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Auckland noise control: how to complain, quiet times and decibel limits
Report party or people noise to Auckland Council's noise control through Ask Auckland Council online or on 09 301 0101 while it is happening, day or night. An officer judges it by ear and can order it kept down for 8 days. In residential zones the Unitary Plan limit is 50 dB LAeq by day, 40 dB at night.
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How to make a noise complaint in Auckland
Auckland Council runs noise control for the whole region. Report party, music and people noise while it is happening, day or night, through Ask Auckland Council, the council's online assistant for reporting problems, or by calling 09 301 0101. The council can only act on that noise while it is going on: it says "Action can only be taken when the noise is happening." For other noise (a heat pump, pool pump, factory, bar or building site), the council asks you to call 09 301 0101.
Between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. the council responds only "where the noise has not stopped after 30 minutes", so call again, or reply to its text message, if the noise is still going after half an hour. Before you call, the council's noise complaint page notes that your identity is kept private, that the noise must come from a separate address to yours, and that noise between tenancies with the same landlord is the landlord's to deal with unless it involves loud music or people. Noise from moving vehicles is a matter for the police, trains for KiwiRail, and aircraft in flight above 500 ft for the Civil Aviation Authority.
Say exactly where the noise comes from. The council asks for "an accurate description of the noise source location", because an officer may not hear noise from the back of a property or down a driveway from the road. If you want to know the result, give your email address when you call.
For party and music noise the officer does not use a meter. The council says "we do not use measuring equipment to decide if the noise is excessive"; the officer "makes a subjective assessment" from footpaths, driveways or apartment corridors, and does not knock on arrival. So a reading will not decide a party complaint; calling while it happens will. For a heat pump, pool pump, factory or bar, the council measures with a calibrated sound level meter against the Unitary Plan limits for the zone the noise comes from (for a business next to homes, 55 dB LAeq by day and 45 dB at night at the residential boundary, Standard E25.6.19; for a home, the residential limits below), sometimes over several visits or by appointment from your property, following NZS 6801:2008 and NZS 6802:2008 (Standard E25.6.1). The free online decibel meter runs in your browser and records nothing. It is an uncalibrated estimate of about ±10 dB, enough to tell 40 from 60 but not to settle whether 40 dB LAeq at night was crossed. A dated record of repeated noise (when it started, how long it lasted, what it was) is what moves an ongoing complaint; the noise complaints guide covers what to log.
What happens after you complain
If the officer finds the noise excessive, the Resource Management Act 1991 lets the officer, or a police officer at the officer's request, direct the person responsible "to immediately reduce the noise to a reasonable level" (section 327(1)). This is an excessive noise direction. It can be given in writing or orally, and for 8 days, or any shorter period the officer sets, it binds the person given it and anyone who knows or ought to know about it while at or near the place (sections 327(3) and 328(2)). The 8 days have applied since 21 August 2025, when the Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Act 2025 replaced the old 72 hours (section 77).
| Step | Section | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Complaint and visit | s 327(1) | An enforcement officer, or a police officer acting at the officer's request, investigates the complaint and decides whether the noise is excessive. |
| Excessive noise direction | s 327(1) to (3) | The occupier, or whoever is causing the noise, must reduce it to a reasonable level at once. No one bound by the direction may cause excessive noise from or near the place for 8 days or any shorter period set. |
| Direction not obeyed | s 328(3) | An officer with a police officer, or a police officer, may enter without further notice and seize, disable, or lock or seal the instrument, appliance or machine making the noise. |
| Nobody there to direct | s 328(4), (5) | They may enter and deal with the equipment the same way, and must leave a copy of the direction and a notice saying what they did. |
| Ongoing noise from a property | s 322(1)(c) | An abatement notice can require an occupier breaching section 16 to adopt the best practicable option to keep noise to a reasonable level. |
After the 8 days, the council says "a new noise complaint will need to be made" and, if the noise is excessive again, a new direction served. For commercial, industrial and mechanical noise it first asks the person responsible to fix the problem, then an abatement notice can be served, then enforcement action can follow, which can mean infringement fines or prosecution. Councils may also authorise licensed security guards to use the excessive noise powers in sections 327 and 328 (section 38(2)).
