San Francisco, CA Noise Ordinances: Quiet Hours (2026)

San Francisco's noise standards are codified at Police Code Article 29, Sections 2900 through 2920, with the Department of Public Health serving as the lead technical agency and the Police Department as the primary responder. Section 2909 establishes the principal residential limits: no fixed noise source (HVAC, mechanical equipment, fixed amplification) may cause interior noise to exceed 45 dBA between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. or 55 dBA between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. inside any sleeping or living room of a dwelling unit. On residential property, machines, devices, music, or entertainment cannot produce noise more than 5 dBA above the local ambient at any point outside the property plane. In multi-unit residential buildings, the same 5 dBA-above-ambient limit applies measured three feet from any wall, floor, or ceiling inside another unit on the same property when windows and doors are closed. Section 2908 limits unreasonable human and animal noise between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Section 2907 caps construction equipment noise at 80 dBA at 100 feet and prohibits construction work between 8:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. unless the Director of Public Works issues a Night Noise Permit. The California Penal Code Section 415 disturbing-the-peace statute is also available to SFPD as a parallel enforcement tool.