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

Section 193-12B(6) lists 'noise from an exterior burglar alarm of any building or motor vehicle' among the acts exempt from the sound-level limits of Table I in § 193-12A, but conditions that exemption on the alarm terminating its operation within 15 minutes after activation. Read together with § 193-12A, an alarm that runs past 15 minutes loses the exemption and is measured against the same Table I ceilings that apply to any other stationary noise source: as low as 40 to 50 db reaching a residential dwelling at night, or 65 db reaching a commercial property.

The same article's general noise-disturbance ban in § 193-13A independently reaches 'any noise disturbance,' verbal or mechanical, so a chronically malfunctioning car or house alarm can also be cited under that broader provision even before the 15-minute mark if a noise control officer determines it endangers health or unreasonably disturbs a reasonable person of normal sensitivities. Enforcement runs through the noise control officer, who may issue a summons directly or, for a non-willful case, an abatement order requiring the alarm to be fixed within a set time under § 193-16B.