Aiken County, SC Noise Ordinances: Construction Hours (2026)
Construction hours in Aiken County, SC, sometimes called construction noise rules or contractor work-hour ordinances, set when contractors can run power tools, hammers, and heavy equipment.
Key Facts
- Governing section
- § 15-22(10)(g)
- Barred hours
- 9:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
- Equipment covered
- Pile drivers, shovels, hammers, derricks, hoists
- Utility exception
- Nighttime repairs when daytime impossible
- First-offense fine
- $200-$300 or 30 days jail
- Complaint contact
- Aiken County Sheriff's Office
Summary
Aiken County bars pile drivers, power shovels, pneumatic hammers, derricks, hoists and similar loud construction equipment between 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. under Code § 15-22(10)(g). Running that equipment inside the barred hours is itself a declared noise nuisance, enforceable the same way as any other Chapter 15 violation.
g. The operation within the county between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. of any pile driver, power shovel, pneumatic hammer, derrick or hoist, or other appliance, the use of which is attended by loud or disturbing noises.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 119).
Full Breakdown
) open for that same equipment. The chapter carves out one exception for utility and government work: excavations or repairs of streets or utilities performed at night by a utility company, the city, county or state are exempt when 'the public welfare and convenience renders it impossible to perform such work during the day' (§ 15-22(14)(iv)). A nighttime construction-noise complaint follows the same streamlined path as other subsection (10) nuisances: a single resident anywhere in the county can complain directly to the sheriff's office, which investigates without needing the five-neighbor threshold that applies to other nuisance categories (§ 15-25).
Code enforcement or the sheriff issues one written warning giving the contractor or property owner thirty calendar days to stop the nighttime operation (§ 15-26); a repeat violation after that warning goes straight to a summons in magistrate's court (§ 15-27).
Violations & Fines
Operating barred equipment between 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. is a misdemeanor. A first offense carries a fine of $200 to $300 or up to thirty days in jail; a second or later offense within the nuisance chapter raises the fine to $400 to $500 and/or up to thirty days imprisonment (§ 15-30).
Frequently Asked Questions
What hours are construction equipment barred from running in Aiken County?
Is there an exception for emergency utility work at night in Aiken County?
Who enforces the nighttime construction noise rule in Aiken County?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Aiken County
How Aiken County compares: Cities with the Strictest Construction Hours·Compare Aiken County to another location·View the South Carolina noise ordinances overview
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