Gwinnett County, GA Noise from Specific Sources: Low-Frequency Bass Limits (2026)

Sec. 38-45 defines "sound" broadly: any oscillation in pressure, particle displacement, particle velocity, or other physical parameter in a medium, described by duration, intensity, and frequency, and the section states outright that "bass reverberations constitute sound." The companion definition of "plainly audible" says a sound counts if any person of ordinary sensibilities can hear it with unaided hearing, that words need not be discernible, and that "low frequency sound reverberations are included." Together those two definitions close off the common argument that thumping bass without discernible lyrics or melody falls outside the ordinance; it doesn't.

Because Article III regulates "sound" as defined in Sec. 38-45, bass noise gets folded into the same time-and-distance tables that cover any other sound source. A single-family residential building can't be plainly audible 300 feet away from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., or 50 feet away overnight, under Sec. 38-47(2)c. Outdoor residential sources face the same 300-foot day / 50-foot night limits under Sec. 38-47(3)c. Anything not covered by those specific categories falls to the catch-all table in Sec. 38-48, which sets a 300-foot daytime and 50-foot nighttime threshold for sound reaching a residential receiving land use.

Enforcement runs through the Gwinnett County Police Department or the Department of Planning and Development under Sec. 38-52. A first violation draws a written warning; a second violation within 12 months of that warning is a $250 fine, a third is $500, and further violations top out at $1,000 each under Sec. 38-53(b). Each day a bass disturbance continues is its own separate offense under Sec. 38-52(c).