Dear Resident: As Program Manager, it is my pleasure to invite you to apply to the City's Residential Sound Insulation Program. The City of El Segundo has established its Residential Sound Insulation (RSI) Program to offer owners of residential property most impacted by air traffic from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) improvements to reduce noise within the home. These improvements, such as new windows, exterior doors, and attic insulation, are intended to help prevent exterior noise from interrupting such activities as sleep, conversations, and watching television. Participation in the Residential Sound Insulation Program is voluntary, and is offered at no cost to the property owner.Only residential property located within the 65 deciBel (dB-A) Community Noise Equivalent Level (CNEL) contour, shown on the attached map, and built before 1998 is eligible for the program. Properties are selected for groups based on the date a completed appplication is received (including copy of the Property Deed) and Zone in which the property is located. The City will make the final decision regarding address selection for each group, and reserves the right to deny participation to properties exhibiting Municipal code violations. I hope you take this opportunity to apply to the Residential Sound Insulation Program and look forward to helping you reduce noise levels in your home in the future. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome. Should you have any questions about the Program after reading the materials provided here, please contact my office at (310) 524-2384. Respectfully, James S. O'Neill Program Manager The Design Process: When the program is able to begin the process for your property, you will be contacted to set up an appointment to sign the Residential Sound Insulation (RSI) Program Agreement and provide the City with proof of Homeowner’s insurance.The RSI Agreement must be signed and proof of insurance provided before design work can begin. After signing the RSI Agreement, an “Assessment Visit” will be scheduled for the design team to visit the property for the purpose of evaluating the construction of the property, determining what improvements will be necessary to reduce interior noise levels, and creating the initial design.This appointment typically takes about an hour and a half, and it is important for the property owner(s) to be present to select their preferred options such as window construction (vinyl or aluminum), window color (white, beige, bronze, or silver), and door styles. Additionally, you may be asked to set up an appointment for a technician to perform a pre-construction noise audit to determine the amount of noise level reduction your property currently provides.This appointment typically takes one to two hours, but is not required for every home. At the end of the Assessment Visit, the design team will set up an appointment to review the design for RSI Improvements with you and for you to sign the approved design.Once approved, the design is considered complete and can not be altered based on requests from the Property Owner.Additionally, once the design is finalized, you will be informed of the proposed construction dates. Once finalized, the design for the property will be grouped with other designs for the construction bid process.Funding for the RSI Program requires the construction work to be bid upon by qualified contractors, and awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. The Construction Process: Once a contractor has been selected for your group, you will be contacted by the City to inform you which contractor was selected to perform the work for RSI Improvements and provide you with their contact information.A Contractor’s representative will contact you to set up a “Field Measurement Verification” appointment.This appointment is for the contractor to take measurements for ordering windows and doors (sizes listed in the designs are for bidding purposes only), and to familiarize themselves with the conditions of the home which may affect the installation of RSI Improvements. Construction is typically scheduled to allow the contractor 15 days for all construction work, and construction is limited to Monday through Friday, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.The property owner, or a designated representative authorized to make decisions, is required to be present during the performance of construction work in the event alterations to the design work are necessary or homeowner action is required for the successful progress of work. Work will be supervised by a Contractor’s representative who is primarily responsible for the work related to the RSI Improvements, however, a City “Construction Coordinator” will be available to further address property owner concerns and help assure construction proceeds properly.At the completion of construction, a “Punch List Inspection” will be conducted by the Architect and attended by the property owner (or a designated representative), Contractor representative, and City “Construction Coordinator.”A list of corrections, if any, will be agreed upon and signed by the Property Owner at that time.The purposed of the “Punch List” is to provide the Contractor with a definitive list of items that need to be addressed before RSI Improvement work is considered complete by the City.Once all “Punch List items” have been properly addressed, the Construction Coordinator will do a final inspection and sign off that all work is complete. Once work is accepted by the City as complete, you will be provided with a Notice of Completion and a copy of your warranty information.Warranties are between the property owner and the Contractor, sub-Contractor, and/or manufacturer of products installed, not with the City of El Segundo. If a pre-construction noise audit was performed at the property, a post-construction noise audit will need to be performed.After the design team receives notification that work is complete, you will be contacted to set up an appointment for the post-construction noise audit.This audit will be conducted within 90 days of the completion of construction. 4/21/2006 For Frequently Asked Questions click here. For a sample RSI Agreement click here.