Alexandria, VA Noise Ordinances: Construction Hours (2026)

Section 11-5-4(10) of the Alexandria noise control code prohibits the erection, demolition, alteration or repair of any building, street, walk, railway, sewer or utility line, and any incidental activity, outside the hours set in Table I of the section. Table I permits construction Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and bars it entirely on Sundays and on the holidays listed in § 11-5-5(a)(5)a. Subsection (15) applies the identical Table I hours to construction devices and power equipment (compressors, backhoes, cranes, dozers, jackhammers, pile drivers and similar machinery) unless a special permit under § 11-5-7 has been granted.

An exception in subsection (10) lets the city manager, after consulting the director, issue a permit for work outside Table I hours in cases of urgent necessity for public health and safety, or to restore public service; such a permit runs up to six days and may be renewed in six-day increments while the necessity continues. Owner-occupied residential construction not run by a general contractor and not for commercial purposes falls instead under the narrower hours of subsection (5) and Table II: 7:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. weekdays, 9:00 a.m.-9:00 p.m. weekends/holidays. Pile driving has its own, tighter window under subsection (19): 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. weekdays and 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Saturday only, with no Sunday pile driving absent city manager relief.