What are the rules for an air conditioner's outdoor unit?

Noise: 40 dB at the boundary with the neighbours

Since 1 April 2021, there has been a noise requirement for the outdoor units of air conditioners and heat pumps. If your house stands on its own plot next to another home, the outdoor unit may produce no more than 40 dB at the property boundary (Article 4.107, paragraph 2, Bbl).

Do you live in an apartment building, or are the homes on the same plot? Then the same 40 dB applies at the neighbours' windows and doors that can be opened (Article 4.108, paragraph 3).

If there is public space in between, such as a pavement or a street, the requirement at the property boundary does not apply. If you have an outdoor unit installed at an existing home, the same 40 dB applies (Article 5.14, paragraph 2).

If the outdoor unit has a separate setting for the evening and night, the noise during the day, from 7am to 7pm, counts 5 dB lower. So during the day it may produce 45 dB, and in the evening and at night 40 dB (Annex XVII of the Omgevingsregeling, the Dutch environment and planning regulation).

How the noise is determined is set out in Article 5.59 and Annex XVII of the Omgevingsregeling. The Dutch government has a calculation tool for it (in Dutch), so you can work out in advance whether a spot meets the requirement.

Permit: it depends on where it goes

On the ground, in your front or back garden, you don't need an environmental permit (omgevingsvergunning) if the outdoor unit is no higher than 1 metre and takes up no more than 2 square metres (Article 2.29, point r, Bbl).

On the roof or an outside wall, it depends on your municipality's environment plan (omgevingsplan). According to the Informatiepunt Leefomgeving (IPLO), the government's information point on these rules, a permit is the starting point there, with exceptions. Since 1 January 2024, your municipality has been allowed to adjust those rules.

If the outdoor unit goes on or against a listed building, the IPLO says a permit is always needed. Stricter rules also apply in a protected town or village conservation area (Article 2.30, Bbl).

Not sure? Run the Vergunningcheck in the Omgevingsloket, the government's online permit check (in Dutch), or ask your municipality.

Permission: owners' association or landlord

In an apartment building, the owners' association (VvE) looks after the shared parts, such as the outside walls and the roof. If the outdoor unit goes there, or the pipework runs through them, put it to your VvE first. The arrangements for this are in your building's deed of division (splitsingsreglement).

If you rent, ask your landlord for permission first. According to the Dutch government, a landlord must respond within 8 weeks, and may only refuse if the home would become harder to let or lose value as a result.

You arrange that permission yourself. Rein tells you where the outdoor unit can go and how the pipework will run, so you know what to ask for.