Paramount, CA Noise Ordinances: Construction Hours (2026)
Construction hours in Paramount, CA, sometimes called construction noise rules or contractor work-hour ordinances, set when contractors can run power tools, hammers, and heavy equipment.
Key Facts
- Exemption window
- No work between 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
- Permit required
- Building Department permit for the construction, repair or remodeling
- Emergency work
- Separately exempt under paragraph (4)(b)
- Day limit, R1 and R2
- 62 decibels if the exemption is lost
- Maximum penalty
- $500.00 fine, six months County Jail, or both
Summary
In the City of Paramount, construction, repair and remodeling noise is exempt from the Chapter 9.12 limits only when the work has a permit from the Building Department and does not take place between 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Emergency work is exempt under a separate paragraph.
4. Construction equipment or work, including, but not limited to, the operation, use or employment of pile drivers, hammers, saws, steam shovels, pneumatic hammers, drills, derricks, steam or electric hoists, motorized mechanical equipment or other similar construction equipment. a. Exemption. Construction, repair or remodeling equipment and devices and other related construction noise sources shall be exempted from the provisions of this chapter provided a permit for such construction, repair or remodeling shall have been obtained for such construction, repair or remodeling from the Building Department of the City and the construction, repair or remodeling does not take place between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. b. Exemption. Any construction, repair or remodeling necessary as defined as emergency work, machinery or vehicles.
Full Breakdown
Section 9.12.060(B)(4) of the Paramount Municipal Code lists construction equipment and work as a regulated noise source, naming pile drivers, hammers, saws, steam shovels, pneumatic hammers, drills, derricks, steam or electric hoists and motorized mechanical equipment. The exemption in paragraph (4)(a) has two conditions that must both be true. First, a permit for the construction, repair or remodeling must have been obtained from the Building Department of the City. Second, the work cannot take place between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Work that meets both conditions is exempt from the chapter, so the zone decibel caps in Section 9.12.040 do not apply to it.
Work that lacks a permit, or that continues into the 8:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. window, loses the exemption and falls back under those caps, which in residential zones are 62 decibels by day in R1 and R2 and 67 in R3 and R4, and 57 and 62 at night. This chapter prints no separate weekend or Sunday construction rule. Paragraph (4)(b) is a second, independent exemption for construction, repair or remodeling necessary as emergency work, machinery or vehicles, which Section 9.12.020 defines as efforts to protect, provide, prevent or restore safe conditions in the community, including utility service restoration.
Readings are taken under Section 9.12.050 on adjoining residential property about 10 feet from any building or wall, or on the property line, and noise above the Section 9.12.040 level is prima facie evidence of a violation under Section 9.12.070(A). The Director of Ordinance Enforcement enforces the chapter under Section 9.12.080.
Violations & Fines
Unpermitted or overnight construction noise above the Section 9.12.040 limits is a misdemeanor under Chapter 9.12, punishable by a fine not exceeding $500.00, up to six months in the County Jail, or both. Each day the violation is committed or continues is a separate offense. A court can also treat the equipment as a public nuisance and abate it by restraining order or injunction.
Frequently Asked Questions
What hours can contractors make construction noise in Paramount?
Do homeowners remodeling need a permit to keep the exemption?
Does emergency repair work count as exempt?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Paramount
How Paramount compares: Cities with the Strictest Construction Hours·California rules heatmap·Compare Paramount to another location·View the California noise ordinances overview
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Construction Hours in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Los Angeles County handle construction hours.