When is excessive noise allowed?

When is excessive noise allowed?

Howard Gould (Neighbor Law Expert, Finestone & Richter) gives expert video advice on: How do I know whether my neighbor's noise is breaking the law?; Is there anything I can do about a barking dog?; What can I do to stop my neighbor's noise? and more...

I think the key word there is excessive. It sort of assumes that the noise is too loud. We really in general run by reasonable standards in many areas of the law. If you have emergencies, for example, no one is going to complain that the siren on an ambulance or a fire truck is too loud because it has a purpose for being that loud. You have to look at the circumstances and what's reasonable under the circumstances in terms of what the noise is. If there's some construction that's going on and they have to jackhammer to do that construction, then even though it's a very loud noise and maybe you can't bear to be in your house, your neighbor may have a right to conduct that during regular construction hours in so long as what they're doing is really construction and not doing it simply to annoy their neighbor.