Decree No. 46/2015/ND-CP dated May 12, 2015 of the Government on quality management and maintenance of construction works

DECREE

On quality management and maintenance of construction works[1]

Pursuant to the December 25, 2001 Law on Organization of the Government;

Pursuant to the June 18, 2014 Construction Law;

Pursuant to the November 26, 2013 Bidding Law;

Pursuant to the November 21, 2007 Law on Product and Goods Quality;

At the proposal of the Minister of Construction,

The Government promulgates the Decree on quality management and maintenance of construction works.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1.Scope of regulation

This Decree guides the Construction Law regarding quality management of construction works in survey, designing and construction; maintenance of construction works; and handling of construction work incidents.

Article 2.Subjects of application

This Decree applies to investment deciders, project owners, owners and use managers of works, domestic and foreign contractors, state management agencies in charge of construction, and other organizations and individuals involved in quality management and maintenance of construction works.

Article 3.Interpretation of terms

1. Quality management of a construction work means the management by subjects of construction activities under this Decree and other relevant laws during the preparation, construction, operation and use of a construction work with a view to meeting the work’s quality and safety requirements.

2.Technical instructions means a set of technical requirements based on technical regulations and standards applied to construction works and designs to provide guidance and regulations on materials, products and equipment used for construction works, and the construction, supervision and acceptance test of construction works.

3. As-built drawings means drawings of a completed construction work, showing its location and dimensions and actually used materials and equipment.

4. As-built documents means a combination of documents related to the process of investment and construction of a work which are required to be archived after the work is put to use.

5. Specialized construction testing means measurements to determine the characteristics of construction land, building materials, construction environment, construction products, parts of construction works or construction works according to certain procedures.

6. Observation of a work means the monitoring, survey and recording of geometric changes, deformities, movement and other technical specifications of a work and the surrounding environment over time.

7. Survey of a work means measurements to determine the location, shape and dimensions of terrain or a construction work serving construction, quality management and maintenance of the work and handling of its incidents.

8.Construction inspection means activities to check and assess the quality or causes of faults, value, lifetime and other technicalspecificationsof construction products, parts of a construction work, or a construction work through observation and testing combined with calculation and analysis.

9. Construction assessment means construction inspection and assessment of compliance with the law on construction investment which are conducted by a competent state management agency or at its request.

10. Construction judicial assessment means construction-specialized activities conducted at the request of a procedure-conducting agency or person or of an assessment requester in accordance with the law on judicial assessment.

11. Regulation conformity assessment in construction activities means the assessment of the conformity of building materials and products with the requirements of a relevant applied technical regulation.

12. Standard conformity assessment in construction activities means the assessment of the conformity of products, goods, services, processes and environment with a relevant standard.

13. Maintenance of a construction work means a combination of jobs to ensure and maintain normal and safe operation of a construction work according to design during operation or use. Maintenance of a construction work may cover one, several or all of the following jobs: examination, observation, quality inspection, service and repair of the work, but does not include activities that change its use or size.

14. Maintenance process of a construction work means a document establishing the sequence, contents and instructions for carrying out the maintenance of such work.

15. Design lifetime (design life) of a work means the duration in which the work is expected to be used while meeting safety and use requirements. The design life of a work shall be specified in a relevant applied technical regulation or standard and construction design task of such work.

16. Actual lifetime (actual life) of a work means the duration in which a work is actually used while meeting safety and use requirements.

17. Warranty of a construction work means the contractor’s commitment on his/her/its responsibility to remedy and repair in a certain period faults and defects that might occur during the operation and use of a construction work.

18. Owner of a work means an individual or organization that has the right to own a work in accordance with law.

19. Use manager of a work means the owner of a work in case this owner personally manages and uses the work, or a person authorized by this owner to manage and use the work in case this owner does not personally manage and use of the work.

Article 4.General principles in quality management of construction works

1. A construction work must have its quality controlled in accordance with this Decree and relevant laws from construction preparation and investment to management and use in order to ensure safety for humans, property, equipment, the work itself and adjacent works.

2. A completed construction work item or work may be put to operation and use only after it is tested as having met the requirements of the construction design, applied standard and technical regulation, and requirements of the construction contract, and complying with relevant laws.

3. To participate in construction activities, a contractor must fully meet the prescribed capacity conditions and take measures to self-manage the quality of construction jobs he/she/it has performed. The principal contractor or general contractor shall manage the quality of work performed by subcontractors.

