Vancouver, WA Noise Ordinances: Construction Hours (2026)

The land use code sets the hours in VMC 20.935.030(A)(4): outdoor construction activity, including construction staging, shall occur no earlier than 7 a.m. and no later than 8 p.m., seven days a week. The rule names staging along with the work itself, so deliveries and equipment setup fall inside the same window. The subsection as printed carries no separate weekend or holiday schedule; the phrase seven days a week applies the same hours every day.

The public disturbance ordinance covers the same subject from the criminal side. VMC 7.05.010(A)(1)(g) treats the creation of frequent, repetitive, or continuous sounds or vibrations made in connection with outdoor construction or the movement of construction-related materials as a public disturbance. It names noise made by devices capable of producing sound by striking or cutting objects, such as hammers, saws, or other equipment with internal combustion engines. Those sounds are exempt in two circumstances: during the hours of 7:00 a.m. through 8:00 p.m., or in commercial areas not within 300 feet of any residential areas. The 300-foot commercial exemption appears in the public disturbance ordinance and is not repeated in the land use standard.

Construction noise is also subject to the environmental noise table in the same section. Under VMC 20.935.030(A)(1), the maximum levels drop by 10 dBAs between 10 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. for the receiving property. Where a project is expected to affect adjacent uses, the review process can impose mitigation such as a sound wall or fence, reorientation of buildings, parking and loading areas, or berms and landscaping (VMC 20.935.030(A)(2)).

The stated purpose of Chapter 20.935 is that development have minimal adverse off-site impacts, both during and after construction (VMC 20.935.010), and the Planning Official can require evidence of compliance and impose conditions on new development (VMC 20.935.020(B)).