Gardena, CA Noise Ordinances: Construction Hours (2026)

Gardena's noise ordinance does not set a separate construction-specific decibel limit; instead § 8.36.080 lists activities excused from the standard noise-disturbance prohibitions of Chapter 8.36, and subsection G covers noise from construction, repair, remodeling, grading, or demolition of real property. The exemption only holds if the work stays out of the barred hours the section prints: 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. on weekdays, 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, and all day on Sunday or a federal holiday. Contractors and homeowners doing exempt work within the permitted daytime windows are not held to the decibel ceilings in § 8.36.040 (45 dB(A) daytime / 40 dB(A) nighttime for residential zones); once work runs into the barred window, however, it loses the exemption and falls back under the general Prohibited Acts provisions of § 8.36.070, including the domestic power-tools and machinery rule at § 8.36.070(11), which separately bars saws, sanders, drills, and similar power tools between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.

Gardena Police and Community Development code enforcement investigate complaints using the sound-measurement procedure in § 8.36.060, and any violation, working past the barred hours or exceeding the residential decibel standard, is a misdemeanor under § 8.36.090. The City can also pursue continuing construction noise as a public nuisance subject to court-ordered abatement, with costs recoverable as a lien against the property where the work is occurring.