Sonoma County, CA Noise Ordinances: Construction Hours (2026)

Unlike many California cities, Sonoma County has not adopted a general municipal noise ordinance that sets standard construction hours (such as 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays) for the unincorporated area. The County's General Plan Noise Element anticipated a future noise-control ordinance that 'may exempt or modify noise requirements for ... construction activities,' but County Counsel had not drafted such an ordinance as of 2018. As a result, there is no single countywide construction curfew that applies uniformly to every property. In practice, construction noise is managed in two main ways. First, for discretionary projects (use permits, design review, larger developments), Permit Sonoma routinely imposes conditions of approval that limit construction hours and require noise mitigation, drawing on the General Plan Noise Element's daytime (7 a.m.–10 p.m.) and nighttime (10 p.m.–7 a.m.) framework and the Table NE-2 performance standards. Second, construction noise that becomes a loud and unreasonable disturbance — particularly at night — can be addressed by the Sheriff under California Penal Code section 415. Because rules can be attached to a specific permit, owners and contractors should check the conditions of approval for their parcel and contact Permit Sonoma before assuming any hours are allowed.