Circular No. 03/2011/TT-BXD dated April 06, 2011 of the Ministry of Construction guiding the inspection, assessment and certification of full satisfaction of force-bearing safety conditions and certification of quality standard conformity of construction works

THE MINISTRY OF CONSTRUCTION

Circular No. 03/2011/TT-BXD dated April 06, 2011 of the Ministry of Construction guiding the inspection, assessment and certification of full satisfaction of force-bearing safety conditions and certification of quality standard conformity of construction works

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 17/2008/ND-CP of February 4, 2008, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Construction;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 209/2004/ND-CP of December 16, 2004, on quality management of construction works, and Decree No. 49/2008/ND-CP of April 18, 2008, amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 209/2004/ND-CP;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 12/2009/ND-CP of February 12, 2009, on management of investment projects on construction of works,
The Ministry of Construction guides the inspection, assessment and certification of full satisfaction of force-bearing safety conditions and certification of quality standard conformity of construction works as follows:

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation and subjects of application

1. Scope of regulation

This Circular guides the inspection, assessment and certification of full satisfaction of force-bearing safety conditions and certification of quality standard conformity of construction works.

2. Subjects of application

This Circular applies to domestic and foreign organizations and individuals involved in the inspection, assessment and certification of full satisfaction of force-bearing safety conditions and certification of quality standard conformity of construction works in the Vietnamese territory.

Article 2. Interpretation of terms

In this Circular, the terms below are construed as follows:

1. Inspection of quality of construction works (below referred to as inspection for short) means activities of inspecting and determining the quality of construction products, parts of construction works or construction works against quality requirements of their designs, technical regulations and standards through experimentation combined with observational survey and evaluation of their actual state.

2. Assessment of quality of construction works (below referred to as assessment for short) means inspection conducted, solicited or requested by a state management agency or competent agency.

3. Certification of quality standard conformity of construction works (below referred to as quality standard conformity certification) means the appraisal and certification of the conformity of the quality of construction works or work items or parts with the designs of, technical regulations, standards and requirements applicable to these works.

4. Certification of full satisfaction of force- bearing safety conditions (below referred to as force-bearing safety certification) means the certification of quality standard conformity in terms of force-bearing safety.

Article 3. Cases subject to inspection and assessment

1. Cases of inspection include:

a/ Occurrence of an incident in or existence of a quality defect of a construction work;

b/ Arising of a dispute over quality of a construction work;

c/ Regular inspection of a construction work in the course of use;

d/ Renovation, upgrading or extension of the life of a construction work;

e/ Re-inspection of quality of a construction work upon suspicion of quality;

f/ Other cases specified by relevant laws.

2. Cases of assessment:

a/ A procedure-conducting agency or person (construction judicial expert assessment) issues a decision to solicit the assessment;

b/ A state management agency in charge of construction or another state management agency defined by law (collectively referred to as state management agency) requests the assessment.

Article 4. Cases of force-bearing safety certification and quality standard conformity certification

1. Construction works or work items which are likely to cause a catastrophe when having an incident and subject to compulsory force-bearing safety inspection and certification before being put into use include:

a/ Condominiums of grade II or higher; individual houses specified in Clause 2, Article 43 of the Government's Decree No. 71/2010/ ND-CP of June 23, 2010, detailing and guiding the Housing Law.

b/ Public works:

- Crèches, kindergartens and general education schools with 4 stories or more or a total flooring space of 500 m2 or more per work item;

- Health stations, maternity homes, sanatoriums, functional rehabilitation or orthopedic centers, homes for the aged, disease and epidemic prevention and control centers and other medical establishments with 4 stories or more or a total flooring space of 500 m2 or more per work item;

- Universities, colleges, professional secondary schools, vocational schools, technical workers' schools, professional schools and other types of school of grade II or higher;

- General and specialized hospitals from the central to local level, regional general and specialized clinics of grade II or higher;

- Convention centers, theaters, cultural houses, Clubs, cinemas and circuses of grade II or higher;

- Trade centers, department stores, markets, shops and restaurants of grade II or higher;

