Haverford, PA Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)

Chapter 117 of the Haverford Township Code, adopted by the Board of Commissioners in 1973, builds its noise rules around two time bands. Daytime hours run from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and nighttime hours run from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. The Director of Code Enforcement administers the chapter in Haverford Township, Delaware County.

Section 117-4 is the general nighttime limit. No person shall create any sporadic noise that, measured in the 600 to 1,200 cycles per second frequency band, exceeds a sound pressure level of 57 decibels during daylight hours or 52 decibels during nighttime hours. Sporadic noise is any noise that does not continue long enough to take decibel readings in all frequency bands. Levels are read with a sound-level meter and octave band analyzer under § 117-5.

Continuous noise has its own frequency-band tables in § 117-3, with separate nighttime figures. Those tables, and the excessive-noise prohibition in § 117-2, apply to air conditioning units and other mechanical equipment attached to or appurtenant to buildings. Measurements are taken at the property line of the complainant or within the complainant's property, and a unit found in violation must stop operating until the Director of Code Enforcement approves corrections.

Construction is the main carve-out. Under § 117-6B, noise from construction work and from repair and maintenance of any building or structure is exempt, but only between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Work outside that window falls under the chapter. Traffic noise, governmental noise and emergency and civil defense activities are exempt entirely under § 117-6A.

The separate curfew for minors in Chapter 128, Article III is a different rule and does not set noise hours.