New state law lets construction crews beat the heat with earlier start times

(Photo: Nevada Department of Transportation)

There’s little to no escape from sweltering temperatures for Nevada’s construction workers, but a new statewide law will give crews working on commercial and infrastructure construction projects the option to start earlier in an effort to protect workers from the dangerous summer heat.

The new law signed by Gov. Joe Lombardo last month allows construction work on highways, roads, and commercial infrastructure to start as early as 5 a.m. — about two hours earlier than what most local noise rules previously allowed. 

The earlier start times will only be permitted during the hottest months of the year – from April 1st through September 30th – and must be at least 300 feet from any occupied home. 

Still, more Nevadans can now expect to wake up to heavy equipment, not alarms.

Before the new law passed, commercial construction projects near residential areas were prohibited from starting before 7 a.m. due to strict local noise ordinances, forcing construction crews to work into the late afternoon when temperatures are highest.

Construction workers are at an elevated risk of heat stress, due to the strenuous nature of the work, high temperature work conditions, and a changing climate. Commercial and infrastructure projects are also typically done over super-heating materials like pavement and asphalt, making temperatures even hotter. 

Some areas of Clark County allow construction to start as early as 2 a.m. in non-residential areas. 

Vince Saavedra, the executive secretary-treasurer of the Southern Nevada Building Trades Unions, recalls getting regular calls from contractors working near residential areas desperate to start earlier in the day. One particular project to build a wall along a freeway was a prime candidate for an earlier start time to avoid the summer heat, but its proximity to homes made it impossible for crews to start before the sun rose. 

“It’s a difficult situation and I think elected officials are tasked with a difficult happy medium,” Saavedra said. 

The bill, AB478, was widely supported by the construction industry, including the Nevada Contractors Association, the Southern Nevada Building and Construction Trade Unions, and the Northern Nevada Building and Construction Trades Council. It passed unanimously in both the Assembly and Senate.

Lawmakers said the new law was spurred by a dramatic increase in heat-related complaints and workplace injuries reported to the Nevada Occupational Health and Safety Administration starting in 2021.

In 2024, Nevada OSHA received 485 heat-related complaints, the largest number of complaints in the agency’s history. About 5% of those complaints were from the construction industry.

That same year 526 people died of heat-related causes in Clark County alone — a record that highlights why labor and industry groups pushed for earlier work hours.

Prolonged exposure to high temperatures can lead to heat stroke, heat exhaustion, or other health emergencies that can affect a worker’s ability to operate heavy equipment or machinery safely.

Extreme heat can also cause other safety issues for construction workers, as palms get sweaty, safety goggles fog up from perspiration, and skin burns from coming into contact with hot metal. In a cruel twist, the same personal protective equipment that keeps construction workers safe on job sites can also increase the risk of heat-related illnesses.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health emphasizes that one of the most effective strategies to mitigate heat-related risk is scheduling high risk tasks during cooler parts of the day. 

Democratic Rep. Sandra Jauregui was instrumental in helping advance the bill after backing similar bills in 2021 and 2023. 

However, both bills focused largely on prohibiting common-interest communities, counties, and cities from restricting the hours residential construction work could start in the summer.

During hearings for the bill, Jauregui said the bill was necessary to cover commercial construction.

“It’s not fair that those working on pavement to build our highways and roads and infrastructure aren’t protected like our construction workers who are building our homes,” said Jauregui in May.

“Those in the commercial construction industry are uniquely susceptible to heat related injuries. The work comes with inherent risks, which are amplified by exposure to direct sunlight during the hottest months of the year,” she continued. 

Representatives for Clark County, while not opposing the bill, noted the most populous county in Nevada was always under construction and would most certainly attract noise complaints under the new law. 

Summer Pellett, a former member of the Storey County Planning Commission, said she was involved first-hand in the municipal process that imposed work hour restrictions on the construction industry for her county, but has since changed her views after running a construction company. 

“I was simply just trying to reduce noise pollution to residents that were adjacent to construction activity. However, I do believe that I was ignorant to the fact that these noise restrictions came at a cost and needlessly required these construction workers to perform manual labor during the heat of the day,” Pallett said in May.

“It is imperative that we understand that noise pollution related to construction activity is temporary, while heat presents serious health and safety issues to our workforce,” she continued. 

Nevada is not the only state that implemented statewide restriction on construction hours this year.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs signed a bill into law in May that will allow construction to start as early as 5 a.m. from May 1st through October 15. Companies can begin pouring concrete, whether for new developments or a neighbor installing a new driveway, an hour before construction starts.