New Brunswick, NJ Noise Ordinances: Construction Hours (2026)

The operative rule is New Brunswick Municipal Code § 8.28.050(B)(5). In the City of New Brunswick, no person can operate or permit the operation of tools or equipment used in construction, drilling, earth moving, excavating or demolition work between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. the following day on weekdays, or at any time on weekends or legal holidays. The section attaches a muffler condition: the equipment must be equipped with a properly functioning muffler.

Three exceptions are printed. Emergency work is exempt, and § 8.28.010 defines it as work necessary to deliver essential services, including repairing water, gas, electricity, telephone, sewer or public transportation facilities, removing fallen trees on public rights-of-way, or abating life threatening conditions. A variance issued under § 8.28.100 also lifts the restriction. So does a sound level that does not exceed any applicable limit in Table I of § 8.28.040.

"Weekday" is defined in § 8.28.010 as any day, Monday through Friday, that is not a legal holiday, so a legal holiday that falls Monday through Friday takes the all-day ban that applies to weekends. Separately, § 8.28.040(B)(3) exempts noise from construction activity from the Table I sound level limits, provided all motorized equipment used in the activity has properly functioning mufflers.

A contractor who needs off-hours work applies to the noise control administrator under § 8.28.100. The application must describe the noise source and its location, the hardship if the variance is refused, the nature and intensity of the noise, and the interim noise control measures. The administrator can charge a $10.00 processing fee, limits a variance to no longer than one year, and needs proof that noise levels will not endanger public health. The municipal clerk keeps a copy of each permit on file for public inspection, and the administrator can revoke it for a violated condition or a material misrepresentation.