4. Project owners shall manage the quality of works in a manner suitable to forms of investment, project management and contracting as well as amounts and sources of investment capital during construction of works in accordance with this Decree. Project owners may themselves carry out construction activities if fully meeting the law-prescribed capacity conditions.

5. Specialized construction agencies shall guide and examine the quality management by organizations and individuals engaged in the construction of works; appraise designs and examine acceptance tests of construction works, and assess the quality of construction works; propose the handling of, or handle by themselves, violations of regulations on quality of construction works in accordance with law.

6. Construction investment subjects defined in Clauses 3, 4 and 5 of this Article shall take responsibility for the quality of work they have performed.

Article 5.Division of responsibilities for quality management of construction works between project owners and construction investment subjects

1. In case the project owner establishes a construction investment project management unit:

a/ The project owner may authorize the project management unit to perform several or all of its responsibilities for quality management of the work in accordance with this Decree. The project owner shall direct, examine, and take responsibility for, the tasks authorized to the project management unit;

b/ The project management unit shall take responsibility before the project owner and law for the tasks and powers authorized by the project owner.

2. In case the project owner hires a project management consultancy contractor or construction supervision contractor:

a/ The project owner may assign such contractor to perform one or several of its responsibilities for the quality management of the construction work through a construction contract. The project owner shall supervise the performance of the construction contract and handle relevant matters arising between the project management consultancy contractor, construction supervision contractor and other contractors and local administrations during the project implementation;

b/ The project management consultancy contractor and construction supervision contractor shall take responsibility before the project owner and law for their assigned responsibilities.

3. The Ministry of Construction shall specify responsibilities of project owners for quality management of construction works; and divide responsibilities among subjects involved in the quality management of construction works in case of application of general contracts and partnership contracts and in case of investment in the form of public-private partnership.

Article 6.Application of technical regulations and standards in construction investment activities

1. The application of technical regulations and standards in construction investment activities must comply with Article 6 of the Construction Law and relevant regulations promulgated by the Ministry of Construction.

2. To be applied, foreign standards shall be accompanied by written explanations about the necessity of application. To-be-applied foreign standards must be fully presented in softcopy or hardcopy and enclosed with their Vietnamese translations or English versions.

3. Major technical solutions, technologies and new materials which are applied for the first time in Vietnam must satisfy the requirements of relevant technical regulations and laws. Contractors that propose the application of new technical solutions, technologies and materials shall provide grounds and documents proving that such solutions, technologies and materials are safe, effective and feasible upon application to competent agency for appraisal during the appraisal of designs of construction works in accordance with the construction law.

Article 7.Quality management of construction of separate houses

1. The quality management of construction of separate houses shall be conducted to ensure safety for humans, property, equipment, the houses themselves, adjacent works and surrounding environment. Subjects of separate-house construction investment are encouraged to apply this Decree to the quality management of the construction of separate houses.

2. The Ministry of Construction shall guide the quality management of separate houses.

Article 8.Classification and grading of construction works

1. Based on their uses, construction works shall be classified into:

a/ Civil works;

b/ Industrial works;

c/ Transport works;

d/ Agricultural and rural development works;

dd/ Technical infrastructure works;

e/ National defense and security works.

A detailed list of works of each type is provided in Appendix No. I to this Decree.

2. The Ministry of Construction shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with ministries managing specialized construction works in, determining types of works not listed in Sections I thru V of Appendix No. I to this Decree.

3. Works and their items shall be graded based on their sizes, structures and importance to serve the following activities of management of construction investment:

a/ Managing the capacity grading of subjects engaged in construction activities and publishing information on the capacity of organizations and individuals engaged in the construction of works;

b/ Determining grades of works for which technical instructions shall be established required and determining the number of designing steps of construction works;

c/ Determining responsibilities of specialized construction agencies to appraise construction designs and examine acceptance tests during, and upon completion of, construction of works;

d/ Managing construction investment costs and construction contracts;

dd/ Decentralizing the competence to grant construction permits;

e/ Determining warranty periods for construction works; managing the maintenance of construction works;

g/ Grading construction work incidents and competence to deal with such incidents;

h/ Other relevant regulations.

4. Works shall be graded for making construction designs and managing other contents prescribed in technical regulations, standards and relevant laws.

5.The Ministry of Construction shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with ministries managing specialized construction works in, guiding the grading of construction works mentioned in Clause 3 of this Article.

Article 9.Construction work quality awards

1. Construction work quality awards include:

a/ National awards on construction work quality as prescribed by the Prime Minister;

b/ Awards for high-quality construction works and other quality awards.

