Lewis County, WA Noise Ordinances: Construction Hours (2026)

Chapter 1.23 LCC does not set a separate construction-noise ordinance; instead it treats construction activity as one of the listed exceptions to the general public disturbance noise rule in § 1.23.030(1). Subsection (2) opens by stating the provisions of subsection (1) shall not apply to a list of carve-outs, and (2)(h) covers sounds originating between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. from temporary construction sites as a result of construction activity. Read together with subsection (1), that means construction noise inside the 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. window is not a violation no matter how disruptive, but construction noise before 7:00 a.m. or after 10:00 p.m. loses the exemption and falls back under the general prohibition on sound that unreasonably disturbs a neighbor's peace, comfort and repose.

A related carve-out in (2)(g) gives residential and rural property owners the same 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. window for home and grounds maintenance and repair projects, and (2)(j) applies the identical hours to non-mining blasting. As with every subsection of § 1.23.030, no sound-level meter reading is required to prove a violation under § 1.23.040(2), so a contractor running equipment at 5:00 a.m. can be cited on a neighbor's or deputy's account alone.