The paper provides a literature overview regarding the perception of vibrations, with a particular attention to the issues of
comfort in buildings. Nowadays, an increasing number of mechanical sources generate vibrations in building structures, causing
discomfort to the inhabitants. However, what «comfort» or «discomfort» do really mean? From a purely metrological point of
view, it is not possible to define accurately the boundary of «comfort» without performing subjective evaluations. Nevertheless, a
promising attempt can be found perspectives and methods of the recent Soft-Metrology. In this context, theoretical and empirical
models and measurement procedures are devoted to define and quantify objective and subjective responses to external stimuli on
human, on the basis of several aspects (e.g. annoyance, physiological and psychological effects, behavioural effects…).