2. Construction work quality awards referred to in Clause 1 of this Article shall be used as a basis for ranking, and assessing the capacity and performance of, organizations and individuals engaged in construction investment, and for considering contractual rewards under Clause 1, Article 146 of the Construction Law.

3. Contractors that win construction work quality awards mentioned in Clause 1 of this Article are entitled to priority when participating in construction bidding in accordance with the bidding law. Awards to be taken into account in the consideration of priorities for contractors are those the contractors have won during the latest 3 years up to the time of registration for participation in bidding. Project owners shall include the above contents in bidding dossiers.

4. The Ministry of Construction shall guide in detail forms, conditions, criteria, order and procedures for registration and conferment of construction work quality awards.

Article 10.Specialized construction testing, observation of construction works, construction inspection and regulation conformity certification

1. Specialized construction testing, observation of construction works, construction inspection and regulation conformity certification are conditional construction consultancy activities. To carry out these activities, organizations shall make registration and obtain accreditation under regulations, while individuals must possess appropriate certificates or practice certificates.

2. The Ministry of Construction shall guide in detail activities prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article.

Chapter II

QUALITY MANAGEMENT OF CONSTRUCTION SURVEY

Article 11.Sequence of quality management of construction survey

1. Elaborating and approving construction survey tasks.

2. Preparing and approving construction survey technical plans.

3. Conducting quality management of construction survey.

4. Conducting acceptance test of and approving construction survey results.

Article 12.Construction survey tasks

1. Construction survey tasks shall be elaborated for surveys serving the formulation of construction investment projects, designs of construction works, designs for repair, renovation, expansion or upgrading of works, or other surveys related to construction activities.

2. Construction survey tasks shall be elaborated by design contractors. If no design contractor is selected yet, investment deciders or project owners may hire fully capable organizations or individuals to elaborate construction survey tasks.

3. The contents of a construction survey task must include:

a/ Purpose of the survey;

b/ Scope of the survey;

c/ Applied survey standards;

d/ Estimated volume of survey jobs and expenses;

dd/ Duration of the survey.

4. A construction survey task shall be modified or added in the following cases:

a/ Abnormal elements are detected during the survey that might directly affect design solutions, or when a change in the design task requires addition of the survey task;

b/ The design contractor detects during the designing process that the survey task or survey report fails to satisfy design requirements;

c/ Abnormal elements against the survey and design documents are detected during construction that can affect the quality of the work or construction method.

5., Tasks and results of surveys carried out at previous designing steps and results of previous relevant surveys (if any) shall be taken into consideration upon elaborating survey tasks.

Article 13.Construction survey technical plans

1. Survey contractors shall prepare construction survey technical plans according to construction survey tasks and applied construction survey standards, and submit them to project owners for approval.

2. A construction survey technical plan must cover:

a/ Grounds for making the plan;

b/ Components and volume of the survey;

c/ Method of and equipment for survey and laboratory to be used;

d/ Applied survey standards;

dd/ Implementation and quality control measures to be taken by the survey contractor;

e/ Implementation schedule;

g/ Measures to ensure safety for humans, equipment, technical infrastructure and other construction works in the surveyed area; measures to protect the environment and landscape in the surveyed area and to restore the ground upon completion of the survey.

3. Project owners shall examine and approve construction survey technical plans. Project owners may hire fully capable consultancy units to verify construction survey technical plans before approval.

Article 14.Quality management of construction survey

1. Survey contractors shall arrange sufficient persons with relevant experience and qualifications to conduct surveys according to construction contracts; assign fully capable persons to act as survey managers; and take quality control measures stated in construction survey technical plans.

2. Depending on the scale and type of survey, project owners shall supervise construction survey as follows:

a/ Examining the actual capacity of the construction survey contractor, covering personnel, equipment for on-site survey and laboratories (if any) used against the approved construction survey plan and terms of the construction contract;

b/ Monitoring and examining the construction survey, covering place, volume and process of survey; preservation of survey data and testing samples; examination of tests in laboratory and on the site; examination of occupational safety and environmental safety during the survey.

3. Project owners may suspend survey jobs when detecting contractors’ failure to comply with approved survey plans or terms of construction contracts.

Article 15.Contents of a construction survey result report

1. Grounds for conducting the survey.

2. Process and method of conducting the survey.

3. Brief information about the location and natural conditions of the surveyed area, characteristics, scale and nature of the construction work.

