Lexington, KY Noise Ordinances: Construction Hours (2026)
Construction hours in Lexington, KY, sometimes called construction noise rules or contractor work-hour ordinances, set when contractors can run power tools, hammers, and heavy equipment.
Key Facts
- Construction/demolition tools
- barred 11pm–7am
- Exception
- emergency public-utility work
- Exception
- mayor-approved variance (§14-74)
- Legal standard
- disturbance across dwelling unit boundary
- Domestic power tools
- covered by a separate rule
- First offense fine
- $50–$500 (§14-80)
Summary
Lexington-Fayette Urban County Code § 14-72 bars running construction, drilling or demolition tools between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. whenever the noise crosses into a neighbor's dwelling unit. The night-hours ban excludes emergency utility work and holders of a mayor-approved special variance, and it doesn't cover ordinary domestic power tools, which fall under a separate lawn-and-garden-tool clause.
Operating or permitting the operation of any tools or equipment used in construction, drilling or demolition work between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., prevailing local time, such that the sound therefrom creates a noise disturbance across a dwelling unit boundary, except for emergency work of public service utilities or by special variance as provided for in section 14-74. This paragraph shall not apply to the use of domestic power tools subject to subsection (3) of this section.
Full Breakdown
Chapter 14's noise article defines 'construction' in § 14-70 as any site preparation, assembly, erection, substantial repair or alteration, and 'demolition' as any dismantling, intentional destruction or removal of a structure, utility or right-of-way, both broad enough to cover a home addition, a torn-up driveway or a full teardown. is a violation whenever the resulting sound 'creates a noise disturbance across a dwelling unit boundary,' the real or imaginary line (walls, ceilings, floors, or the property line for a detached house) separating one dwelling unit from the next.
Two carve-outs apply: emergency work performed by a public service utility, and work covered by a special variance the mayor's office has already granted under § 14-74 after the applicant showed an unwarranted health hazard or unreasonable economic hardship in complying. The section also draws a line between heavy construction equipment and ordinary domestic power tools, saws, drills, sanders, grinders, lawnmowers, which are regulated separately under subsection (3) with their own weekend carve-out. Urban county government officers enforce the night-hours ban the same way they enforce the rest of the article: they can inspect under § 14-73 with consent or a warrant, issue an abatement order under § 14-75, or go straight to a citation under § 14-76.
Violations & Fines
Violating the 11 p.m.–7 a.m. construction-noise ban carries the same escalating fine structure as the rest of § 14-72: $50 to $500 for a first offense under § 14-80, $100 to $500 for a second offense within twelve months, and $250 to $500 for a third. An officer can also order the equipment shut down immediately under § 14-75's abatement power instead of writing a citation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a contractor pour concrete overnight in Lexington?
Does the night ban apply on a job site with no neighbors nearby?
Is Saturday morning construction restricted the same way?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Lexington
How Lexington compares: Cities with the Strictest Construction Hours·Compare Lexington to another location·View the Kentucky noise ordinances overview
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