Spokane County, WA Noise Ordinances: Construction Hours (2026)
Construction hours in Spokane 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
- Exempt window
- 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily
- Distance exemption
- Any hour beyond 1,000 feet of a residence
- Also covered
- Forest harvesting, quarrying, blasting, rock crushing
- Outside the window
- Reasonable-person nuisance standard, SCC 6.12.010
- Penalty if cited
- Up to 90 days/$1,000, or $50/day civil
Summary
Unincorporated Spokane County exempts construction-site noise from its general noise-disturbance ban only between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., or at any hour if the work is more than 1,000 feet from an occupied residence, under SCC 6.12.020(c)(1). Quarrying, blasting, and forest harvesting get the identical window and distance test.
(c)The following shall be exempt from the provisions of Section 6.12.010 between the hours of seven a.m. and ten p.m., or when conducted beyond one thousand feet of any residence where human beings reside and sleep at any hour:(1)Sounds originating from temporary construction sites as a result of construction activity;(2)Sounds originating from forest harvesting and silvicultural activity;(3)Sounds originating from the quarrying, blasting and mining of minerals or materials, including, but not limited to, sand, gravel, rock and clay, as well as the primary reduction and processing of minerals or materials for concrete batching, asphalt mixing and rock crushers;(4)Sounds originating from uses on properties which have been specifically conditioned to meet certain noise standards by an appropriate Spokane County hearing body.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 63).
Full Breakdown
SCC 6.12.010 makes it unlawful to create a sound that annoys or disturbs a reasonable person's peace, comfort, or repose. Section 6.12.020(c) carves out a time-and-distance exemption for construction and several related industrial activities: sounds from temporary construction sites, forest harvesting and silvicultural work, and quarrying, blasting, and mining of sand, gravel, rock, and clay (including concrete batching, asphalt mixing, and rock crushing) are exempt from the noise-disturbance ban only between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., or at any hour of the day or night if the work is conducted more than 1,000 feet from any residence where people live and sleep. A fourth exemption in the same subsection covers uses on properties specifically conditioned by a Spokane County hearing body to meet particular noise standards, such as a condition attached to a conditional use permit or plat approval.
Outside that 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. window, and within 1,000 feet of an occupied residence, construction noise is judged under the same reasonable-person nuisance standard as any other sound in SCC 6.12.010, with no fixed decibel meter and no separate weekend or holiday carve-out for construction crews. That means a contractor running equipment before 7 a.m. or after 10 p.m. near a home has no statutory exemption to fall back on and can be cited the same as any other noise disturbance in the county.
Violations & Fines
Construction noise that runs outside the 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. window, within 1,000 feet of an occupied residence, and disturbs a reasonable person violates SCC 6.12.010 and exposes the contractor or site owner to the same Chapter 6.12 penalties as any other noise disturbance: a misdemeanor under SCC 6.12.030 (up to 90 days in jail, a $1,000 fine, or both) or a $50-per-day civil infraction under SCC 6.12.040, heard in Spokane County District Court.
Frequently Asked Questions
What hours can construction crews make noise in unincorporated Spokane County?
Can a contractor work at night if the site is remote?
Is weekend or early-morning construction noise treated differently?
What happens if construction noise runs past 10 p.m. within 1,000 feet of a home?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Spokane County
How Spokane County compares: Cities with the Strictest Construction Hours·Compare Spokane County to another location·View the Washington noise ordinances overview
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