Not for the faint of heart church boards.

If your church is planning a new building , this is the most valuable page in the whole book. Using these tips will save your church thousands of dollars. Most of the recommendations listed here can’t be applied once the walls are up. Please remember, these are guidelines to ensure that you at least have a good foundation. An audio and acoustical practitioner is still needed to determine exact values needed.

Here are the most common mistakes churches make with their sound systems, acoustics, new churches and church renovations. This list is not going to tell you how to live with them or how to fix them. For that you need expert help. If your sound system designer who should be an “expert” doesn’t respond to these problems, then don’t be surprised if you new sound system, acoustics or new church doesn’t sound good.

1. Do not design a church that’s square . It’s the worst shape. Excess sound storage, standing waves, excess noise from early and late reflections are just some of the problems. Think about it, have you ever heard a good sounding square church?
2. If you do design a square church, put the platform in the corner. This is better, but there is no acoustical, sound or architectural reason to build such a space in the first place. You can make such a room speech and music friendly, but that’s about all you can do with them.
3. Do not design a church with long parallel walls without any diffusion on them. Simple statues, pillars , outrounds or zig zag walls can make the difference between a great room and a sound booth for the drummer.
4. Do not design the roof to be low over the audience, and high over the pulpit. Think of a trumpet or sound wave. Better yet, remember the inverse square law of physics.
5. Do not build a church with an inside roof less than 24 feet. A higher roof is always preferred.
6. The lower the roof, the more expensive the sound system and acoustical treatment.
7. Do not add domes and concave walls in a church. Such surfaces are best used in high traffic areas like the foyer and offices.
8. Do not design or build a round church .
9. Do not accept the RT60 measurement at 1K (1,000 hertz). RT60 should be over a range from 200 hertz to 5000 hertz minimum.
10. Do not make the back walls of a church large and flat. It will create a strong echo problem that will challenge speech and increases poor musicians’ effects and challenges their timing techniques.
11. Do not allow the air handling system to be louder that 25dB or NC 30. Better yet, forget NC. Any noise over 40dB at any frequency is a problem.
12. Do not accept an air handling system that is less that 1 ton per 7,000 cubic feet for peak load requirements.  Most engineers use 1 ton per 1000 sq.feet but it is really 1 ton per 8000 cubic feet.  A typical church of 500 seating with a volume of 210,000 cubic feet should have no less than 30 tons of cooling for the sanctuary.
13. Do not accept a lighting system that has a maximum foot candle of 35 for seating and 70 for stage area. The minimum foot candles should be 60 foot candles for the seating areas and 140 foot candles for the stage area.
14. Do not accept new walls that are less the 2” x 6” inside the worship space. 2 x 8’s are better. Every wall inside a church must be insulated.
15. If your church is built with steel beams and is boxed in with drywall, Please make sure the beams are insulated to keep them from ringing and insulate the drywall to keep the cavity from becoming a drum.
16. Do not accept a sound system that scores less than 90% intelligibility or a room that score less than 92% intelligibility without a sound system in the first 4 rows.
17. Do not build a fan shaped room that is greater than 160 degrees wide.
18. To increase a ministers’ distraction, make the room real wide. When a room is really wide, people at the side always notice the late comers. It doesn't bother the minister when he is looking in you direction, when you are looking at the people on the other side of the room slipping out during the sermon. Then when you get up to go to the bathroom, the minister is going to think you're not happy with the sermon too. This also aids in making some ministers feel insecure and adds doubt to his preaching abilities. Is this why churches that are wide or fan shaped have such a high turn over in ministers and memberships? Combine that with gossip and back biting and what do you get? A minister on the run.
19. Do not have the Organ and Piano further than 20 feet apart. This also depends on the size of the church. Either way, they should always be reasonably close.
20. Do not put the organ pipes or organ speakers over the heads of the choir .
21. Do not put a piano in a pit or against a wall with carpet under it.
22. Do not build octagon or hexagon shaped rooms (or any room shape where there’s an even number of walls and all of the walls are of equal length and height).
23. Do not build a balcony with less that a 12 foot ceiling for the first 8 rows under it or 13 feet for 11 rows or 14 feet for 16 rows.
24. Do not build bulkheads over the front of an altar or chancel area unless you are purposely building a theatrical stage.
25. Do not put speakers in bulkheads.
26. Do not design a deep proscenium arch or an arch in front of the choir.
27. Do not paint over acoustical materials until you are advised by an acoustical consultant who will take responsibility for the job. Paint has tremendous effects on room acoustics. Even if a wall material is soft or if you feel you need to paint the unpainted block, watch out. True, you can't hurt the brick but the acoustics can change so much that you may have to sand blast what was painted later. It has happened.
28. Do not make foyers as hard as possible.
29. Do not drywall with less that 5/8th on 12 inch centers. (Two layers of 5/8” is best.)
30. Do not drywall without adding insulation that is compressed at least 20%.
31. Do not install wiring and amplifier in the organ loft next to the relay switcher. The clicking sounds of the relays may be amplified through the sound system.
32. Do not hire an architect first. Design your church yourself with an acoustical expert. Who do you think designed the Crystal Cathedral and other famous houses of worship? Most all of the famous churches are designed first by the minister and church members then engineered by architects.
