Bensalem, PA Noise Ordinances: Construction Hours (2026)

Section 149-4(a) of the Bensalem Township Noise Ordinance (Ord. No. 98-18, adopted June 23, 1998) makes it unlawful for any person to use construction equipment, a tractor, a roller or other mechanical equipment powered by fuel or electricity between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. of the following day, prevailing time. The section carves out only three exceptions: emergency work on public improvements, work performed by public service utilities, and municipal services, so a private contractor pouring concrete, running a compressor or operating a jackhammer after 10:00 p.m. has no separate permit path around the curfew.

The chapter's general lot-line noise ceiling in Section 149-3 still applies to a job site during permitted daytime hours, so equipment noise measured at the property line is also subject to the zoning-based decibel limits set out separately in that section. Enforcement runs through the Noise Control Officer described in Section 149-5, who may inspect a site and take A.N.S.I.-certified sound readings with the owner's consent or an administrative warrant from District Court if consent is refused. Section 149-6 sets the penalty: a summary offense with a fine up to $1,000.00 for each violation, and every day the equipment keeps running past 10:00 p.m. counts as a fresh violation, on top of the Township's authority to abate the noise as a public nuisance and bill the abatement cost to the responsible contractor or property owner.