Mason County, WA Noise Ordinances: Construction Hours (2026)
Construction hours in Mason County, WA, sometimes called construction noise rules or contractor work-hour ordinances, set when contractors can run power tools, hammers, and heavy equipment.
Key Facts
- Governing section
- Mason County Code Section 9.36.090
- Exempts
- Construction-site sound and forestry or farm sound
- Specific clock hours
- None stated in the operative text
- Still enforceable via
- Public disturbance noise, Section 9.36.120
- Penalty schedule
- $30, $100, $250 for repeat violations
Summary
In unincorporated Mason County, construction noise is not capped by a decibel table at all. Code Section 9.36.090, headed 'Daytime residential exemption,' excuses sounds from temporary construction sites, and separately from forest harvesting, silviculture, agriculture and aquaculture, from the Section 9.36.060 sound-level limits, and the operative text sets no specific start or end clock hour for the exemption.
9.36.090 - Daytime residential exemption. The following shall be exempt from the maximum permissible noise levels set forth in Section 9.36.060: (1)Sounds originating from temporary construction sites as a result of construction activity;(2)Sounds originating from forest harvesting, silvicultural activity, commercial agriculture and aquaculture.
Full Breakdown
Section 9.36.090 sits in the Noise Control chapter (Chapter 9.36, Ordinance 54-89, 1989) between the general daytime exemption in Section 9.36.080 and the 'other exemptions' list in Section 9.36.100. Its own heading reads 'Daytime residential exemption,' but unlike Section 9.36.080, which expressly bounds its exemptions to 'between the hours of seven a.m. and ten p.m.,' the text of Section 9.36.090 states only that 'sounds originating from temporary construction sites as a result of construction activity' and 'sounds originating from forest harvesting, silvicultural activity, commercial agriculture and aquaculture' are exempt from the maximum permissible noise levels set in Section 9.36.060, without naming a start or end clock hour in the section itself.
Practically, that means a contractor's saws, generators, and heavy equipment on an active construction site are not held to the EDNA decibel table (55 to 75 dBA depending on class) at any particular hour under this section. Section 9.36.110's proviso still allows a public disturbance noise charge under Section 9.36.120 for construction sound that unreasonably disturbs neighbors regardless of the Section 9.36.090 exemption, and Section 9.36.020 directs the sheriff's office to administer noise complaints on a 24-hour basis.
Violations & Fines
Because Section 9.36.090 exempts construction and forestry sound from the decibel table, most contractors face no civil penalty under Section 9.36.310 for noise level alone. Exposure instead comes from Section 9.36.120's public disturbance noise ban, enforced with the same schedule as other Chapter 9.36 violations: thirty dollars for a first offense, one hundred dollars for a second, and two hundred fifty dollars for a third within one year, plus a possible misdemeanor under Section 9.36.320 for refusing a deputy's order to abate.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Mason County restrict construction noise to certain hours?
Can a neighbor still complain about early or late construction noise?
Are forestry and farm equipment sounds treated the same as construction?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Mason County
How Mason County compares: Cities with the Strictest Construction Hours·Compare Mason County to another location·View the Washington noise ordinances overview
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