Irvine, CA Noise Ordinances: Construction Hours (2026)

m. on Saturday. No work is permitted outside those hours, on Sundays, or on federal holidays -- Columbus Day is the sole exception -- unless the Chief Building Official grants a temporary waiver. The same subsection reaches the trucks and equipment that service a job site: delivery, loading, and material-transfer vehicles tied to any construction project cannot be driven on City streets outside the permitted hours either, again absent a City-issued waiver that must weigh community impact. A waiver applicant files under Section 6-8-208 with the Chief Building Official, stating why immediate compliance is impossible, a compliance method, and a timetable, plus a fee set by City Council resolution; the applicant remains subject to prosecution until the waiver issues.

A denied or unsatisfactory waiver can be appealed to the City Council within 15 days under Section 6-8-209, with the Council required to affirm, modify, or reverse within 60 days at a public hearing. Enforcement rests with the Chief Building Official under Section 6-8-207, and interfering with an inspector carrying out that duty is itself a violation. Because Chapter 8 sits inside the general Code of Ordinances, a violation defaults to the citywide penalty scheme: Section 4-13-103(B) makes any Code violation a misdemeanor unless charged as an infraction, and Section 4-13-201 caps a misdemeanor at a $1,000 fine, six months in jail, or both. Emergency work, including required maintenance on City rights-of-way, is exempted from the hour restriction outright.