Circular No. 05/2015/TT-BXD dated October 30, 2015 of the Ministry of Construction providing for the management of construction quality and maintenance of detached houses

THE MINISTRY OF CONSTRUCTION

Circular No.05/2015/TT-BXD dated October 30, 2015 of the Ministry of Construction providing for the management of construction quality and maintenance of detached houses

Pursuant to the Law on Construction No.50/2014/QH13;

Pursuant to the Law on Housing No.65/2014/QH13;

Pursuant to Decree No. 62/2013/ND-CP dated June 25, 2013 by the Government defining the functions, tasks, entitlements and organizational structure of the Ministry of Construction;

Pursuant to Decree No.46/2015/ND-CPdated May 12, 2015 by the Government on the management of quality and maintenance of construction works;

Pursuant to Decree No.59/2015/ND-CPdated June 18, 2015 by the Government on the management of construction project;

At the request of Director of Construction Quality Inspectorate,

The Minister of Constructionhereby promulgates Circular providing for the management of construction quality and maintenance of detached houses.

Article 1. Scope of adjustment and subject of application

1.Scope of adjustment

This Circularprovidesfor the management of construction quality and maintenance of detachedhouses.

2.Subject of application

This Circular applies to organizations, households and individuals related to the construction and maintenance of detached houses within Vietnam’s territory.

Article 2. Interpretation of terms

In this Circular, these terms can be construed as follows:

1.Detached house(hereinafterreferred to as house) means a work built withinapremise of residential land owned by a household or individualaccording to law provisions.

2.Adjacent workmeans a work next to a house to be built, which shares or does not share a structural unit (foundation, pillar, wall, floor or roof) with the house.

3.Neighboring workmeans a work located near the construction site of a house, which may subside, change its shape, or suffer other damage as a result of construction of the house.

4.House ownermeans an organization/individual that owns capital invested in the construction of housing.

Article 3. Basic principles for house quality management and maintenance

1. The inspection, design and construction of housing shall be in accordance with the approved construction master plan, the construction license (if any) and other relevant requirements specified in Clause 3 Article 79 of the Law on Construction No.50/2014/QH13.

2. The house owner and organizations and individuals relevant to the quality management and maintenance of housing are responsible for their tasks according to law provisions and according to the signed contracts (if any).

Article 4. Construction survey for housing

Depending on the scale of the house, the construction survey shall be carried out as follows:

1. Regarding housing with less than 7 floors, the house owner may conduct the construction survey himself/herself or hire an eligible individual/organization to do it. If the house owner decides not to hire an individual/organization to conduct the construction survey, he/she may apply any of the following methods: direct inspecting via a manual dug hole to determine the thick and quality of ground layers and to determine the expected ground layer for laying the foundation; referring to the geological survey figures of the work, methods for treating the foundation of adjacent works and neighboring works; referring to the geological survey figures of the work provided by competent agencies/organizations.

2.Regarding housing with 7 floorsor more, the construction surveyshall be conducted by an eligible surveying organization.

Article 5. Housing construction design

1. Regarding housing with total construction floor area smaller than 250 m²or having less than 3 floors or having height of under 12 m, the owner may create the design himself/herself.

2. Regarding housing having less than 7 floors, except for cases specified in clause 1 of this Article, the design must be created by an eligible organization/individual.

3.Regarding housing having 7 floorsor more,the design must be created an eligible organization/individual and must be appraised according to regulations in Point b clause 1 Article 26 of Decree No.59/2015/ND-CPdated June 18, 2015 by the Government on construction project management.

Article 6. Housing construction

1. Construction management

a) Regarding houses with total construction floor area smaller than 250 m²or having less than 3 floors or having height of under 12 m, the owner may organize the construction himself/herself and shall take responsibilities for construction safety and the impacts of such construction on adjacent and neighboring works;

b) Regarding houses with less than 7 floors, except for cases specified in Point a of this Clause, the construction shall be carried out by an organization/individual having experience in construction of similar works. During the construction, any irregular signs must be discussed with the individual/organization in charge of making the construction design for prompt solution;

c) Regarding houses with 7 floors or more, the construction must be carried out by an eligible organization according to regulations. The owner shall prepare document on completion of construction according to regulations in the Appendix enclosed with this Circular and shall notify competent State management agencies for inspection before using the work.

2.  Housing construction control should include the following contents:

a) Inspection of construction methods, safety measures for adjacent and neighboring works;

b) Inspection of quality of construction materials/components and equipment before the construction;

c) Inspection of construction formwork and scaffold system;

d) Inspection of labor safety and environment safety measures during the construction process.

Article 7. House maintenance

1. The owner or people who manage or use houses must have their houses maintained according to regulations; periodically conduct inspection of main bearing components (roof, column, girder, floor, bearing wall), electromechanical system, water supply and drainage system and elevator safety (if any); measures must be taken to solve and eliminate problems that may affect housing safety.

2. When a house denotes being dangerous or unsafe, its owner or manager/user should immediately report to local government for quality assessment (if necessary); and take urgent measures like limit or stop using the house or evacuate people and properties in case the house is likely to collapse.

Article 8. Solution of dispute and actions against violations

1. Before the construction, the owner shall initiatively greet the owners or the managers/users of adjacent and neighboring works for checking the current conditions and take note the defects (if any) of the adjacent/neighboring works. The ownersor the managers/usersof adjacent and neighboring worksshall cooperate with such owner in checking and recording current conditions of their houses as the basis for solution of any disputes arising.

2. During the construction process, if an adjacent/neighboring work denotes subsidence, crack, absorption, leakage or is likely to collapse due to such construction, the owner of the house shall contact the owner/manager/user of such adjacent/neighboring work for inspecting to determine the causes and to negotiate remedial measures. If the parties cannot negotiate an agreement, the arising dispute shall be solved according to law provisions.

3. Administrative violationsin housing construction shall me handled according to law provisions on construction and other relevant law provisions.

Article 9. Responsibilities of provincial People’s Committees in housing quality management and maintenance

Provincial People’s Committees are responsible for:

1.Assigning tasks and responsibilitiesin housing quality management and maintenance of Services of Construction and district-level People’s Committees.

2. Providing guidelines and conducting inspection of the implementation of legislative documents on housing construction and maintenance in administrative divisions; imposing penalties for violations discovered during the inspection according to regulations.

Article 10. Transitional provisions

1. With respect to houses whose construction has been licensed or has started before the effective date of this Circular, the management of construction quality and maintenance shall comply with regulations in Circular No.10/2014/TT-BXDdated July 11, 2014 by the Ministry of Construction.

2. Otherwise, the management of construction quality and maintenance shall comply with regulations in this Circular.

Article 11. Implementation effect

1. This Circular takes effect January 01, 2016 and replaces the Circular No.10/2014/TT-BXDdated July 11, 2014 by the Ministry of Construction.

2. Any difficulties arising in the course ofthe implementation of this Circular should be reported to the Ministryof constructionfor considerationand guidance./.

For the Minister

The Deputy  Minister

Le Quang Hung

* The Appendices are not translated.