Farmington Hills, MI Noise Ordinances: Construction Hours (2026)

Section 17-101(g) (Exemptions) lists eight categories of noise that are exempt from the Table A maximums when the activity occurs 'in a legally-accepted manner.' Subsection (g)(1) names 'Construction activity (see section 18-164),' anchoring the construction-noise exemption to the operative time-of-day rules in Chapter 18 (Buildings and Building Regulations). Section 18-164 sits in the building-code chapter and establishes the city's construction-hour window for permitted construction work; the Sec. 17-101 cross-reference ties the noise exemption to compliance with that window. Subsection (g)(2) also exempts emergency work including snow removal; (g)(3) exempts public-safety warning devices (police, fire, ambulance sirens; tornado and civil-defense warnings; train horns); (g)(5) outdoor school and playground activities; (g)(6) bells or chimes of churches or other places of worship; (g)(7) the unamplified human voice; and (g)(8) public-works maintenance, repair, or improvement projects by or on behalf of public agencies. The practical effect: a properly permitted construction site operating within the Section 18-164 window is exempt from the residential 60/55/50 dB(A) Table A caps, but construction outside the Section 18-164 window loses the (g)(1) exemption and is enforceable against Table A receiving-property limits - which means a Saturday-night or pre-dawn jackhammer on a residential job site would face the 50 dB(A) cap at the adjoining property line. Special-exception relief from Sec. 17-101(f) is available where a project applicant needs an extension; the Zoning Board of Appeals (sitting as an administrative review board) can grant exceptions on proof that the relief is within the spirit and intent of the ordinance, does not adversely affect public health, safety, and welfare, and is not materially injurious to surrounding properties. Major Farmington Hills construction sites - Beaumont Hospital Farmington Hills (Botsford) campus expansions, Oakland Community College (OCC) Orchard Ridge campus capital projects, and Twelve Mile / Orchard Lake / Northwestern Highway commercial-office corridor work - operate under building permits administered by the Farmington Hills Building Division within the Special Services Department. Public-works projects (Road Commission for Oakland County / RCOC; Michigan Department of Transportation / MDOT freeway work on I-696 and M-5) are exempt under Sec. 17-101(g)(8).