4. Performed volume of the survey.

5. Survey results and data after testing and analysis.

6. Assessments, notes and proposals (if any).

7. Conclusions and recommendations.

8. Annexes.

Article 16.Acceptance test and approval of construction survey result reports

1. Acceptance test of a construction survey result report:

a/ The project owner shall examine the volume of construction survey work performed, compare the conformity of specifications, quantity and contents stated in the report with those stated in the approved construction survey task and construction survey technical plan and with terms of the construction contract; send a written notice of his/her/its approval of acceptance test of the report to the survey contractor if the report is satisfactory.

If the report is unsatisfactory, the project owner shall send a written notice of his/her/its disapproval of the report to the survey contractor, clearly stating the unsatisfactory contents for the survey contractor to modify them or conduct the survey again;

b/ The project owner may hire a fully capable consultancy unit to examine the construction survey result report as a basis for acceptance decision.

2. The project owner shall directly write its approval in the construction survey result report after notifying his/her/its approval of this report and take responsibility for such approval.

3. Survey contractors shall take responsibility for the quality of construction surveys they have conducted. The acceptance test and approval of construction survey result reports by project owners neither substitute, nor decrease the survey contractors’ responsibility for the quality of construction surveys.

4. A construction survey result report must constitute part of as-built documents and shall be archived under Article 33 of this Decree.

Chapter III

QUALITY MANAGEMENT OF CONSTRUCTION DESIGNS

Article 17.Sequence of quality management of construction designs

1. Preparing construction design tasks.

2. Conducting quality management of construction designs.

3. Appraising and verifying construction designs.

4. Approving construction designs.

5. Conducting acceptance test of construction designs.

Article 18.Construction design tasks

1. Project owners shall prepare, or hire relevant capable organizations or individuals to prepare, construction design tasks.

2. Construction design tasks must conform to pre-feasibility study reports or reports proposing policies on investment in the construction of the works. Construction design tasks shall be used as a basis for formulating construction investment projects and preparing construction designs. When necessary, project owners may hire consultancy organizations or experts to give opinions about or to verify design tasks.

3. Major contents of a construction design task:

a/ Grounds for preparing the task;

b/ Objectives of construction of the work;

c/ Location of construction of the work;

d/ Planning, landscape and architectural requirements of the work;

dd/ Requirements on the size, lifetime and uses and other technical requirements for the work.

4. Construction design tasks shall be added and modified to suit practical conditions for ensuring the efficiency of construction investment projects.

Article 19.Technical instructions

1. Technical instructions shall be used as a basis for supervising the construction and acceptance test of works. Technical instructions shall be made by design contractors or other consultancy contractors hired by project owners. Approved technical instructions must constitute part of the construction bidding dossier and shall be used as a basis for managing and supervising the construction and acceptance test of works.

2. Technical instructions must conform to the approved technical regulations or standards applied to works and requirements of construction designs.

3. Technical instructions are compulsory for works of special grade and grades I and II. For relics and other works, technical instructions may be made separately or included in construction design explanations.

Article 20.Quality management of construction designs

1. Quality management by construction design contractors includes:

a/ Arranging sufficient persons with relevant experience and qualifications to make designs and assigning fully capable persons to act as managers of design plans or design chiefs;

b/ Using only survey results that meet the requirements of design steps and conform to technical regulations or standards applied to works;

c/ Designating individuals or units of their organizations or hiring other fully capable organizations or individuals to conduct internal examination of the quality of design dossiers;

d/ Submitting design dossiers to project owners for appraisal and approval in accordance with the Construction Law; assimilating appraisal opinions, responding to appraisal opinions or modifying design dossiers based on such opinions;

dd/ Adjusting designs under regulations.

2. Design contractors shall take responsibility for the quality of construction designs they have prepared. The verification, appraisal and approval of designs by individuals, organizations, project owners, investment deciders or specialized construction agencies neither substitute nor decrease the responsibility of design contractors for the quality of construction designs they have prepared.

3. Design contractors that are general contractors shall undertake the designing of major items or technologies of works and take full responsibility for the performance of contracts to contracting parties. Design subcontractors shall take responsibility before general contractors and law for the progress and quality of designs they have prepared.

4. While preparing designs of national important works or large works involving complicated technical requirements, design contractors may propose project owners to conduct simulation tests or experiments for examining and assessing the operating capacity of such works in order to improve designs to meet technical and safety requirements.

Article 21.Construction design dossiers

1. A design dossier of a construction work must comprise design explanations, calculations, design drawings, relevant documents on construction survey, cost estimate and maintenance process (if any) of the work.

