National City, CA Noise Ordinances: Construction Hours (2026)

Section 12.10.160 of the National City Municipal Code (Construction/demolition) is the construction noise rule. Subsection A makes it unlawful to operate, allow or cause the operation of tools or equipment used in construction, drilling, repair, alteration or demolition work between weekday hours of seven p.m. and seven a.m., or at any time on weekends or holidays, such that the sound creates a noise across a residential or commercial real property line that violates Section 12.06.020. Section 12.04.700 defines a weekday as Monday through Friday that is not a legal holiday, so holidays get the all-day restriction.

Subsection B exempts emergency work performed by public service utilities, work on private property necessary for fire and life safety, work permitted under a Chapter 12.16 exception, and the use of domestic power tools as allowed in Section 12.10.300. Subsection C then caps construction and demolition noise at all other times according to a schedule measured at or within the boundaries of affected properties.

The schedule splits by equipment type and area. Mobile equipment in nonscheduled, intermittent, short-term operation of less than ten days is limited to 75 dBA in Type I residential areas and 85 dBA in Type II semi-residential and commercial areas, daily except Sundays and legal holidays, between seven a.m. and seven p.m. Stationary equipment in repetitively scheduled, relatively long-term operation of ten days or more is limited to 60 dBA in Type I residential areas and 70 dBA in Type II areas over the same daily window.

A contractor who needs work outside these hours can apply to the planning director for a Chapter 12.16 exception, which the planning commission decides and which cannot run longer than three hundred sixty-five days. The chief of police enforces nuisance noise, and Section 12.10.040 treats noise audible at fifty feet as prima facie evidence of a disturbance.