Noise ordinances › El Paso, TX

El Paso noise ordinance: quiet hours, limits and complaints

Last updated: September 20, 2026

Documenting this? A dated log of when the noise started, when it stopped and how loud it got is what El Paso acts on. Log noise levels for a complaint — free, runs in your browser, records no audio.

Quiet hours in El Paso

The decibel limits run from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. daily (Sec. 9.40.030 A and B); for a restaurant the same numbers start at 10:00 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday (Sec. 9.40.030 C). Other clock windows in Sec. 9.40.020: commercial construction, repair or demolition equipment may not run between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. (B.3); outdoor power equipment on residential property is barred between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. (B.11); normal property maintenance such as lawn mowing is exempt only from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. (A.7); religious bells and chimes are exempt 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. (A.10); park, playground and school activities are exempt 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. (A.12); noncommercial public speaking and assembly on public rights-of-way 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. (A.13); and a delivery between 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. is exempt only if it lasts an hour or less, is food, non-alcoholic beverages, food-service supplies or ice, and stays at or below 65 dB(A) at the nearest residential property (A.14). Outside every one of these windows, and at any hour, the nuisance standard in Sec. 9.40.020 B still applies: sound that "unreasonably disturbs or interferes with the sleep, peace, comfort, or repose of a person of reasonable sensibilities."

Decibel limits

Yes, at night only, and they are measured at the source rather than at the complainant's window. Sec. 9.40.030 A and B: between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. it is unlawful to produce a sound discernible beyond the property line that exceeds 70 dB(A) or 75 dB(C) "for the property on which the sound is produced"; subsection D confirms the levels "apply to a property where the sound is being produced," and subsection F puts the meter as near as possible to the source property's line. Restaurants (defined in Sec. 9.40.010 as a business with its own permanent food-service facility, commercial cooking equipment and multiple entrees) get the same 70 dB(A) / 75 dB(C) numbers after 10:00 p.m. Sunday–Thursday and 11:00 p.m. Friday–Saturday, "excluding traffic and other background noise that can be reasonably excluded," and the restaurant rule does not apply to a food-service establishment within 300 feet of a residence that was occupied before any food-service establishment was on the property (Sec. 9.40.030 C). There is no daytime decibel limit in Chapter 9.40; daytime complaints are judged under the noise-nuisance definition. Two more numbers sit in the exemptions: air-conditioning, heat pumps, HVAC and pool machinery are exempt if they stay at or below 70 dBA on residential property or 75 dBA on nonresidential property measured at the nearest exterior wall of a building under separate ownership (Sec. 9.40.020 A.8), and late-night food deliveries are exempt at or below 65 dB(A) at the closest residential property (A.14). Measurements are taken by the city's authorized representatives (code compliance, police, or planning and inspections) with an ANSI-standard meter "in accordance with a city-adopted policy" (Secs. 9.40.030 E, 9.40.050).

What the ordinance actually says

Sec. 9.40.030 A: "For properties not defined as restaurants, it shall be unlawful for any person to conduct, permit, allow, or produce a sound that is discernable beyond the property lines of the property on which the sound is being produced that, when measured with a sound level meter using the standardized frequency weighting as specified by the American National Standards Institute, exceeds seventy dB(A) between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. daily for the property on which the sound is produced."

Sec. 9.40.030 D: "The dB(A) and dB(C) levels set forth in this section apply to a property where the sound is being produced. Any sound that when measured at the property where the sound is being produced exceeds the dB(A) and dB(C) levels set forth in this section is a violation of this chapter."

Sec. 9.40.010: "\"Noise nuisance\" means any loud, irritating, vexing or disturbing sound originating from a nearby property under separate ownership or occupancy which causes injury, discomfort, or distress of a person of reasonable sensibilities, or any sound that exceeds the maximum permitted sound levels specified in this chapter."

Sec. 9.40.020 B.3 (Construction work): "Operating or permitting to be operated any equipment used in commercial construction, repair, alteration, or demolition work on buildings, structures, streets, alleys, or appurtenances thereto, between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. the following day, or in such a manner as to unreasonably disturb or interfere with the sleep, peace, comfort, and repose of a person of reasonable sensibilities."

Sec. 9.40.020 B.12 (Radios, television sets, musical instruments, and similar devices): "Operating or permitting to be operated in a fixed or movable position or mounted upon or within any vehicle in or upon any street, alley, sidewalk, park, place, or public or private property any radio receiving set, musical instrument, television, phonograph, drum, or other machine or device for the production or reproduction of sound or vibrations in such a manner as to unreasonably disturb or interfere with the sleep, peace, comfort, or repose of a person of reasonable sensibilities."

