Quiet hours and Sunday rules in Lausanne and the EPFL area
To verify This page has 2 items that could not be confirmed on an official page. Check them yourself before relying on them:
Swiss communes protect night-time and Sunday quiet through their general police regulations (règlement général de police). This page sums up the public rules in Lausanne and in the communes policed by Police Ouest lausannois, which include Ecublens: night noise, loud work on Sundays and public holidays, and when you may drop glass at a container. Disputes with neighbours or a landlord are a housing matter and are not covered here.
Key facts
- Lausanne night quiet: 22:00 to 6:00 everywhere in the commune (Lausanne general police regulation, art. 30).
- Ouest lausannois night quiet: 22:00 to 7:00 in the member communes (Police Ouest lausannois regulation, art. 29).
- Days of public rest (jours de repos public): Sundays and the usual public holidays. On these days, noisy work indoors and outdoors is not allowed (both regulations).
- Glass in Lausanne: no dropping glass between 22:00 and 6:00, or on Sundays and public holidays (Lausanne waste directives).
1. Night noise
- Lausanne: making noise "without necessity" is forbidden. Everyone must avoid disturbing others from 22:00 to 6:00, near hospitals, clinics, funerals and religious ceremonies at any time, and on days of public rest (art. 30).
- Ouest lausannois: the same rules apply from 22:00 to 7:00 (art. 29). After 22:00, music and sound devices at home are allowed only with windows closed and if neighbours cannot hear them.
- Public services, continuous-operation businesses, urgent safety work and farm work are exempt (Ouest lausannois art. 31).
- Bars, events and terraces follow their own permits, not these general rules.
2. Sundays and public holidays
- Which days: in Lausanne, Sundays, 1 January, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Ascension, Whit Monday, 1 August, the Monday after the Federal Fast (lundi du Jeûne fédéral) and Christmas (art. 6). The Ouest lausannois list adds 2 January (art. 7). Dates for this year are in Public holidays in Vaud.
- No noisy work indoors or outdoors on these days (Lausanne art. 30; Ouest lausannois art. 29).
- Lawnmowers, chainsaws, circular saws and similar (Ouest lausannois art. 33): not allowed 12:00 to 13:00, or from 20:00 to 7:00, and not from Saturday 18:00 to Monday 7:00.
- Outside the permitted hours and days, noisy work needs authorisation (Lausanne: the Direction; Ouest lausannois: the intercommunal police).
- Shops on Sundays: the rules on opening hours, and which shops may open, are on Public holidays in Vaud.
3. Glass recycling hours
- Lausanne: "il est interdit de déposer du verre entre 22 heures et 6 heures, ainsi que les dimanches et les jours fériés" (Lausanne waste directives).
- Ecublens, Renens, Chavannes-près-Renens, St-Sulpice: To verify on each commune's waste directive or container sign. Collection days and déchèteries are on Waste and recycling and Waste near EPFL.
4. Which rules apply where you live
| Area | Regulation | Night quiet |
|---|---|---|
| Lausanne | Règlement général de police de la Commune de Lausanne | 22:00 to 6:00 |
| Ecublens and other Police Ouest lausannois communes | Règlement de police de l'Association de communes "Sécurité dans l'Ouest lausannois" (9 May 2011) | 22:00 to 7:00 |
- Ecublens' own police regulation marks its noise articles as replaced by the Ouest lausannois regulation of 9 May 2011 (Ecublens).
- The Ouest lausannois regulation applies in all eight member communes: Bussigny, Chavannes-près-Renens, Crissier, Ecublens, Prilly, Renens, Saint-Sulpice and Villars-Sainte-Croix (Police Ouest lausannois; regulation, approved 9 May 2011).
- A commune can add stricter local rules for certain zones or hours (Ouest lausannois art. 32).
5. Fines
- Breaking a commune police regulation can lead to a fine. How fines and payment work is on Fines and tickets in Vaud. To verify: amounts for noise offences; none are listed in the regulations above.