Circular 02/2020/TT-BXD amending 4 Circulars to construction cost management

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing a number of articles of 4 Circulars concerning management of construction investment costs^[1]

Pursuant to the June 18, 2014 Construction Law;

Pursuant to the June 17, 2020 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Construction Law;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 81/2017/ND-CP of July 17, 2017, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Construction;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 68/2019/ND-CP of August 14, 2019, on management of construction investment costs;

In furtherance of the Government’s Resolution No. 84/NQ-CP of May 29, 2020, on tasks and solutions for further removing difficulties for production and business activities, promoting disbursement of public investment funds and ensuring social order and safety in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic;

In furtherance of the Government’s Resolution No. 108/NQ-CP of July 17, 2020, on a number of tasks and solutions for removing difficulties and obstacles in the implementation of Decree No. 68/2019/ND-CP on management of construction investment costs;

At the proposal of the Director of the Construction Economics Department;

The Minister of Construction promulgates the Circular amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Minister of Construction’s Circular No. 09/2019/TT-BXD of December 26, 2019, guiding the determination and management of construction investment costs, Circular No. 10/2019/TT-BXD of December 26, 2019, promulgating construction norms, Circular No. 11/2019/TT-BXD of December 26, 2019, guiding the determination of construction machinery and equipment shift rates, and Circular No. 15/2019/TT-BXD of December 26, 2019, guiding the determination of unit prices of construction labor.

Article 1.To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Minister of Construction’s Circular No. 09/2019/TT-BXD of December 26, 2019, guiding the determination and management of construction investment costs

1. To add the following paragraph before the phrase “- Other costs (if any)” at Point d, Clause 1, Article 3:

“Based on specific conditions of each construction project, work or bidding package, other costs may also include one or more of the following costs: cost of transportation of special-type construction machinery and equipment to and from the construction site; cost of assurance of traffic safety for construction activities; cost of restoration of technical infrastructure facilities affected by construction activities; cost of material warehousing; cost of building of houses to cover machinery, machinery foundations, electricity, compressed air and water supply systems at the construction site, and installation and dismantlement of machinery (such as cement concrete-mixing station, asphalt concrete-mixing station, tracked cranes, tower cranes, and other similar construction machinery and equipment).”.

2. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 6 as follows:

“2. The competence to appraise total construction investment must comply with Clause 3, Article 6 of Decree No. 68/2019/ND-CP. For projects which only require techno-economic reports, the competence to appraise their total construction investment must comply with Clause 13, Article 1 and Point a, Clause 2, Article 3 of the Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Construction Law.”.

3. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 7 as follows:

“2. The adjustment of the approved total construction investment must comply with Article 7 of Decree No. 68/2019/ND-CP. The adjusted total construction investment includes the approved total construction investment and adjusted value (increase or decrease).”.

4. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 12 as follows:

“2. The competence to appraise and approve construction cost estimates must comply with Clauses 3 and 4, Article 10 of Decree No. 68/2019/ND-CP. A number of contents are specified as follows:

a/ Cost estimates for turnkey bidding packages and mixed bidding packages (EPC, EC, EP or PC bidding packages) shall be appraised and approved by investment deciders before selecting contractors.

b/ When necessary, the investment decider may authorize the project owner to appraise and approve construction survey cost estimates together with survey tasks.

c/ Cost estimates for preparation for formulation of technical designs and construction drawing designs which are determined in percentage (%) or by estimation method and included in the appraised and approved total construction investment are not required to be appraised and approved again.”.

5. To amend and supplement Clause 1, Article 14 as follows:

“1. Price of a construction bidding package means all costs necessary for implementation of such bidding package. Cost items of the price of a construction bidding package must comply with Clause 2, Article 10 of this Circular.”.

6. To amend and supplement Article 15 as follows:

“Article 15. Use of contingency amounts

The use of contingency amounts must comply with Clause 4, Article 7, Clause 4, Article 11, and Clause 4, Article 12, of Decree No. 68/2019/ND-CP. In the course of performance of a construction contract, the project owner shall decide on the use of contingency amounts which must not exceed the contingency amounts approved by the investment decider when determining and updating the price of the bidding package.”.

7.To annul:

a/ The phrase “(in case it is required to hire experts”) at Point d, Clause 1, Article 3.

b/ The paragraph “Based on specific conditions of each construction project, work or bidding package, indirect costs may also include cost of transportation of special-type construction machinery and equipment to and from the construction site; cost of assurance of traffic safety for construction activities (if any); cost of restoration of technical infrastructure facilities affected by construction activities (if any); cost of material warehousing (if any); cost of building of houses to cover machinery, machinery foundations, electricity, compressed air and water supply systems at the construction site, and installation and dismantlement of machinery (such as cement concrete-mixing station, asphalt concrete-mixing station, tracked cranes, tower cranes, and other similar construction machinery and equipment)” at Point b, Clause 2, Article 8.

c/ Clauses 3, 4 and 6, Article 14.

d/ Clause 3, Article 17.

8.To amend and supplement a number of contents of Appendices 2, 3 and 9 to Circular No. 09/2019/TT-BXD which are provided in Appendix I to this Circular.

Article 2.To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Minister of Construction’s Circular No. 10/2019/TT-BXD of December 26, 2019, promulgating construction norms

To amend and supplement a number of construction norms promulgated together with Circular No. 10/2019/TT-BXD which are provided in Appendix II to this Circular.

Article 3.To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Minister of Construction’s Circular No. 11/2019/TT-BXD of December 26, 2019, guiding the determination of construction machinery and equipment shift rates

1. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 4 as follow:

“2. Machine shift rates exclude the costs of building houses to cover machinery, machinery foundations, electricity, water and compressed air supply systems and other on-site construction jobs serving the installation and trial operation of a number of machines such as cement concrete-mixing station, asphalt concrete-mixing station, tracked cranes, and other similar equipment. These costs shall be separately estimated based on construction methods and included in other costs of construction cost estimates.”.

2.To amend and supplement a number of contents of Appendices 1 and 2 to Circular No. 11/2019/TT-BXD which are provided in Appendix III to this Circular.

Article 4.To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Minister of Construction’s Circular No. 15/2019/TT-BXD of December 26, 2019, guiding the determination of unit prices of construction labor

To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 7 as follows:

“2. Provincial-level People’s Committees shall base themselves on the guidance of this Circular to direct provincial-level Departments of Construction to assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related agencies and units in, conducting survey or hiring qualified consultants to survey, collect information and refer to average unit price brackets of construction labor announced by the Ministry of Construction in order to announce, or authorize the announcement of, unit prices of construction labor on a monthly or quarterly basis or upon change in prices of construction labor in the construction market as a basis for estimation and management of construction investment costs in their localities.”.

Article 5.Implementation provisions

1. This Circular takes effect on September 5, 2020.  The Minister of Construction’s Circular No. 01/2017/TT-BXD of February 6, 2017, guiding the determination and management of construction survey costs, ceases to be effective on the date this Circular takes effect.

2. Transitional provisions:

a/ For construction bidding packages for which bidding dossiers and dossiers of requirements have been issued but the bid has not yet been closed before the effective date of this Circular, investment deciders shall consider and decide on the application of this Circular.

b/ For construction bidding packages for which the bid has been closed before the effective date of this Circular, they must comply with the contents of bidding dossiers, dossiers of requirements, bids, and dossiers of proposals.-

For the Minister of Construction
Deputy Minister
NGUYEN VAN SINH

* The appendices to this Circular are not translated.