Sec. 9.40.070 A: "Any person who violates any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction, be guilty of a Class C misdemeanor and punished by a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars. ... Each act of violation and each day of violation is considered a separate violation."

Quoted verbatim from the official codified text (El Paso City Code, Title 9 "Health and Safety," Chapter 9.40 "Noise," Secs. 9.40.010 (definitions, including "noise nuisance," "local ambient reading," "restaurant"), 9.40.020 (applicability: exemptions in subsection A, listed noise nuisances in subsection B), 9.40.030 (sound level violations: the 70 dB(A) and 75 dB(C) night limits, restaurant hours, measurement procedure and reading location), 9.40.040 (vibration), 9.40.050 (sound level measurement), 9.40.060 (identification of violator), 9.40.070 (penalties), 9.40.080 (enforcement); Secs. 9.40.090–9.40.140 reserved. The chapter was rewritten by Ord. No. 18908 (adopted 2-26-2019, effective 180 days later per its Section 15), and amended by Ord. No. 019696 (12-17-2024) and Ord. No. 019782 (8-19-2025). Text read on Municode (the City's code host) on 2026-09-20.). Verified against the live code on 2026-09-20. Ordinances get amended — before acting on a specific provision, check the linked official code. This page is a plain-language summary, not legal advice.

How to file a noise complaint in El Paso

Dial 3-1-1 (the City's EP311 program; its page lists "Noise Complaints" among the most-reported issue types, takes reports online with an account or anonymously, and answers Sunday–Thursday 7:00 a.m.–11:00 p.m. and Friday–Saturday 7:00 a.m.–2:00 a.m.). For a party or music in progress, the El Paso Police Department's non-emergency line is (915) 832-4400 (eppd.org: "Non-Emergencies: Call (915) 832-4400"; emergencies and crimes in progress, 9-1-1). The City Attorney's office publishes a Noise Complaint Form (elpasotexas.gov, City Attorney complaint forms) for documented, repeat problems. Sec. 9.40.080 places enforcement with the director of planning and inspections, the director of code enforcement, or the police chief and their designees, so a meter reading can come from code compliance or police (Sec. 9.40.050).

Step by step, with what to log and what to expect after you file: how to file a noise complaint in El Paso. For the general playbook — documenting the problem, talking to a landlord or HOA, when 311 beats 911 — see the noise complaints guide.

Worth knowing

(1) The meter goes to the noisy property's own line, not to the complainant's: Sec. 9.40.030 D and F make the 70 dB(A) / 75 dB(C) limits a property-of-origin standard, the opposite of the receiving-property measurement most cities use. (2) The numbers exist only at night. Chapter 9.40 has no daytime decibel table; a daytime complaint rests entirely on the "person of reasonable sensibilities" nuisance test, which Sec. 9.40.010 defines to include any sound over the night limits. (3) A C-weighted 75 dB(C) limit runs alongside the A-weighted one, so bass-heavy music can violate the chapter while reading under 70 dB(A). (4) Restaurants were carved out by the 2024 and 2025 amendments (Ord. 019696, Ord. 019782): later start times on Friday and Saturday, background noise excluded, the exterior-loudspeaker nuisance clause (B.5) does not apply to them, and the restaurant rule itself does not apply within 300 feet of a residence that predates any food-service use on the property. (5) Sec. 9.40.020 A.5 exempts any scheduled stadium event or any event at a venue with more than 2,500 seats, and A.4 exempts government functions and government-sponsored events on public property, so concerts, ballpark games and city festivals are outside the chapter. (6) Liability follows presence: at a residence, any resident, owner or occupant present is responsible, and a guest or trespasser who can control the sound when none of them is (Sec. 9.40.060). (7) Penalty is a Class C misdemeanor of up to $500 per act and per day, plus a civil action under Texas Local Government Code Chapter 54 for up to $1,000 per day (Sec. 9.40.070); no culpable mental state need be proved. (8) Renumbering trap: the pre-2019 chapter had decibel measurement criteria in 9.40.020, noise zones in 9.40.030 and exterior and interior standards in 9.40.040 and 9.40.050; Ord. 18908 repealed all of it, and Secs. 9.40.090–9.40.140 (vibration, motor-vehicle sound levels, exemptions, enforcement) are now reserved. Older summaries that quote zone-based limits describe repealed law.

Document it before you report it

El Paso's limits are measured numbers, so a reading is direct evidence of how loud it really is. Take a quick reading with the free online decibel meter — it runs in your browser and records nothing — and check how loud your block is on the El Paso noise map. For time-stamped measurement history you can show a landlord or code officer, the app keeps a log.