Lexington County, SC Noise Ordinances: Construction Hours (2026)

Zoning Ordinance § 21.21.i lists temporary construction, grading, and demolition activity as an allowed accessory use to a principal activity, utility, or public infrastructure project, then singles out one piece of that work for a clock: the on-site grinding and recycling of construction debris is limited to the hours of 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. and must be completed within 60 days of the initial construction, with public road projects exempt from that limit entirely.

That hours restriction sits inside a broader exemption. Section 24.14.d of the Performance Standards chapter exempts noise generated from construction, grading, and demolition activities necessary and incidental to developing a principal activity from the ordinance's maximum sound-pressure limits in § 24.13, which otherwise cap noise at 75 decibels near Restrictive Development Districts and grandfathered residential uses (85 decibels near Intensive Development Districts), stepped down 5 decibels between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Because construction and demolition noise is carved out of that decibel cap, a contractor's saws, generators, and equipment aren't held to the county's numeric noise ceiling or its nighttime reduction; the debris-grinding clock in § 21.21.i is the one hard time restriction the ordinance actually imposes on a construction site.

Separately, the county-wide noise ordinance in Chapter 26, Article II bars loud, unnecessary and unusual noise which disturbs the peace and quiet of any residential area regardless of source, and Sec. 26-35 confirms nothing in that article overrides § 24.10's construction-related standards. A sheriff's deputy responding to a complaint can still act under Chapter 26 even where the zoning ordinance's performance standards don't apply.