Columbia County, FL Noise Ordinances: Construction Hours (2026)

Columbia County restricts the hours of construction-related noise under Sec. 74-105(l) of its noise-control chapter, adopted by Ord. No. 2020-07 on August 6, 2020. The provision covers the construction, demolition, alteration or repair of any building, as well as excavation of streets and highways, and bars that activity outside a defined window: 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays, and 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sundays. Two exceptions are built directly into the text: the prohibition does not apply to delivery and installation of concrete and other materials tied to residential slab installation, and construction or repair noise tied to a genuine emergency is exempt outright.

The hours sit inside the broader Article V scheme, which under Sec. 74-101 treats loud and raucous noise as harmful to health and to the comfortable enjoyment of property, while Sec. 74-101(d) recognizes that short-term easing of noise restrictions is sometimes necessary for construction and infrastructure work, the policy basis for the residential slab-concrete carve-out. The Columbia County Sheriff's Office enforces the construction-hours rule under Sec. 74-108, and it may start with a warning or notice rather than an immediate citation. A confirmed violation is a civil infraction under Sec.

74-109(a), with a fine of up to $500.00, and Sec. 74-109(b) makes each day the work continues outside the permitted hours a separate, independently punishable offense. Because Sec. 74-102 limits Article V to areas outside the City of Lake City, contractors working inside Lake City or Fort White answer to those municipalities' own construction-hour rules instead.