →Checked against the standard that applies.
BB93 in the UK, with the local equivalent elsewhere.
A real target, not a feeling.
Many classrooms that fall short of the target don't sound obviously wrong.
£34.99 a room, in under a minute.
The report shows what to change before you spec the refurb.
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Before a refurbishment
Check the existing classroom against BB93's target before finishes are specced, so acoustic treatment is a line in the refurb budget, not a surprise fix after the new floor and ceiling are already in.
For a SEND or hearing-impairment brief
BB93 sets a tighter target for spaces used by hearing-impaired pupils than the general teaching-space figure above — Echo checks the standard classroom target; for the specific tighter figure a SEND assessment needs, that's a number your acoustician sets, and this is where you check the room against whichever target you're given.
For a new-build or extension
Model the room from the drawings before the finishes are locked, the same way an architect would (see /echo/for-architects) — catching a hard-ceiling, hard-floor classroom on paper costs nothing; catching it after it's built means a second fit-out.
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The whole school, from above
One floor plan, six very different spaces. BB93 sets its targets by room type, so each room has a target of its own.
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One sound, six rooms
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Each room has its own target
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Down to the back row
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Fit what each room needs
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Take the controls
Illustration: a fictional school as a cut-away floor plan with a classroom, music room, SEN room, hall, canteen and corridor. The same clap is played in every room and the amber echo lasts longer in some rooms than others. Each room has a target band and a prediction puck: green when inside the band, amber when above, grey where there is no target. The camera drops to child height in the back row of the classroom, then rises as each room is fitted with the treatment its prediction asks for. Most rooms end inside their band and the hall stays above it. Bands and levels are illustrative.
What BB93 actually asks for
Building Bulletin 93 (DfE, Acoustic design of schools) sets reverberation-time targets by room type and construction status: 0.6 seconds or less for a new-build primary classroom, 0.8 seconds for secondary, relaxed to 0.8/1.0 seconds for a refurbishment where the existing structure limits what's practical. Echo's classroom preset already carries these real figures — pick "classroom" and the target is set for you, not guessed.
This isn't a substitute for a full acoustic consultant on a contentious project or where a signed-off figure is contractually required — see /echo/for-architects's own note on where Echo fits against one. It's the fast check that tells you which classrooms are fine, and which ones genuinely need that consultant.
See the standards Echo supports, by country →Check your first classroom
Free indicative check, set against BB93's reference condition. £34.99 for the report when you want it, or a per-license Studio plan if you're checking classrooms across the school.
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