33. Please, please check on past client references. Churches are the worst a checking on the past performance of the contractors or consultants they hire.  This includes Architects too.
34. When checking on Architects, check on their work that is 3 years old or older. When check on an Architects references, the most important person to talk to is the caretaker and accountant if the building is over 3 years old. They can tell you more about how the building is holding up.  If the church is 2 to 4 years old, ask to see what their operating costs are compared to what they were promised.
35. Do not follow local Commercial building codes. Exceed them. The cost difference between a great building and a poor building is often less than 15%. Building codes are a minimum standard for short term construction (20 years or less). Many churches that do follow the minimum building codes find themselves making major building repairs before the first mortgage is paid off. Churches that exceed the building codes often put off major building repairs by as much as 15 or 20 years. (Consider this - most churches built before 1930 were built with a lower or no building code standard and their current lower maintenance costs should be considered in long term planning.)
36. Do not allow your consultant or sound system designer to ignore the Sweetspot theory. It is not a Myth. (You can test the theory yourself without test equipment.)
37. Do not rely on Computer CAD simulations to design your sound system. Always get a second opinion as these computer programs can easily be fudged.
38. Do not rely on Computer CAD simulations for worship space designs. They too can be easily fudged. When building a new church, visit local churches built in the last 15 years to create your wish list. Interview the church secretary, caretakers and the deacon responsible for property management. Visit the minister last. Visit and interview former churches your Architect built 3 to 5 years ago or older buildings and document the good and bad points.
39. Ask your audio or acoustical consultant if they are getting commissions for the products they recommend. Especially if they always use the same products. Consultants get more than enough work to not depend on kick backs. If they do get kickbacks, hire them and don't treat them as salesmen.
40. Do not put the soundman's mixing desk outside of the seating area of the worship space. Do not put the mixer in a room attached to the worship space. Do not put the mixing desk against the back wall without diffusers around the back and side walls.
41. Do not put the mixer desk in a balcony. Keep the mixer desk on the main floor, off to one side.
42. Do not have more than one electrical panel supplying electricity for the sound system.
43. Do not put your HVAC system on the roof over the worship space.
44. Do not put your HVAC system attached to the worship space.
45. Do not put your HVAC system inside your worship space.
46. Do not have an air return system that has a duct less than 20 feet long.
47. Do not have the air return next to the soundman.
48. Air returns should be twice the size of the supply lines.
49. All known Speech Intelligibility testing is based on both the ears and eyes ability to hear.  This includes digital speech measurement systems.  Oral speech tests assumed the listener can see the whole mouth of the talker or within a 60 to 75 degree range. The McGurk effect (named after Harry McGurk of McGurk & McDonald, 1976) is a compelling demonstration of how we all use visual speech information. The effect shows that we can't help but integrate visual speech into what we ‘hear’. The McGurk effect shows that visual articulatory information is integrated into our perception of speech automatically and unconsciously. The syllable that we perceive depends on the strength of the auditory and visual information.  This is a part of speech intelligibility that can not be measured.  When a person can not see the whole mouth of the talker, speech intelligibility degrades.  This is a compelling reason for not having fan type seating plans in churches.  The less a person understands what is being said, the less involved they are in what is being said, even if they are only a few feet from the minister.
50. Compare a 600 seat rectangle church to a church with fan seating (Regardless of room shape).  Within the first 40 feet of the pulpit there is 20% more seating in the rectangle room.  In the fan room there are more seats beyond 60 feet than the rectangle.  So while some people say they don’t like the “tunnel effect” of a rectangle church, there are more people actually closer to the pulpit.  If anything, changing the layout of the pulpit in a rectangle room can give a greater feel of intimacy than churches with fan seating.  These ratios are about the same in any size church.

(Note: To avoid arguments with the church board and or Architect, do not stop them for following these mistakes and move on to other work. Walk away from the sound system before you drive yourself crazy.)

• Fact #1: 75% of the churches built today, claim that they would like to tear down their new church and rebuild another the way acoustical experts suggest.

• Fact #2: 98% of these churches repeat the same mistakes when given the opportunity.

Isn’t it fascinating how every church that starts out on a new building project or renovation or addition always start out with the best of intentions. By the time the building committee finishes with the budget, you get all of the above mistakes - in hope of saving money or second guessing their acoustical needs. The churches that are truly unique are the ones that stick to their convictions, avoid the mistakes on this web page and take a leap of faith - only to discover that their faith is rewarded beyond their dreams. To do any of the mistakes on this page is a sure fire way to create an over priced, confusing room to be avoided for speech, music and worship. Churches are the most dissatisfied owners of buildings in the world.

from the book, "Why Are Church Sound Systems & Church Acoustics So Confusing?" V3