Noise limits in Auckland residential zones
The Act lets a district plan set noise standards (section 16(2)). Auckland's plan is the Auckland Unitary Plan (Operative in part). Chapter E25 Noise and vibration, Standard E25.6.2, limits noise from any activity in the residential zones (Large Lot, Rural and Coastal Settlement, Single House, Mixed Housing Suburban, Mixed Housing Urban, and Terrace Housing and Apartment Buildings), measured within the boundary of the neighbouring residential site.
| Time | Average (dB LAeq) | Maximum (dB LAFmax) |
|---|---|---|
| Monday to Saturday 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. | 50 dB | None set |
| All other times | 40 dB | 75 dB |
LAeq is the A-weighted average level over the measurement; LAFmax is the loudest moment, read on the meter's fast setting. The daytime levels "may be exceeded by intermittent noise for reasonable periods where that noise is associated with normal household activities, such as lawn mowing or home handyman work" (E25.6.2(2)). The council measures against these limits for ongoing noise such as a heat pump, pool pump or home business; for parties and music it relies on the officer's judgement of excessive noise. A-weighting discounts bass; see dBA vs dBC.
The council suggests using noisy power tools "between 7am to 10pm Monday to Saturday, and 9am to 6pm on Sundays", the same hours as the daytime limit, and not starting lawn mowing before 7 a.m. or after 10 p.m.
Construction noise hours and limits
Construction is not banned at any hour in Auckland, but its noise is capped by time of day. Standard E25.6.27 sets the limits for every zone except the city centre and metropolitan centre zones, measured 1 m from the façade of any occupied building that contains an activity sensitive to noise.
| Day and time | Leq (dBA) | Lmax (dBA) |
|---|---|---|
| Weekdays 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. | 60 | 75 |
| Weekdays 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. | 75 | 90 |
| Weekdays 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. | 70 | 85 |
| Saturdays 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. | 75 | 90 |
| Sundays and public holidays 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. | 55 | 85 |
| All other times (weekday nights from 8 p.m., weekend and holiday evenings from 6 p.m., weekend and holiday mornings before 7:30 a.m.) | 45 | 75 |
For a project lasting less than 15 calendar days in total, these limits rise by 5 dB; for one lasting more than 20 weeks they fall by 5 dB (E25.6.27(3) and (4)). The city centre and metropolitan centre zones have their own limits (E25.6.28).
The council says the construction rules do not cover "normal residential household activities like home handyman work undertaken intermittently and at reasonable times", an exemption that does not extend to contractors. It takes complaints about construction noise that is "excessive, such as from rock-breaking, jackhammers or concrete cutting".
The law behind noise control: the Resource Management Act
Noise control works the same way across New Zealand because the powers come from a national law, not a council bylaw. Every city and district council has "the control of the emission of noise and the mitigation of the effects of noise" as a function (section 31(1)(d)). Section 16(1) requires every occupier of land to "adopt the best practicable option to ensure that the emission of noise from that land or water does not exceed a reasonable level".
Section 326(1) defines excessive noise as "any noise that is under human control and of such a nature as to unreasonably interfere with the peace, comfort, and convenience of any person (other than a person in or at the place from which the noise is being emitted)". It excludes aircraft being operated during, or immediately before or after, flight, vehicles driven on a road, and trains (other than when being tested while stationary, maintained, loaded or unloaded). Section 326(2) says it may include noise from a musical instrument, an electrical appliance, a machine, "a person or group of persons", or an explosion or vibration. The definition has no decibel figure.
The Act is being replaced. The Planning Act 2026 received Royal assent on 30 September 2026 and will repeal the Resource Management Act on a date set by Order in Council (sections 2(7) and 344). Its own noise duty (section 31) and excessive noise directions (sections 285 to 288, also 8 days) start on dates set by Order in Council, and no later than four years after assent (sections 2(3) and 2(8)). On 27 October 2026 the legislation website showed no such order, so the Resource Management Act sections on this page are the law in force. One change needs no order: from 30 October 2026, one month after assent, the Planning Act raises the maximum court fines in section 339(2) of the Resource Management Act from NZ$10,000 to NZ$15,000 and from NZ$1,000 to NZ$1,500 a day (section 2(2) and Schedule 12, Part 2).
Fines and getting seized equipment back
Breaching an excessive noise direction, or an abatement notice for unreasonable noise, is an offence (section 338(2)(c) and (d)). Officers can deal with it by an infringement notice, an instant fine set in Schedule 1 of the Resource Management (Infringement Offences) Regulations 1999, as replaced on 4 September 2025.
| Offence | Fee, individual | Fee, company or other body | Maximum on conviction (s 339(2)) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Not complying with an excessive noise direction (s 338(2)(c)) | NZ$1,000 | NZ$2,000 | NZ$15,000, plus NZ$1,500 a day while it continues (NZ$10,000 and NZ$1,000 before 30 October 2026) |
| Not complying with an abatement notice for unreasonable noise (s 338(2)(d)) | NZ$1,500 | NZ$3,000 | NZ$15,000, plus NZ$1,500 a day while it continues (NZ$10,000 and NZ$1,000 before 30 October 2026) |
Auckland Council lists the same figures for excessive noise that happens again within the 8 days: "a $1000 fine for an individual" and "a $2000 fine for a company", with seizure of the equipment.
