This Nationally Adopted International Standard gives guidance for the use of a series of nine International Standards describing various methods for determining the sound power levels from all types of machinery and equipment.

It provides:
- brief summaries of these basic International Standards;
- guidance on the selection of one or more of these standards which are appropriate to any particular type (see clause 6 and annex D). The guidance given applies only to airborne sound. It is for use in the preparation of noise test codes (see ISO 12001) and also in noise testing where no specific noise test code exists.

This Nationally Adopted International Standard is not intended to replace any of the details of, or add any additional requirements to, the individual test methods in the other basic standards referred to.