Delaware Noise Laws: Quiet Hours, Decibel Limits and Fines

Delaware has statewide quiet hours. The Delaware Noise Control Act (7 Del. C. chapter 71) and the state's noise regulation, 7 DE Admin. Code 1149, define night as 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., ban any "noise disturbance," and limit construction, power tools and other noise near homes at night. The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and any police agency in the state may enforce those rules, and a violation carries a fine of $250 to $2,500, with each day a separate violation (7 Del. C. 7108). Separately, making an unreasonable noise to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm is disorderly conduct, an unclassified misdemeanor with up to 30 days in jail and a $575 fine (11 Del. C. 1301, 4206), and a car stereo plainly audible 50 feet away is a traffic offense (21 Del. C. 4306(c)). Local noise ordinances that are equal to or stricter than the state standards stay in force (7 Del. C. 7124). To compare other states, see our guide to noise ordinance laws by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-10. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers Delaware state law: the Delaware Noise Control Act (7 Del. C. 7101 to 7125) and DNREC's Regulations Governing the Control of Noise (7 DE Admin. Code 1149); disorderly conduct and its penalty (11 Del. C. 1301, 4206); the vehicle sound, muffler and penalty sections of 21 Del. C. chapter 43; the tenant conduct rule in 25 Del. C. 5511; the agricultural and shooting range nuisance statutes (3 Del. C. 1401, 10 Del. C. 8142); and the counties' general powers (9 Del. C. 1101, 4110, 7001). Statute text is the current Delaware Code published by the state. It does not cover the text of any city, town or county noise ordinance, aircraft or workplace noise, or the law of other states.

Delaware's statewide noise rules

Delaware has three separate tracks for noise, and each has its own penalty:

The Delaware Noise Control Act

The Act's key definition is broad. Under 7 Del. C. 7103(g), a "Noise disturbance" means "any sound which: (1) Endangers or injures the safety or health of humans or animals; or (2) Annoys or disturbs a reasonable person of normal sensitivities; or (3) Jeopardizes the value of property and erodes the integrity of the environment."

The Act's own prohibition is written even more broadly. Section 7104(a) provides: "No person shall, without first having obtained a variance or a temporary emergency variance from the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, undertake any activity which in any way may cause or contribute to the creation of noise or a noise disturbance." The specific standards that tell a resident what is and is not allowed, including the hours and decibel limits below, are in DNREC's regulation, 7 DE Admin. Code 1149.

Animals. A 2024 amendment took animal noise out of the Act's main subchapter: "This subchapter shall not apply to any noise or noise disturbance caused or created by a dog or any other animal" (7105(d)). So the Act's main subchapter does not reach a barking dog. Regulation 1149 still contains an older animal-noise rule (section 4.2.2), but the statute it implements now excludes animal noise (7105(d)).

Quiet hours: day and night under Regulation 1149

Regulation 1149 sets the clock. "'Day' means the hours between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m." and "'Night' means the hours between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m." (Reg. 1149, 3.0). Its general rule, in section 4.1, is: "No person shall make, continue, or cause to be made or continued, any noise disturbance. Noncommercial public speaking and public assembly activities conducted on any public space or public right-of-way shall be exempt from this section, provided they conform to all local ordinances."

Four specific rules apply from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. to noise that causes a noise disturbance within a Class A (residential) receiving property: loading and unloading (4.2.3), construction (4.2.4), vehicle, motorboat and aircraft repair and testing (4.2.5), and domestic power tools (4.2.8).

Construction. Section 4.2.4 prohibits "Operating or permitting the operation of any tools or equipment used in construction, drilling or demolition work":

"4.2.4.1 Between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the following day, on weekdays and Saturdays, or at any time on Sundays or holidays, such that the sound therefrom creates a noise disturbance within a Class A receiving property, except during an emergency. 4.2.4.2 At any other time such that the sound level within any receiving property exceeds an Leq of 85 dBA for a period of one hour."

Power tools and yard equipment. Section 4.2.8 prohibits "Operating or permitting the operation of any mechanically powered saw, drill, sander, grinder, lawn or garden tool, snowblower, or similar device in residential areas between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. so as to cause a noise disturbance within a Class A receiving property."

Loading and unloading. Section 4.2.3 bars "Loading, unloading, opening, closing, or other handling of boxes, crates, containers, building materials, garbage cans, or similar objects between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. the following day in such a manner as to cause a noise disturbance within a Class A receiving property." It does not apply during an emergency.

Vehicle and boat repairs. Section 4.2.5 bars "Repairing, rebuilding, or testing any motor vehicle, motorcycle, motorboat, or aircraft in such a manner as to cause a noise disturbance within a Class A receiving property between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7 a.m."

