The Environment Protection (Residential Noise) Regulations 2018 (the Regulations) set the permissible work hours for early land clearing/road preparation work on residential subdivisions.

Allowable work hours on a Saturday depend on the location and type of site:

• for infill developments, small/single-lot subdivisions and housing construction, work is allowed from 9 am on Saturdays
• for new subdivision land preparation work in designated growth areas or at the fringe of metropolitan Melbourne or rural centres, work is allowed from 7 am on Saturdays, with some restrictions.

Sites starting at 7 am must meet certain buffer conditions. These enable critical-path work while minimising noisier work between 7 am and 9 am:

• No early work is permitted closer than 35 m from residences.
• Between 35 and 200 m distance, limited equipment can be used from 7 am Saturday, including – 
  • earthmoving machinery (such as graders or excavators)
  • concrete trucks
  • self-propelled, single-drum vibrating rollers
  • non-vibrating compaction machinery
  • at this distance, noisier equipment must not be used before 9 am. This means all other types of compaction plant (e.g. double drum vibrating roller) and impacting, vibrating or rotating tools and implements (for example, a rock breaker attached to an excavator).
• A time limit applies to 35–200 m works –
  • within this distance from homes, infrastructure work from 7 to 9 am on Saturdays may only continue for a period of 20 weeks. Beyond this period, remaining work must start from 9 am.
• More than 200 m from the property boundary, the following noisier equipment may also be used from 7 am – 
  • impacting, vibrating or rotating implements
  • all types of compaction equipment
  • other tools such as jackhammers, drills etc
  • pile-drivers must not be used before 9 am.

Note that after 9 am on Saturdays, the buffer requirements do not apply.

For further information, please see Noise from large residential subdivision or urban development sites (Publication no 1264).