- Stadiums, competition halls and gymnasia of grade II or higher;

- Offices of grade II or higher of state administrative agencies, non-business units, enterprises, socio-political organizations and other organizations;

- Airports, waterway ports, railway stations and car terminals of grade II or higher;

- Post offices of grade II or higher;

-Multi-function houses, hotels, dormitories, guest houses and inns of grade II or higher;

- Entertainment and recreation centers of grade II or higher;

- Museums, libraries, exhibition centers, showrooms and other works of similar functions of grade I or higher;

- Telecommunications, radio and television towers of grade I or higher located in residential areas.

c/ Petroleum industrial works of grade II or higher:

- Offshore exploration and exploitation drilling platforms;

- Petrochemical refineries;

- Gas processing plants;

- Petrol and oil depots;

- Liquefied gas depots;

- Gas and oil pipelines.

d/ Irrigation and hydropower dams and reservoirs of grade II or higher;

e/ Technical infrastructure works:

- Express railways, sky-train routes;

- Automobile and motorcycle garages of grade II or higher;

Subway works;

- Road and railway bridges of grade I of higher;

- Motorway and railway tunnels and pedestrian underground passages of grade I or higher;

- Cable car systems for passenger transportation.

f/ Other works specified by relevant laws.

2. Quality standard conformity certification:

a/ At the request of the state management agency in charge of construction for public interests;

b/ At the request of investors, owners, managers or users of works or other related organizations or individuals for their interests (interests of individuals that purchase, lease or own or organizations that sell insurance for these works);

c/ Quality standard conformity certification may contain one, some or all requirements on force-bearing, use and operation safety and other requirements on works and work items.

3. Works which have been inspected or tested for takeover by the State Council for Construction Work Check and Takeover are not subject to force-bearing safety certification or quality standard conformity certification, unless it is so requested on a case-by-case basis.

Article 5. Disclosure of information on inspection organizations, force-bearing safety certification or quality standard conformity certification organizations and organizations specialized in construction judicial assessment

1. Inspection organizations which are fully capable under Article 7 and force-bearing safety certification or quality standard conformity certification organizations (below collectively referred to as certification organizations) which are fully capable under Article 10 of this Circular may register themselves for being publicized on the Ministry of Construction's website.

2. Specialized construction judicial assessment organizations defined in the Ministry of Construction's Circular No. 35/2009/TT-BXD of October 5, 2009, guiding construction judicial assessment shall be publicized on the Ministry of Construction's website.

3. Procedures for publicization registration under the regulation on information disclosure promulgated by the Ministry of Construction are posted on this website.

Article 6. Selection of inspection organizations or certification organizations

1. The selection of inspection organizations or certification organizations must comply with the following principles:

a/ Complying with the requirements specified by the bidding law;

b/ Meeting the requirements on capability of inspection organizations specified in Article 7 or of certification organizations specified in Article 10 of this Circular;

c/ Assuring independence and objectiveness:

In order to conduct the assessment, force-bearing safety certification and inspection under Points a, b and e, Clause 1, Article 3, or the quality standard conformity certification under Point a. Clause 2, Article 4 of this Circular, inspection or certification organizations must be those not involved in construction survey and engineering, construction, supply of supplies and equipment installed in, and project management and construction supervision for the works to be inspected or certified.

2. Inspection organizations and certification organizations which are publicized under Article 5 of this Circular will be preferred to others in conducting the assessment or quality standard conformity certification at the request of state management agencies, and the force-bearing safety certification.

Chapter II

INSPECTION AND ASSESSMENT

Article 7. Requirements on capability of inspection organizations

1. For a legal entity: Being an organization lawfully established and having the function of inspection.

2. For a quality management system:

a/ Having focal units to monitor and examine inspection activities under contracts;

b/ Having a plan on and measures of controlling inspection quality, covering:

- Process of inspection for each subject;

- Measures of controlling collected figures to serve inspection work;

- Plan on organization of quality experimentation and inspection;

- Process of internal control in every step of inspection and takeover check of final inspection results before disclosure.

c/ Having processes of compiling and managing related dossiers and documents in the course of inspection and issuing documents in the course of inspection, written notices of inspection results and written replies to involved parties' Complaints about inspection results.