Outside those specific rules, the general noise disturbance standard in section 4.1 applies at any hour.

Music, horns and other sources

Several of the regulation's rules apply at any hour:

• Music and sound equipment. Section 4.2.1 bars operating or playing "any radio, television, phonograph, drum, musical instrument, sound amplifier, automobile radio, automobile stereo or high fidelity equipment or similar device" so as "to create a noise disturbance within a receiving property," including when it is operated "in or on a motor vehicle on a public right-of-way or public space, or in a boat on public waters" (4.2.1.1, 4.2.1.2).
• Firearms and explosives. Section 4.2.7 bars "The use or firing of explosives, firearms, or similar devices which create impulsive sound so as to cause a noise disturbance within a Class A receiving property or on a public right-of-way, except for licensed game-hunting activities on property where such activities are authorized."
• Idling vehicles. A standing vehicle may not cause a noise disturbance within a Class A receiving property "for a period longer than twenty minutes in any hour while the vehicle is stationary, for reasons other than traffic congestion" (4.3.2).
• Horns. "No person shall at any time sound the horn or other warning device of a vehicle in such a way as to cause a noise disturbance within a Class A receiving property except when absolutely necessary as a warning while actually driving such vehicle" (4.3.3).

Decibel limits for stationary sources

For fixed equipment and other stationary sources, Regulation 1149 uses a 24-hour equivalent sound level. Section 6.1 provides that no one shall operate a stationary source "in such a manner as to create a 24-hour equivalent A-weighted sound level which exceeds the Leq limits set forth for the receiving land use category in Table 1 when measured at the point of complaint origination within the property boundary of the receiving land use. Any exceedence of these values shall constitute a noise disturbance."

Table 1 sets these 24-hour limits, in Leq dBA, by the class of the source (emitter) and of the receiving property:

Under section 5.0, Class A land is generally residential, Class B generally commercial and Class C generally industrial. The limits are reduced by 5 dBA for a stationary source "which emits a pure tone, cyclically varying sound or repetitive impulse sound" (6.3.1), and impulse sound may not exceed 80 dB peak in a Class A zone at night or 100 dB peak anywhere else at any time (6.4.1).

A second test applies regardless of the table: a source "SHALL BE CONSIDERED TO CAUSE A NOISE DISTURBANCE IF THE SOUND LEVEL, OTHER THAN AN IMPULSE, INFRASONIC OR ULTRASONIC SOUND, EMITTED BY SUCH SOURCE EXCEEDS THE AMBIENT NOISE LEVEL BY 10 dBA WHEN MEASURED AT THE POINT OF COMPLAINT ORIGINATION WITHIN THE RECEIVING PROPERTY" (Reg. 1149, 6.2.1).

What the regulation exempts

Section 7.1 of Regulation 1149 lists exemptions, including:

• Recreation, sports and music: "Noise created by the use of property for the purposes of recreational, sports or musical activities, provided such exemption is effective only during the specific period of time authorized by the political subdivision or government entity having lawful jurisdiction to sanction such use" (7.1.2).
• Farm vehicles: "All farm vehicles are exempt while engaged in farming operations" (7.1.7).
• Voices: "The Unamplified Human Voice - including children at schools, playgrounds, etc." (7.1.8).

Who enforces Delaware noise law, and the penalties

Enforcement is not limited to the state agency. Under 7 Del. C. 7108(a), "The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control shall enforce this chapter and any duly promulgated rules and regulations. All law-enforcement agencies of this State, including but not limited to police forces of the counties and incorporated cities and towns, may also enforce this chapter and any duly promulgated rules and regulations."

An officer can order the noise to stop. Section 7108(c) authorizes "the Department or law-enforcement officer ... to order such violation to cease" and to "take such reasonable steps as are necessary to enforce such an order."

The fines are set in the statute:

"(h) Whoever violates this chapter or any rule or regulation duly promulgated thereunder, or any variance or temporary emergency variance issued pursuant to this section or 7109 of this title or any cease and desist order of the Secretary, shall be punished by a fine of not less than $250 nor more than $2,500 for each violation. Each day of violation shall be considered as a separate violation."

A willful or negligent violation of the chapter, its regulations, a variance or a cease and desist order "shall be punished by a penalty of not less than $1,000 nor more than $10,000 for each day of such violation," and "The Superior Court shall have jurisdiction of offenses under this subsection" (7108(i)). These amounts took effect with 85 Del. Laws c. 84 (approved July 16, 2025), which raised them from $25 to $500 and, for willful or negligent violations, from $500 to $3,000.

