Stafford Township, NJ Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

Section 142-5A of the Stafford Township Code bars any person from causing, allowing or permitting a source of sound to equal or exceed the limits in Tables I and II, measured at or within the real property line of the receiving property. Table I sets the A-weighted standards. Outdoors, a residential property or the residential portion of a multi-use property is held to 65 dB from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and 50 dB from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. A commercial facility, public service facility, nonresidential portion of a multi-use property or community service facility has a 24-hour standard of 65 dB. Indoors, the table prints 55 dB for the daytime period and 40 dB for the nighttime period at a residential receiver, and 55 dB over 24 hours for a commercial facility, which applies where that facility shares a common wall, ceiling or floor with the facility producing the sound. Table II sets octave band sound-pressure levels and is printed at the end of Chapter 142.

Impulsive sound, defined in § 142-2 as a single pressure peak or burst with a duration of less than one second, has its own rule in § 142-5D. Between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. it cannot equal or exceed 80 decibels. Between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., impulsive sound that occurs less than four times in any hour is held to the same 80 decibels, while impulsive sound that repeats four or more times in any hour is measured against Table I.

Sections 142-5B and 142-5C control how indoor readings are taken. Exterior doors and windows are closed, the reading is taken in the center of the room most affected, and every sound source inside the dwelling unit, such as a television or stereo, is shut off. Hallways, closets and bathrooms are not measured. Indoor readings apply only when the source is on the same property as the receiver or the two units share a common wall. Under § 142-4, a certified Stafford Township police officer or code enforcement officer takes the measurements using the procedures in N.J.A.C. 7:29-2. Construction and demolition are exempt from the tables but carry their own hour limits in § 142-6, and stationary emergency signaling devices follow N.J.A.C. 7:29-1.3 with a testing limit of 10 seconds.