3/ Capability conditions:

a/ Capability: Having sufficient personnel, physical foundations and equipment for conducting activities involved in inspection services, including:

- At least 3 employees possessing a university or higher degree in a major relevant to inspection work, who have inspection expertise and labor contracts of an indefinite term. Persons in charge of inspection work must have at least 10 years' experience of working in the construction sector and be capable of taking charge of designing works or supervising construction suitable to types and grades of to-be-inspected works and contents;

- A specialized construction laboratory which is duly accredited and capable of performing tests for inspection.

b/ Experience:

- For inspection of works or work items: Having conducted inspection of at least 1 work among other works of the same type and the same or higher grade or 2 works among other Works of the same type and the same or immediately lower grade;

- For inspection for identifying mechanical, physical and chemical specifications of work parts, construction products or materials (inspection of concrete intensity of the structure; tightness and waterproofing of materials; inspection to identify the content of cement additives): Having performed similar inspection jobs.

Article 8. Process of inspection and assessment and contents of draft plans on inspection

1. Assessment requested by procedure-conducting agencies or persons shall be conducted under regulations on construction judicial assessment.

2. For other cases of inspection and assessment, the inspection and assessment process includes the following main steps:

a/ The inspection organization shall prepare a draft plan on inspection and submit it to the inspection requester for consideration and approval;

b/ The inspection organization shall conduct the inspection according to the approval plan;

c/ The inspection organization shall make an appraisal and conclusion report according to the inspection contract, then send it to the inspection requester.

In case assessment is conducted at the request of a state management agency, the inspection requester shall forward the appraisal and conclusion report to such agency, which shall receive the report and send a report receipt, made according to a form provided in Appendix 1 to this Circular (not printed herein), to the inspection requester within 1 day after receiving the report (the time of report receipt is the time determined according to the postmark affixed by the sending post office).

3. A draft plan on inspection contains the following principal details:

a/ Inspection purposes and requirements, contents to be inspected, inspection process and method;

b/ Technical regulations and standards applicable to the inspection;

c/ List of inspectors and the person in charge of the inspection; information on inspectors' capability;

d/ Main equipment and laboratories used for inspection;

e/ Expenses for and planned duration of inspection;

f/ Other conditions for inspection.

Article 9. Inspection expenses

1. Inspection expenses shall be determined in cost estimates under regulations on management of construction investment expenses and based on the work volume of the approved plan.

2. Inspection expenses include some or all the following expenses:

a/ Expenses for drafting a plan on inspection;

b/ Expenses for surveying the actual state of construction works, work items or parts;

c/ Expenses for taking experimental samples and experimentation expense;

d/ Expenses for examining dossiers and documents;

e/ Expenses for calculation, verification, appraisal, making of reports and conclusions;

f/ Costs of transportation;

g/ Other necessary expenses and costs as stipulated.

Chapter III

FORCE-BEARING SAFETY CERTIFICATION AND QUALITY STANDARD CONFORMITY CERTIFICATION

Article 10. Requirements on capability of certification organizations

1. For a legal entity: Being an organization lawfully established and having the function of certification.

2. For a quality management system:

a/ Having focal units to monitor and examine of certification activities under contracts;

b/ Having a plan on and measures of controlling quality and assuring certified quality, covering:

- Process of certification for each subject;

- Measures of controlling collected figures to service certification;

- Plan on organization of quality experimentation and work certification;

- Process of internal control in every step throughout the course of certification and takeover check of final certification results before disclosure.

c/ Having processes of compiling and managing related dossiers and documents in the course of certification and issuing documents in the course of certification, written notices of certification results and written replies to involved parties' complaints about certification results.