The whole chapter exempts two sources: "All farm vehicles are exempted from this chapter while engaged in farming operations," and "Sirens operated to summon volunteer firefighters to alarms and sirens used to summon ambulance crews to service calls are exempted from this chapter" (7 Del. C. 7125).

Disorderly conduct for unreasonable noise

The criminal code has its own noise rule. Under 11 Del. C. 1301(a)(1), a person is guilty of disorderly conduct when "The person intentionally causes public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm to any other person, or creates a risk thereof by: ... b. Making an unreasonable noise or an offensively coarse utterance, gesture or display, or addressing abusive language to any person present." Section 1301(b) states: "Disorderly conduct is an unclassified misdemeanor."

The offense requires intent: the person must intentionally cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or create a risk of it, by the noise.

Section 1301 does not specify a sentence, so the default for unclassified misdemeanors applies. Under 11 Del. C. 4206(c), "the sentence may include up to 30 days incarceration at Level V and such fine up to $575, restitution or other conditions as the court deems appropriate."

Car stereos, mufflers and loud vehicles

Car stereos. Under 21 Del. C. 4306(c), no one operating or occupying a motor vehicle "on any street, highway, alley, or parking lot shall operate or permit the operation of any music amplification system ... so that the sound is plainly audible at a distance of 50 or more feet from the vehicle." The statute explains that "'plainly audible' means any sound which clearly can be heard by unaided hearing faculties, however, words or phrases need not be discernible and bass reverberation alone shall be sufficient to so constitute."

That rule has a carve-out for large cities: subsection (c) "shall not apply to any municipality of this State with a population in excess of 50,000 which has an ordinance addressing noise violations of that type" (4306(e)). In such a city, the local ordinance governs car stereo noise. Subsection (c) also "shall not apply to those in a parade which has been issued a permit nor to commercially licensed vendors in the legitimate operation of their businesses" (4306(d)).

Horns. Under 4306(b), "No driver of any vehicle shall use a horn: (1) To make unreasonably loud or harsh sound; (2) When stationary; or (3) When passing an animal-drawn vehicle or bicycle under normal conditions where no imminent danger of a collision exists."

Mufflers. No one may drive a motor vehicle or motorcycle "on a highway, including residential streets, unless such motor vehicle or motorcycle is equipped with a muffler in good working order and in accordance with manufacturer's specifications and in constant operation to prevent excessive or unusual noise" (21 Del. C. 4311(a)), and "No person shall use a 'muffler cutout' on any motor vehicle upon a highway" (4311(b)). It is also unlawful "to sell or offer for sale any 'gutted muffler,' 'muffler cutout' or 'straight exhaust'" (4311(c)).

Sources: 21 Del. C. 4315(b), (c); 7 Del. C. 7122.

"In cases where no collision has occurred, violation of § 4306, § 4308, or § 4313 of this title may be dismissed before trial if the defendant establishes that repairs have been made so that the vehicle is in compliance" (21 Del. C. 4315(g)).

Section 7122 provides that anyone who operates, or permits the operation of, a motor vehicle on public highways "which generates noise in excess of standards adopted by the Department of Safety and Homeland Security shall be fined not less than $25 nor more than $1,000, which shall be enforced in accordance with Chapter 7 of Title 21."

Local noise ordinances in Delaware

State law sets a floor, not a ceiling. Under 7 Del. C. 7124(b), "No ordinances or resolutions of any governing body of a municipality or county or board of health which establish specific standards for the level or duration of community noise equivalent to or more stringent than those provided by this chapter or any rule or regulation promulgated pursuant thereto shall be superseded," and nothing in the chapter "shall preclude the right of any governing body of a municipality or the Department of Health and Social Services to adopt ordinances, resolutions or regulations which establish specific standards for the level or duration of community noise equivalent to or more stringent than this chapter."

Each county government holds general powers "which are not denied by statute": New Castle (9 Del. C. 1101(a)), Kent (9 Del. C. 4110(a)) and Sussex (9 Del. C. 7001(a)). Sussex County's grant "does not include the power to enact private or civil law concerning civil relationships, except as incident to the exercise of an expressly granted power, and does not include the power to define and provide for the punishment of felonies" (7001(a)).

To find your local rule, check your city or town code and your county code (usually linked from the government's website) and search for "noise." Because 7108(a) lets county and city police enforce the state Act, local police can respond to a state noise disturbance as well as a local ordinance.