2. A design drawing must have a size, scale and name frame presented according to standards applied in construction activities. Each drawing’s name frame must show the names and signatures of the designer, design examiner, design chief, design manager and at-law representative of the design contractor, and seal of the institutional design contractor.

3. Explanations, design drawings and cost estimate documents shall be bound up according to a uniform format and shall be listed, numbered and coded for reference and long-term preservation.

Article 22.Appraisal, verification, approval, acceptance test and archive of construction designs

1. The appraisal, verification, approval, acceptance test and adjustment of designs and technical instructions, the composition of a design dossier, of construction works must comply with the Construction Law and the Decree on management of work construction investment projects.

2. A design dossier of a construction work must constitute part of as-built documents of such work and shall be archived under Article 33 of this Decree.

Chapter IV

QUALITY MANAGEMENT OF CONSTRUCTION OF WORKS

Article 23.Sequence of quality management of construction

The quality of construction of a work shall be controlled from the stages of procurement, production and manufacture of construction products, building materials, structures and equipment used for the work to the stages of construction, trial operation and acceptance test before putting the completed work or work item to use. The sequence of and responsibility for quality management of construction of a work by different subjects are prescribed as follows:

1. Quality management of materials, products, structures and equipment used for the work.

2. The contractor’s quality management during construction.

3. The project owner’s supervision of construction, examination and acceptance test of construction jobs during construction.

4. The design contractor’s author supervision of construction.

5. Counter-testing, trial-operation testing and construction inspection during construction.

6. Acceptance test of a construction phase or part (item) (if any) of the work.

7. Acceptance test of the completed work item or work before putting it to operation and use.

8. A competent state agency’s examination of the acceptance test of the work.

9. Making as-built documents for the work, archiving its documents and handing over the work.

Article 24.Quality management of materials, products, structures and equipment used for works

1. Responsibilities of the contractor supplying commodity construction products or building materials:

a/ To conduct quality testing and provide the principal (purchaser of construction products) with certificates, information and documents related to construction products according to the construction contract, the law on product and goods quality, and other relevant laws;

b/ To check whether the quality, quantity and types of products meet the requirements set out in the construction contract before handing them to the principal;

c/ To notify the principal of transportation, storage and preservation requirements on construction products;

d/ To repair or replace products that fail to meet quality requirements according to commitments on warranty of construction products and terms of the construction contract.

2. Responsibilities of the contractor manufacturing and producing building materials, structures and equipment used for construction works to meet separate design requirements:

a/ To submit to the principal (purchaser) the process of producing and controlling the quality of products during production and manufacture and the process of conducting tests or experiments to meet design requirements;

b/ To organize manufacture, production and tests or experiments according to the processes approved by the principal; to control on its own or in coordination with contracting parties the quality of products during manufacture, production, transportation and storage at the work;

c/ To conduct examination and acceptance test of products before handing them to the principal;

d/ To transport and hand products to the principal according to contractual terms;

dd/ To provide the principal with relevant certificates, information and documents according to the construction contract, the law on product and goods quality, and other relevant laws.

3. Responsibilities of the principal:

a/ To include the terms on the quantity, types and technical requirements for materials, products, structures and equipment in the contracts with supplying, producing and manufacturing contractors as conformable with design requirements and technical specifications applied to the work;

b/ To check whether the quantity, types and technical requirements of materials, products, structures and equipment conform to contractual terms; to request suppliers, producers and manufacturers to perform the responsibilities defined in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article before conducting the acceptance test and permitting the use of materials, products, structures and equipment for the work;

c/ To control the quality of products during manufacture and production according to the processes agreed with the contractors.

4. The contractors defined in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article shall take responsibility for the quality of materials, products, structures and equipment they have supplied, manufactured and produced; the acceptance test by the principal does not decrease the above responsibilities of the contractors.

Article 25.Quality management responsibilities of construction contractors

1. To receive and manage construction grounds and preserve planted landmarks and boundaries of works.

2. To develop and notify quality management systems as well as objectives and policies to ensure quality of works to project owners and related subjects. Their quality management system must conform to the sizes of works and indicate the organizational structure and responsibilities of each division and individual for quality management of works.

3. To submit to project owners for approval:

a/ Plans to organize testing and quality inspection, observation and measuring of technical specifications of works to meet design requirements and technical instructions;

b/ Measures to examine and control the quality of materials, products, structures and equipment used for works; and designs of construction methods, specifying measures to ensure safety for humans, machinery, equipment and works;

c/ Plans on examination and acceptance test of construction jobs, acceptance test of phases or parts (items) of construction works, and acceptance test of completed construction items or works;

d/ Other necessary contents as required by project owners and provided by contracts.

