Kendall County, IL Noise Ordinances: Construction Hours (2026)
Construction hours in Kendall County, IL, sometimes called construction noise rules or contractor work-hour ordinances, set when contractors can run power tools, hammers, and heavy equipment.
Key Facts
- Exempt construction hours
- 7:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m. (Sec. 24-24(9))
- Outside those hours
- standard 60/55 dBA limits apply
- Mitigation authority
- Planning, Building and Zoning Department
- Public-body construction
- separately exempt, Sec. 24-24(7)
- Penalty
- $50-$500 first offense, up to $1,000 repeat
Summary
Construction noise in unincorporated Kendall County is exempt from the county's decibel limits only between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Kendall County Code § 24-24(9) lets the Planning, Building and Zoning Department demand noise mitigation on-site if equipment or activity still exceeds the code's allowable levels, and work outside that window loses the exemption entirely.
(9)Construction sites. Construction noise that occurs between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. shall be exempted. However, if in the opinion of the County Planning, Building and Zoning Department, equipment or activities employed in the performance of construction exceeds the allowable decibel levels within this Code, the County Planning, Building and Zoning Department may require noise mitigation methods be implemented and used at the construction site to mitigate noises which exceed the requirements herein.
Full Breakdown
m. to a citation. Even inside the exempt hours, the exemption is not unconditional: Section 24-24(9) lets the County Planning, Building and Zoning Department order noise mitigation methods at the site if, in the department's opinion, the equipment or activity used exceeds the allowable decibel levels set elsewhere in the Code. The same article separately exempts work performed by or on behalf of a public body, including road and bridge construction and emergency repairs, under Section 24-24(7), and emergency short-term utility, street or fallen-tree work under Section 24-24(1).
Complaints about construction noise go to the County Sheriff's Office for citation under Section 24-25, and the State's Attorney's Office prosecutes. Section 24-27 sets the same penalty structure as any other noise violation: fifty to five hundred dollars for a first offense, one hundred to one thousand dollars for a repeat offense within two years, and each day of a continuing violation counts as a separate offense.
Violations & Fines
Running construction equipment before 7:00 a.m. or after 8:00 p.m. forfeits the Section 24-24(9) exemption and exposes the contractor to the standard noise penalties: fifty to five hundred dollars for a first offense and one hundred to one thousand dollars for a repeat offense within two years under Section 24-27, with each day a separate offense. The Planning, Building and Zoning Department can also order mitigation measures during exempt hours if noise still exceeds the code's limits.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can contractors run equipment at night on a Kendall County construction site?
Can the county require quieter equipment even during allowed construction hours?
Is road or bridge construction by the county itself covered by the same hours?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Kendall County
How Kendall County compares: Cities with the Strictest Construction Hours·Compare Kendall County to another location·View the Illinois noise ordinances overview
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