Loud neighbors and tenants

For a neighbor who is too loud, Delaware law offers several routes:

1. Police. Any law-enforcement agency may enforce the Noise Control Act and Regulation 1149, and an officer may order the violation to cease (7108(a), (c)). Unreasonable noise made to cause public annoyance can also be charged as disorderly conduct (1301).
2. Existing legal remedies. The Act does not displace other remedies: "No existing civil or criminal remedy now or hereafter available to any person shall be superseded by this chapter or any rule or regulation promulgated pursuant thereto" (7124(a)).
3. Rental housing. Under the Residential Landlord-Tenant Code, "All tenants and other guests of the premises with the consent of tenant shall conduct themselves in a manner that does not unreasonably interfere with the peaceful enjoyment of the other tenants" (25 Del. C. 5511(b)). For more on tenant rights, see Delaware landlord-tenant laws.

Farms and shooting ranges

Farms. Delaware's right-to-farm statute is strong. Under 3 Del. C. 1401, "No agricultural or forestal operation within this State which has been in operation for a period of more than 1 year shall be considered a nuisance, either public or private, as the result of a changed condition in or about the locality where such agricultural or forestal operation is located." Proof that the operation has existed for one year or more "is an absolute defense to the nuisance action, if the operation is in compliance with all applicable state and federal laws, regulations, and permits," and "No state or local law-enforcement agency may bring a criminal or civil action against an agricultural operation for an activity that is in compliance with all applicable state and federal laws, regulations, and permits."

Shooting ranges and hunting operations. Under 10 Del. C. 8142(b), the section "does not apply to: (1) Shooting ranges or hunting operations which do not conform to federal, state or local health or zoning requirements except as may otherwise be provided elsewhere herein; or (2) Shooting ranges or hunting operations which are conducted in a negligent or unlawful manner." Under 8142(c), "No shooting range or hunting operation or any of its appurtenances shall be or become a nuisance, private or public, by any changed conditions in or about the locality thereof after the same has been in operation for more than 1 year if the operation or the change did not constitute a nuisance from the date the shooting range or hunting operation began or the date the change in the operation began." State laws and local ordinances that would make such an operation a nuisance in those circumstances are "null and void," but the protection "shall not apply whenever nuisance results from the negligent or improper operation of any such shooting range or hunting operation or any of its appurtenances or when there has been a significant and fundamental change in the operation itself" (8142(d)).

Fireworks rules are covered in Delaware fireworks laws.

Related pages

• Noise ordinance laws by state
• Delaware landlord-tenant laws
• Delaware fireworks laws
• Maryland noise ordinance laws
• Pennsylvania noise ordinance laws

This article provides general legal information about Delaware law, not legal advice. For advice about a specific situation, contact a lawyer licensed in Delaware, your local government or DNREC.

Last updated: 2026-10-10.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the quiet hours in Delaware?

Delaware's noise regulation defines night as 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. (7 DE Admin. Code 1149, 3.0). During those hours, construction tools, power tools such as lawn equipment, loading and unloading, and vehicle or boat repair and testing may not create a noise disturbance within a residential (Class A) property, and construction is also restricted all day on Sundays and holidays (4.2.3, 4.2.4, 4.2.5, 4.2.8).

What is the fine for a noise violation in Delaware?

A violation of the Noise Control Act or its regulation is a fine of $250 to $2,500 per violation, with each day a separate violation (7 Del. C. 7108(h)). A willful or negligent violation is $1,000 to $10,000 per day (7108(i)).

Can police enforce noise rules in Delaware?

Yes. DNREC enforces the Noise Control Act, and all law-enforcement agencies of the state, including county and city police, may also enforce it and order a violation to cease (7 Del. C. 7108(a), (c)).

Is it illegal to play loud music in your car in Delaware?

It is unlawful to play a vehicle music system so it is plainly audible 50 or more feet away on any street, highway, alley or parking lot (21 Del. C. 4306(c)). The fine is $50 to $250 for a first offense and $125 to $500 for later ones (4315(b)); cities over 50,000 with their own ordinance apply that instead (4306(e)).

Is a barking dog a noise violation under Delaware state law?

Not under the Noise Control Act's main subchapter, which since 2024 does not apply to noise caused by a dog or any other animal (7 Del. C. 7105(d)). Regulation 1149 still prints an older animal-noise rule (4.2.2), but the statute it implements now excludes animal noise. Local ordinances may still address it.

Is disturbing the peace with noise a crime in Delaware?

Making an unreasonable noise that intentionally causes public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or creates a risk of it, is disorderly conduct, an unclassified misdemeanor (11 Del. C. 1301). The sentence may include up to 30 days at Level V and a fine of up to $575 (4206(c)).

Can my town have stricter noise rules than the state?

Yes. Local ordinances that are equivalent to or more stringent than the state Act and its regulation are not superseded, and municipalities may adopt them (7 Del. C. 7124(b)).