3. Capability conditions:

a/ Capability: Having sufficient personnel, physical foundations and equipment for conducting activities involved in certification services, including at least 3 employees possessing a university or higher degree in a major relevant to certification work, who have certification expertise and labor contracts of an indefinite term. Persons in charge of certification must have at least 10 years' experience of working in the construction sector and be capable of taking charge of designing works, supervising construction or inspecting quality of construction works suitable to types and grades of to-be-certified works;

b/ Experience:

- For works of grade I or special grade: Having conducted certification of at least 1 work among other works of the same type and the same or higher grade or 2 works among other works of the same type and the same or immediately lower grade;

- For works of grade II or lower grade: Having conducted certification of at least 1 work among other works of the same type and the same or higher grade or having designed works or supervised construction or inspected the quality of at least 3 works of an equivalent grade or higher grade, for persons in charge of certification.

Article 11. Process and contents of examination and certification

1. The process of examination and certification involves the following main steps:

a/ The certification organization shall prepare a draft plan on certification according to the contents of examination and certification specified in Clause 2 of this Article, then submit it to the work investor and owner for consideration and approval. Depending on the type and size of works, upon preparing a draft plan, the certification organization shall estimate an appropriate number of examinations to be conducted throughout the course of construction to assure the control and appraisal of quality of Works and work items;

b/ The certification organization shall conduct the examination and certification according lo the approved plan. The certification must be conducted right from the time of work construction commencement.

After each examination, the certification organization shall make and send a report on evaluation of the quality of examined jobs and quality control activities to the investor and related parties. In the course of examination, if there is a doubt about any certification contents, the certification organization shall request related parties to clarify them and, in case of necessity, request the investor to organize reexamination or re-inspection.

c/ The certification organization shall grant a certificate under Article 12 of this Article before the work investor or owner puts the work into operation or use. For a work subject to force-bearing safety certification or quality standard conformity certification as requested by the local state management agency in charge of construction, its investor or owner shall send 1 copy of such certificate, enclosed with a report on examination results and a written record of takeover check of completion of the work or work item to be certified, to that agency for checking and management. Such certificate serves as a ground for the investor or owner to put the work into use.

The local state management agency in charge of construction shall receive the certificate and send a certificate receipt, made according to a form provided in Appendix 1 to this Circular (not printed herein), to the investor or owner of the work within 1 day after receiving the certificate (the time of certificate receipt is the time determined according to the postmark affixed by the sending post office).

2. Contents of examination and certification:

a/ Examination of quality control work:

- Observance of legal provisions on capability conditions by entities involved in the construction of the relevant work;

- Process and procedures for formulating and approving the investment project, and the implementation of the investment project;

- Process and procedures for evaluating, approving and checking upon takeover survey and designing dossiers.

- Certificates of quality of materials, supplies and equipment; results of material tests, inspection experiments and re-examination (if any); written records of takeover check of jobs, work phases and completion;

b/ Examination of technical design dossiers:

- Examination and appraisal of conformity of reports on construction survey results with survey standards and tasks;

- Examination and appraisal of conformity of technical designs (in case of 3-step designing) or construction drawing designs (in case of 2-or 1-step designing) with designing requirements, geological conditions, technical regulations and standards applicable to works.

c/ Examination of construction quality:

- Examination of work construction drawings approved by the investor;

- Direct examination and appraisal of quality of materials, supplies, equipment and prefabricated products to be used for works;

- Examination of construction quality of work parts or items, appraisal of quality conformity with approved designs and applied technical regulations and standards;

- Examination of construction quality of the technical infrastructure system of works, and appraisal of quality conformity with approved designs and applied technical regulations and standards;

- Examination and observation of the test load and operation of certified works and work items;

- Examination of observation figures and results and the appearance of the structure.

For the force-bearing safety certification, subject to examination are only work parts and force-bearing structures which, when sabotaged, are likely to cause catastrophes.

Article 12. Grant of certificates

1. Certification organizations shall grant certificates to investors or owners of works within a time limit stated in contracts. A certificate contains the following details:

a/ Name of the certification organization;

b/ Grounds for certification;

c/ Names of certified works and work items;

d/ Contents of certification;

e/ Conclusions and appraisals;

f/ Signature and seal of the at-law representative of the certification organization.

