Yakima County, WA Noise Ordinances: Construction Hours (2026)
Construction hours in Yakima 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 exemption
- § 6.28.040(12), construction or refuse removal equipment
- Construction hours window
- None printed in Chapter 6.28
- Civil penalty under the chapter
- Not to exceed five hundred dollars (§ 6.28.060)
- Enforced by
- County sheriff and other law enforcement officers
- Lawn and garden equipment exemption
- 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. only
- Area covered
- Unincorporated Yakima County only
Summary
Yakima County's noise chapter sets no construction hours window. Section 6.28.040(12) exempts sounds created by construction or refuse removal equipment from Chapter 6.28 altogether, with no time of day attached. The plainly audible and annoyance tests that govern other sound in the unincorporated area do not reach the equipment itself.
The following sounds are exempt from the provisions of this chapter: ... (12) Sounds created by construction or refuse removal equipment; ... (18) Sounds created by lawfully established commercial and industrial uses. ... Any person who violates the provisions of this chapter shall, upon a finding of having committed the civil infraction thereof, be punished by a civil penalty not to exceed five hundred dollars.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4871853; v6 updated 2026-04-21; through 04-21-2026).
Full Breakdown
Chapter 6.28 (Noise Control) is the noise ordinance for the unincorporated county. Its core rule, § 6.28.030, makes a sound unlawful when it is plainly audible within a dwelling unit that is not the source of the sound, when it is generated within two hundred feet of a dwelling unit, or when it annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of others. Section 6.28.040 then lists sounds that are exempt from the chapter, and item (12) reads: Sounds created by construction or refuse removal equipment.
Compare that item with its neighbors. Item (16), unamplified human voices, and item (17), lawn and garden equipment, are each limited to 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Item (12) carries no clock at all. The noise chapter therefore contains no start time, no quitting time, no Sunday restriction and no decibel cap for building work, and the sheriff has no hours-based noise rule to apply to a running saw, compressor or excavator under this chapter.
Two other exemptions reach job sites and farms. Item (7) exempts sounds originating from forest harvesting and silviculture activity, and from commercial agriculture. Item (18) exempts sounds created by lawfully established commercial and industrial uses. Farm operations get a parallel shield in § 6.22.040, which says farm operations shall not be restricted to time of day or days of the week.
In § 6.28.020 the Board of County Commissioners found that special conditions within the county make necessary any and all differences between this chapter and regulations adopted by the Department of Ecology. Under § 6.28.050 the county sheriff and other law enforcement officers enforce the chapter.
This page covers the noise chapter only. It does not say whether a building permit, a festival permit or some other county section sets working hours for a particular project. Yakima, Sunnyside, Grandview, Selah, Toppenish, Union Gap, Wapato and Zillah are separate incorporated cities outside this code, and trust land inside the Yakama Nation Reservation is governed by the Nation's own code rather than county ordinances.
Violations & Fines
A violation of Chapter 6.28 is a civil infraction punished by a civil penalty not to exceed five hundred dollars under § 6.28.060. Construction equipment sound falls outside that penalty because § 6.28.040(12) exempts it from the chapter. Other sound at the same site is judged separately: a sound not on the § 6.28.040 list stays under the plainly audible and annoyance tests in § 6.28.030, and unamplified voices are exempt only from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Frequently Asked Questions
What hours can construction run in unincorporated Yakima County?
Does the exemption cover a crew's radio or shouting?
Who enforces the noise chapter and what is the penalty?
Does this apply in the city of Yakima or on the Yakama Reservation?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Yakima County
Compare Yakima County to another location·View the Washington noise ordinances overview
See something wrong?
Help us keep this page accurate. If you notice an error or outdated information, let us know.