Howell, NJ Noise Ordinances: Construction Hours (2026)

Howell Township Code § 208-9C is the construction hours rule. All construction and demolition activity, excluding emergency work, cannot be performed between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. on weekdays, or between 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. on weekends and federal holidays, unless the activity can meet the limits in Tables I, II or III. Inside the permitted window the Table limits do not apply, but all motorized equipment used in construction and demolition must be operated with a muffler or sound reduction device.

The Tables are what make after-hours work possible. Section 208-4C exempts construction and demolition from the Table I, II and III limits except as § 208-9 provides, so a contractor working outside the window has to meet them. Table I caps a residential receiving property at 65 dB from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and 50 dB from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., measured outdoors.

Power tools carry their own hours. Under § 208-9A, a residential owner or tenant using power tools, home maintenance tools or yard equipment cannot operate them between 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. unless the Table limits are met. Under § 208-9B, nonresidential operators such as commercial operators and public employees cannot run power tools or landscaping equipment between 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. on weekdays, or between 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m. on weekends or federal holidays.

Work in the roadway has a different clock. Section 277-50 bars construction, maintenance, operations or utility work on any roadway in the Township before 9:00 a.m. or after 4:00 p.m., and the Chief of the Howell Township Police Department or the Traffic Safety Unit can adjust that limit. Under § 211-9C, sounds from municipal, county or state construction or improvement projects are exempt from the Article III noise rules.