Filing a Notification of Noise

The objective of combating noise is to provide a healthy and enjoyable environment in which noise provides as little inconvenience as possible. According to article 118 of the Environmental Protection Act of 2014, a local environmental protection official must be notified if an event causes noise that, although temporarily, impacts living and working in surrounding areas negatively. A notification must also be filed in cases where sound amplifiers are used outside during nighttime (between 10PM to 7AM).

No notification is needed for playing acoustic music in the streets.

For more information on the requirements for filing a noise notification, please visit:  

All necessary attachments such as a map or blueprints of the venue, work schedule, or, in the case of outdoor events, a program must be added to the noise notification form.

The making and the content of a noise notification

The person organizing the event or the one responsible for the activity causing the noise should be the one filing the notification. Noise notifications considering construction sites should be filed by the contractor.  Should they fail to file the notification in time, the responsibility falls upon the developer.

The notification should be filed at least 30 days before the start of the noise. Failing to do so will result in sanctions defined in article 225 of the environment protection law. The notification should be sent to the city of Turku environmental protection agency 

  • By e-mail at ymparistonsuojelu@turku.fi
  • By mail at Ympäristönsuojelu, P.O. Box 355, 20101 Turku
  • To the City of Turku urban environment agency’s customer service at Puolalankatu 5, 1. floor.

For additional information on the handling of a noise notification, consult with Helena Pakkala or ymparistonsuojelu@turku.fi

The obligation to notify   

According to City of Turku environmental protection regulations, noise notifications must be made at least about the following activity: 

  1. A temporary crushing plant (active less than 50 days)
  2. Dynamiting, pile driving or any other particularly loud and inconvenient work if it is done in other times besides from Monday to Friday between 7 am to 6 pm or if it lasts longer than 4 weeks.
  3. Even if there is no obligation to file an official notification, the one responsible for the noise should notify nearby properties of the nature and duration of the work causing the noise as well as provide them with necessary contact information about it.
  4. Construction or demolition on other than private property if particularly noisy and therefore inconvient work is done: on two or more weekends between 6 pm on Friday and 7 am on Monday or on more than 5 days between 6 and 10 pm on two or more nights between 10 pm and 7 am
  5. Residential areas near the construction sites should always be notified about night-time construction work​​​​
  6. A large outdoor event that can be expected to cause noise heard over a large areathe particularly inconvenient and noisy use of amplifiers and other PA equipment outdoors between 10 pm and 7 am
  7. ​​​​​​​​​​​​​A motor sports event, the noise of which can be expected to be heard over a residential area
  8. A flight show or a temporary sight-seeing flight that is seen as potential noise nuisance for a residential area​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
  9. The organizer or contractor may be obligated to file for a noise notification also in other cases, if the nearest residential area is particularly close to the site or venue

The notification must be filed at least 30 days before the event or construction in question. Failing to do so will result in sanctions according to article 225 of the environmental protection law and chapter 48 of the criminal law.

A noise notification is not necessary if

  • The activity is taking place in a private residence
  • The usage of PA equipment ends before midnight in a one-time, one-day event in a venue  designed for this purpose
  • Activity that requires an environmental permit
  • Activity organized by the armed forces

The notification must include

  1. Contact information (name and address of the party responsible for the event or construction as well as the name and phone number of their contact person)
  2. Location of the activities (address and map guiding to the source of the noise)
  3. A description of the nature of the event or work
  4. Duration of the activities (start and finishing dates of the noise and the daily duration of the noise)
  5. Information on specific source of the noise (the nature and amount of the machines and activities making the noise and the level of noise which each of them makes)
  6. Information on how the noise will spread to the environment (the sites potentially disturbed, their distance from the source of the noise, and the effect the activities will have on their levels of noise)
  7. A description of the precautions taken to lessen and monitor the noise as well as the ways in which the activities have been informed about.
  8. The data and the methods of study the above-mentioned information is based on
  9. The city of Turku environmental protection agency will check if the information given is sufficient and they will ask for more information if needed. If necessary, they will also visit the sight.

The information and the actions taken to lessen the noise will be verified in the decision based on the noise notification and considered as binding. If the actions taken to lessen the noise are regarded as insufficient, the decision will include orders for additional actions for the lessening and monitoring of noise. The decision can also include orders dealing with, for instance, waste management.

One can complain about the decision to the Vaasa administrative court within 30 days  of the notification.