To get seized equipment back, apply to the council or the police station holding it. Section 336(2) says it must be returned if the authority is satisfied that this "is not likely to lead to a resumption of the emission of noise beyond a reasonable level" and you have paid all the costs of seizing, impounding, transporting and storing it. A refusal can be taken to the Environment Court within 6 months of the seizure, and equipment not claimed within 6 months may be sold. Auckland Council asks you to contact it to arrange an interview and to bring proof of identity and the original seizure notice.
Noise control in other New Zealand councils
Wellington, Christchurch and every other city and district council use the same Act through their own noise control officers, so the 8-day direction and the fines above apply everywhere; the phone number, how the service runs and the decibel limits in each district plan differ. The police say "Your local council is responsible for noise complaints". In Wellington, for example, the city council takes noise complaints on 04 499 4444, which it says is "available 24/7". To find your own council, use the Department of Internal Affairs list of councils and look for noise control on its website.
Sources
Resource Management Act 1991, sections 16, 31, 38, 322, 326 to 328, 336, 338 and 339, latest version as at 1 October 2026, read on legislation.govt.nz on 2026-10-27, with section 77 of the Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Act 2025 (in force 21 August 2025), the Resource Management (Infringement Offences) Regulations 1999, Schedule 1 (version as at 1 October 2026), and the Planning Act 2026 as enacted (assent 30 September 2026), sections 2, 31, 285 to 288, 343 and 344 and Schedule 12, Part 2, all read the same day. Auckland Unitary Plan (Operative in part), Chapter E25 Noise and vibration, Standards E25.6.1, E25.6.2, E25.6.19 and E25.6.27, from the council's July 2026 PDF, read on 2026-10-27. Auckland Council's noise pages (Complain about noise, Ongoing problems with noise, Construction and maintenance noise, How to prevent a noise complaint and Get your seized equipment back) in their versions of February to April 2026, read from archived copies because the council's website did not load from our location on 2026-10-27; the 09 301 0101 number is also on the Department of Internal Affairs council profile. Ask Auckland Council, the New Zealand Police noise FAQ, govt.nz's Noisy neighbours page and Wellington City Council's Make a noise complaint page were read on 2026-10-27. This page is a plain-language summary, not legal advice; the Act, the regulations and the Unitary Plan control.
What is the Auckland Council noise control number?
09 301 0101. Call while the noise is happening, day or night, because officers can only act on party and music noise they can hear. Party noise can also be reported online through Ask Auckland Council. Between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. the council responds only if the noise has not stopped after 30 minutes, so call again, or reply to its text, if it is still going.
What time does noise have to stop in Auckland?
There is no single curfew; the council says excessive or unreasonable noise "is generally unacceptable at any time". In residential zones the Unitary Plan limit falls from 50 dB LAeq to 40 dB LAeq, with a 75 dB LAFmax cap, at 10 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 6 p.m. on Sunday, until 7 a.m. (9 a.m. on Sunday). Construction noise drops to 45 dB after 8 p.m. on weekdays and after 6 p.m. at weekends.
What happens when noise control comes to a party in Auckland?
The officer listens from the footpath, driveway or a shared corridor without knocking and judges by ear whether the noise is excessive. If it is, the officer can issue an excessive noise direction: the noise must come down straight away and stay at a reasonable level for 8 days. If it is excessive again in that time, officers with the police can seize the equipment and issue an infringement fee (NZ$1,000 for an individual, NZ$2,000 for a company).
How long does an excessive noise direction last in NZ?
Up to 8 days, or a shorter period the officer sets, from the moment it is given (Resource Management Act, section 327(3)). It was 72 hours until an amendment took effect on 21 August 2025. The direction binds the person given it and anyone who knows or ought to know about it while at or near the place. After it ends, a new complaint is needed before a new direction.
What is the fine for excessive noise in New Zealand?
For party and music noise there is no fine on the first visit; the fine follows if the noise continues after a direction. Breaching an excessive noise direction carries an infringement fee of NZ$1,000 for an individual and NZ$2,000 for a company or other body; breaching an abatement notice for unreasonable noise, NZ$1,500 and NZ$3,000. On conviction the maximum is NZ$15,000, plus NZ$1,500 a day while the offence continues; the Planning Act 2026 raised these from NZ$10,000 and NZ$1,000 on 30 October 2026.
