In the months ahead, New York City’s Environmental Protection Department will consult with a task force of manufacturers, contractors, utilities and relevant city agencies about new regulations the agency is preparing to stipulate “noise mitigation practices and requirements” for jackhammers and “additional technologies for mitigation of jackhammer noise during nighttime construction activities.”
Because electric hammers create roughly 10 decibels less noise than pneumatic breakers, the regulations are likely to encourage contractors to switch to the quieter models, at least at night.
The existing nighttime noise code, which applies from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m., says jackhammers cannot exceed 95 decibels at about three feet outdoors. The proposed amendment would require sound barriers, muffling blankets or quieter models to make sure that they did not emit more than 85 decibels at 50 feet.
Noise is the No. 1 gripe recorded by the city’s complaint line, and over the past 10 years the number of grievances involving jackhammers alone has approached 9,000.
(more on NYC's pending jackhammer restrictions . . . )
