Norwalk, CT Noise from Specific Sources: Car Alarm Limits (2026)

Norwalk Code § 68-5C(11) exempts activated burglar alarms from the general Table 1 sound level limits, but only for a limited time. The provision states that all interior and exterior burglar alarms of a building or motor vehicle must be activated in a manner that terminates the alarm within five minutes for continuous airborne sound and fifteen minutes for intermittent sound after activation. Once those time limits pass, the Table 1 decibel limits apply again, meaning a car or building alarm that keeps sounding past the five- or fifteen-minute cutoff is treated as ordinary noise and measured against the residential, commercial, or industrial limits in Table 1, which range from 35 dBA indoors at night to 70 dBA for industrial uses around the clock.

The Noise Control Administrator, the official charged with enforcing Chapter 68, can inspect and measure sound from a chronically malfunctioning alarm system and can pursue a warrant under § 68-9 if an owner blocks access to a vehicle or building to silence it. Warning devices required by OSHA or other state or federal safety regulations, including self-adjusting backup alarms, are separately excluded from the chapter under § 68-5B(4), but that exclusion is distinct from the five/fifteen-minute burglar alarm cutoff and does not apply to standard car or house burglar alarms.