Henrico County, VA Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

Henrico County Code § 10-68 enumerates eight prohibited-noise categories. Social gatherings of ten or more people cannot be plainly audible inside another dwelling or 100 feet away between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Radios, speakers, musical instruments and other sound-reproducing devices cannot be plainly audible inside a neighboring dwelling, or 50 feet away in residential areas between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.; that limit does not apply to commercial establishments in urban mixed-use zones or, for nonresidential and recreational properties, between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m.

Barking or howling animals audible once a minute for ten straight minutes, either inside a neighbor's home or 100 feet away, are also banned, except at licensed kennels and vet clinics between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. Trash pickup, street cleaning and construction noise are barred overnight in residential zones, and amplified vehicle sound audible 50 feet outside the car is banned at any hour, with an ice-cream-truck exception limited to 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Section 10-69 exempts emergency and utility-restoration noise, road work, sirens, parades and fireworks displays, school and college activities, sanctioned county-park athletics, alarms before the owner gets a chance to silence them, religious services, trains and aircraft, military activity, lawful farming, sanctioned motorsports events and First Amendment gatherings.

Section 10-67 limits enforcement: a section 10-68(2) sound violation between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. can only be charged if a police officer witnesses it directly, not on a resident's complaint to a magistrate.