Edmonds, WA Noise from Specific Sources: Generator Noise (2026)

Chapter 5.30 sets maximum permissible sound levels citywide, and ECC 5.30.100(A) lists sounds exempt from those limits at all times. Subsection (A)(9) covers emergency generators specifically: they are exempt when operating as necessary for their intended purpose during periods when there is no electrical service available from the primary supplier due to natural disaster or power outage, under (A)(9)(a). Routine testing is treated differently: (A)(9)(b) exempts periodic testing required by the manufacturer only if it is limited to the hours allowed for construction in ECC 5.30.110(B).

That cross-referenced construction window, set out in ECC 5.30.110(B), runs from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on weekdays and 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays, excluding Sundays and federal holidays entirely. Outside of an actual outage and outside that testing window, generator noise is not automatically exempt and can be measured against the chapter's underlying sound level limits in ECC 5.30.040, which are reduced by 10 dB(A) for residential receiving property between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. under ECC 5.30.050(A). A property owner who needs to run or test a generator outside these allowances can seek a variance under ECC 5.30.120, which the city processes as a Type 1 permit under ECDC 20.01.003(B) and grants only for the minimum time necessary, weighing public convenience, safety, exposure, and cost factors listed in ECC 5.30.120(C).

Violations of the underlying sound limits carry the chapter's standard penalties: a $100.00 civil infraction for a first offense, $250.00 for a second within a calendar year, and a misdemeanor with up to $1,000 and 90 days in jail for a third under ECC 5.30.150.