On December 7, 1999, the City Council enacted Ordinance 17440 which makes certain changes in the construction or repair ordinance (§ 54-161), in the noise division of the City criminal code. The Ordinance will be published and take effect on December 15, 1999.

    Prior to the amendment, § 54-161 prohibited erection (including excavation), demolition, alteration or repair of any building except between the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on weekdays unless the person had obtained an emergency three-day permit from the Building Code Enforcement Director. In other words, erection (including excavation), demolition, alteration or repair of any building could only occur between 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. unless a permit had been granted.

    The new version of the ordinance prohibits erection (including excavation), demolition, alteration or repair of any building except between the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Exceptions can be granted by the Building Code Enforcement Director (the Development Coordination Office). The amended ordinance states, "[w]ritten permission for such work may be granted by the Code Enforcement Officer after receipt of written justification." Please note the ordinance does not require written permission. In other words, erection (including excavation), demolition, alteration or repair of any building can only occur between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday unless the Development Coordination Office (DCO) has granted permission to work at other hours or on Sunday.

    If you handle calls regarding after hours or Sunday construction complaints, please have the dispatcher verify with the DCO, if possible, whether the person or firm doing the work has been granted permission for after hours or Sunday construction. If the person or firm claims to have permission, but permission cannot be verified, officers have discretion to either issue a citation or follow up with the DCO during business hours. Of these options, following up with the DCO is preferable, but I will defer to your supervisors on how the Ordinance should be enforced.

    Please keep in mind that § 54-161 as amended by Ordinance 17440 addresses only the hours and days in which construction or repair of buildings is prohibited. If the complaint is actually a construction noise complaint, § 54-148(a) of the Code of the City of Topeka (1994), as amended governs. This ordinance states:

It shall be unlawful for any person to make, continue or cause to be made or continued any loud, unnecessary or unusual noise or any noise which either annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of others within the limits of the city; provided, that the provisions of this division shall not apply to such occasional and infrequent uses as authorized by special permit of the council, upon a showing by an applicant and determination by the council that the proposed use does not offend the spirit of the findings of Section 54-146.

    Please contact me if you have any questions.