2. Handling of cases ineligible for certification:

For works or work items ineligible for certification, certification organizations shall notify in writing investors or owners of their decisions, clearly stating reason(s) for refusal to grant certificates. Investors or owners shall report such to local state management agencies in charge of construction for examination and handling.

Article 13. Certification expenses

1. Expenses for force-bearing safety certification and quality standard conformity certification as requested by state management agencies shall be paid by investors as construction investment consultancy expenses to be included in the total work construction investment amount.

These expenses shall be determined in cost estimates under regulations and include some or all of the following expenses:

a/ Expenses for making the draft plan on certification;

b/ Expenses for examining dossiers, process and procedures for work construction and quality control;

c/ Expenses for calculating, examining and appraising the conformity of survey and designing dossiers;

d/ Expenses for examining the conformity of construction quality with quality standards;

e/ Expenses for taking experimental samples and expenses for experimentation and inspection (when necessary);

f/ Expenses for making reports and conclusions;

g/ Travel fares and transportation costs;

h/ Other necessary expenses and costs as stipulated.

2. Expenses for quality standard conformity certification conducted at the request of investors Or owners of works shall be agreed upon between investors or owners and certification organizations. These expenses may be determined in cost estimates under regulations.

Chapter IV

ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

Article 14. Implementation responsibilities

1. The Ministry of Construction shall:

a/ Perform the state management of inspection and certification activities; guide and inspect the implementation of this Circular nationwide;

b/ Stop or request local state management agencies in charge of construction to stop inspection or certification activities upon detecting a violation in these activities. In case of necessity, request local state management agencies in charge of construction to disallow investors or owners to put their works into operation or use or to suspend the operation or use of works upon detecting factors which affect the safety of these works;

c/ Sum up and publicize information on inspection organizations and certification organizations; announce sanctions against and remove violators of this Circular from the list of inspection organizations and certification organizations on its website.

The Department for State Assessment of Quality of Construction Works of the Ministry of Construction shall assist the Ministry of Construction in performing the above tasks.

2. Provincial-level People's Committees shall:

a/ Guide and inspect inspection and certification activities within administrative boundaries under their management;

b/ Stop inspection or certification activities upon detecting a violation in these activities; disallow investors or owners to put their works into operation or use or suspend the operation or use of works upon detecting factors which affect the safety of these works;

c/ Receive and publicize information on inspection organizations and certification organizations operating in their localities; announce sanctions against violators of this Circular on websites of provincial-level Construction Departments and send them to the Ministry of Construction for publicization on its website;

d/ Annually review and report on the implementation of this Circular to the Ministry of Construction.

Provincial-level Construction Departments shall assist provincial-level People's Committees in performing the above tasks.

Article 15. Handling of violations

If violating this Circular, investors and owners of works and inspection organizations and certification organizations shall, apart from being administratively sanctioned under law, be handled as follows:

1. For investors and owners: To be suspended from operating or using their works or disallowed to put their works into operation or use.

2. For inspection organizations and certification organizations: To be removed from the list of inspection organizations and certification organizations on the Ministry of Construction's website.

Article 16. Implementation provisions

1. This Circular takes effect on June 1, 2011, and replaces the Ministry of Construction's Circular No. 16/2008/TT-BXD of September 11, 2008, guiding the inspection and certification of full satisfaction of force-bearing safety conditions and the certification of quality standard conformity of construction works; Articles 5 and 6 of the Ministry of Construction's Circular No. 22/2009/TT-BXD of July 6, 2009, detailing the capability conditions in construction activities; and Point b, Clause 2, Article 4 and Article 8 of Circular No. 35/2009/TT-BXD.

2. Construction works for which certification has been or is being made under Circular No. 16/2008/TT-BXD must still comply with Circular No. 16/2008/TT-BXD.

Any difficulties or problems arising in the course of implementation should be reported to the Ministry of Construction for study and settlement. -

MINISTER OF CONSTRUCTION
Nguyen Hong Quan