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1.
Introduction
The
purpose of the Noise Control Ordinance is to provide
statutory controls to restrict and reduce the nuisance
caused by environmental noise. The Ordinance does not
seek to control occupational noise (that is, noise generated
inside a factory or other industrial undertaking which
affects employees in that work-place); this type of
noise is subject to control under the Factories and
Industrial Undertakings Ordinance, the enforcement of
which is carried out by the Labour Department.
The
Noise Control Ordinance deals with the following forms
of noise :
| (a) |
noise from domestic premises and public places (often
referred to as general neighbourhood noise); |
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| (b)
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noise
from construction activities (including piling); |
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| (c) |
noise from places other than domestic premises, public
places or construction sites (for example, noise from
industrial or commercial premises); |
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| (d) |
noise from intruder alarm system installed in any premises
or vehicle; |
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| (e) |
noise from individual items of plant or equipment (referred
to in the Ordinance as Product Noise, for example, noise
from hand-held breaker and air compressor); and |
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| (f) |
noise emission from motor vehicles. |
The
Ordinance enables Regulations and Technical Memoranda
to be made which introduce detailed control criteria,
measurement procedures and other technical matters.
The provisions of the Ordinance are enforced by the
Director of Environmental Protection (who has been appointed
as the Noise Control Authority) and the Hong Kong Police
Force.
This
booklet is for explanatory purposes only and it is intended
to serve as a simple introduction to the provisions
of the Ordinance and the associated Regulations and
Technical Memoranda. In case of doubt, the reader is
advised to consult the Ordinance itself and the Regulations
or Technical Memoranda. Copies of the Ordinance and
the Regulations are on sale at the Government Publications
Centre. Copies of prescribed forms, information booklets
and the Technical Memoranda are available from the Environmental
Protection Department. Addresses of the Local Control
Offices of the Department are given in Appendix 1.
The
main provisions of the Ordinance are summarized in the
following sections. The numbers in brackets following
the headings refer to the relevant section numbers in
the Ordinance.
The
Ordinance provides that different provisions may come
into operation on different dates to be notified in
the Gazette.
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