Bloomfield, NJ Noise from Specific Sources: Car Alarm Limits (2026)

Section 635-6 of Chapter 635, Noise, adopted by the Bloomfield Board of Health, lists standards that apply notwithstanding the Table I and II limits. Paragraph (4) covers the exterior burglar alarm of a building or of a motor vehicle. The alarm must be activated so that it terminates its operation within five minutes for continuous airborne sound and 15 minutes for impulsive sound after it has been activated. The clock runs from activation, so a chirping or beeping alarm gets a longer window than a steady siren or horn blast. Section 635-1 defines impulsive sound as either a single pressure peak or a single burst of multiple pressure peaks lasting less than one second, and defines a motor vehicle as any vehicle propelled other than by human or animal power on land.

The rule is enforced by noise control officers, who under § 635-4 must be certified in noise enforcement, must act within their designated jurisdiction and must be authorized to issue a summons. They measure under N.J.A.C. 7:29-2 and can cooperate with noise control officers of adjacent municipalities in enforcing one another's noise ordinances. Section 635-5(D) separately caps impulsive sound at 80 decibels, and impulsive sound that repeats four or more times in any hour is measured as continuous sound against Table I.

Section 635-6(A)(1) exempts the activities listed at N.J.A.C. 7:29-1.5 except as Subsection B provides, so the burglar alarm limit in B(4) stands on its own. Section 635-2(C) treats stationary emergency signaling devices differently: their electromechanical testing cannot meet or exceed 10 seconds. Section 635-7(C) states that nothing in the chapter impairs any common law or statutory cause of action or legal remedy of a person injured by a violation.