Construction hours in Portland, ME — sometimes called construction noise rules or contractor work-hour ordinances — set when contractors can run power tools, hammers, and heavy equipment.
Within Portland R-zones, construction noise above 50 decibels is prohibited within 500 feet of any residence, hospital, or nursing home between 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. (Sep 1 - May 31). The summer evening cutoff extends to 8:00 p.m. (Jun 1 - Aug 31). No construction may start before 8:00 a.m. on Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays.
Portland City Code Sec. 17-18 (Construction Activities) provides: 'Within the R-zones, from September 1st to May 31st, no person shall engage in construction activities generating noise exceeding fifty (50) decibels, between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. of the following day within five hundred (500) feet of any building used for residential, hospital or nursing home purposes. From June 1st to August 31st construction activity may continue until 8:00 p.m. Any other language notwithstanding, no construction activity shall begin before 8:00 a.m. on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday.' Covered activities include power or heavy equipment for road/street/bridge work, utility line installation/repair, building construction (including excavation and landscaping), and renovation/demolition of exteriors or foundations. Exemptions: emergency utility repairs, and unique-character work approved in advance by the Public Works Authority or Office of Building Inspections.
Construction-noise violations are prosecuted under the general disorderly-conduct penalty framework via Sec. 17-17(d): minimum $100 first offense, $300 second, $500 each subsequent offense, plus attorneys' fees and costs of prosecution if the city prevails. The Office of Building Inspections may also pursue stop-work orders for chronic violators.
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