Short answer. Article 694 defines a nuisance as any act, omission, establishment, business, condition of property, or anything else that injures or endangers health or safety, annoys or offends the senses, shocks or disregards decency or morality, obstructs a public highway or waterway, or hinders the use of property. Any one of these is enough to qualify.
What the law says
A nuisance is any act, omission, establishment, business, condition of property, or anything else which: (1) Injures or endangers the health or safety of others; or (2) Annoys or offends the senses; or (3) Shocks, defies or disregards decency or morality; or (4) Obstructs or interferes with the free passage of any public highway or street, or any body of water; or (5) Hinders or impairs the use of property.
Civil Code, Article 694 — Nuisance Defined. Read the full provision →
A wide starting definition
Article 694 defines nuisance broadly at the outset: it can be any act, omission, establishment, business, condition of property, or anything else. That opening phrase means a nuisance is not limited to a physical object or structure — a business operation, something a person fails to do, or a general condition of a property can all qualify, provided one of the five effects listed afterward is present.
Any ONE of the five effects is enough
The article lists five effects, joined by or rather than and: injuring or endangering health or safety; annoying or offending the senses; shocking, defying, or disregarding decency or morality; obstructing a public highway, street, or body of water; and hindering or impairing the use of property. A thing does not need to produce all five to be a nuisance under this article — meeting just one of them is enough to bring it within the definition.
The effects cover very different kinds of harm
The five grounds are not variations on a single theme. Some are about physical danger — injuring or endangering health or safety. Others are about the senses or public decency — annoying the senses, or shocking and disregarding decency or morality. Still others are about interference with movement or use — obstructing a highway or waterway, or hindering the use of property. Something can qualify as a nuisance through any of these very different routes.
Why the specific ground matters
Because Article 694 defines nuisance through five distinct effects rather than one general standard, identifying which of the five actually applies to a given situation is the practical starting point. A condition that is merely unpleasant to look at is a different case, under this article, from one that endangers health or safety, or one that physically blocks a public road. Being able to point to the specific effect from the list is what ties a complaint back to the statutory definition.
Cases citing this provision
These Supreme Court decisions cite the provision above. We list them so you can read them yourself; the summaries of what each decided are not ours to give.
- Ang Ladlad LGBT Party vs. Commission on Elections, G.R. No. 190582, April 8, 2010 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Spouses Pablo Calimlim and Patnubay Isla Calimlim vs. Efren G. Goño and Rafaelita R. Goño, G.R. No. 272053, January 14, 2025 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- The City Government of Caloocan vs. Carmel Development Inc, G.R. No. 240255, January 25, 2023 — read the decision on LawPhil →
- Armed Forces of the Philippines vs. Enelinda Amogod, et al, G.R. No. 213753, November 10, 2020 — read the decision on LawPhil →