4. To arrange personnel and construction equipment as stated in construction contracts and prescribed by relevant laws.

5. To perform the quality management responsibility in procurement, manufacture and production of materials, products, structures and equipment to be used for works according to Article 24 of this Decree and construction contracts.

6. To test building materials, structures and products and equipment and technological equipment of works before and during construction according to the terms of construction contracts.

7. To carry out construction strictly according to construction contracts, construction permits and construction designs. To promptly notify project owners of differences between designs and construction contracts and conditions of construction sites during construction. To control by themselves the construction quality based on design requirements and construction contracts. To make quality management dossiers for construction jobs according to regulations and actual period of construction at site.

8. As main contractors or general contractors, to control the quality of construction jobs and equipment installation; to supervise construction jobs carried out by subcontractors.

9. To handle and remedy faults and defects (if any) related to quality during construction.

10. To survey and observe works according to design requirements. To conduct single-action trial operation and multi-action trial operation under plans before requesting acceptance test.

11. To make construction diaries under regulations.

12. To make as-built drawings under regulations.

13. To request project owners to conduct acceptance test of construction jobs before moving on to others, construction phases or parts of works, and completed items of construction works or works.

14. To report to project owners on the progress, quality and volume of construction, occupational safety and environmental sanitation according to construction contracts and at the request of project owners.

15. To restore the grounds and remove supplies, machinery, equipment and other assets from construction sites after acceptance test and handover, unless otherwise agreed in construction contracts.

Article 26.Supervision of construction of works

1. Works shall be supervised during construction under Clause 1, Article 120 of the Construction Law. Supervision of the construction of a work covers:

a/ Notifying the tasks and powers of individuals in the quality management system of the project owner and construction supervision contractor to related contractors for coordination;

b/ Examining conditions for starting construction as prescribed in Article 107 of the Construction Law;

c/ Checking the capacity of the construction contractor against the bidding dossier and construction contract in terms of personnel, construction equipment, specialized construction laboratory, and quality management system;

d/ Examining the contractor’s construction measures against the approved design;

dd/ Considering and approving the contents submitted by the construction contractor under Clause 3, Article 25 of this Decree and requesting the construction contractor to modify these contents during construction to suit practical conditions and contractual terms. When necessary, the project owner shall agree with the construction contractor in the construction contract on assigning the construction supervision contractor to make, and request the construction contractor to implement, the above contents;

e/ Examining and approving building materials, structures and products and equipment installed in the work;

g/ Examining and pressing on the construction contractor and other contractors to carry out jobs at the construction site according to the set construction schedule;

h/ Supervising the environmental protection for construction works in accordance with the law on environmental protection; supervising measures to ensure safety for adjacent works and supervising observation work;

i/ Supervising occupational safety according to regulations, contractual terms and the law on occupational safety;

k/ Requesting the project owner to adjust designs when detecting design faults or irrationalities;

l/ Suspending construction contractors’ activities when seeing that the quality of construction fails to meet technical requirements or construction measures are unsafe; assuming the prime responsibility for, and coordinating with related units in, settling problems arising during construction and coordinating in handling incidents under this Decree;

m/ Examining documents serving acceptance test; examining and certifying as-built drawings;

n/ Organizing counter-testing and inspection of the quality of parts or items and the whole of works under Article 29 of this Decree;

o/ Conducting acceptance test of construction jobs before moving on to other phases, acceptance test of construction phases or parts of construction works, and acceptance test of completed items or construction works under regulations; examining and certifying completed construction volumes;

p/ Making as-built documents of construction works;

q/ Other jobs as stated in the construction contract.

2. Project owners may themselves supervise the construction, or hire fully capable consultancy organizations to supervise, one, several or all of the contents specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

3. For engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) contracts or turnkey contracts, the construction supervision responsibility is prescribed as follows:

a/ General contractors shall supervise the construction of the jobs performed by themselves and subcontractors. General contractors may themselves supervise or hire fully capable consultancy contractors to supervise one, several or all of the contents specified in Clause 1 of this Article and such shall be stated in construction contracts between general contractors and project owners;

b/ Project owners shall examine the construction supervision by general contractors. Project owners may appoint their representatives to examine, and conduct acceptance test of, important construction jobs and construction phases before moving on to others and such shall be agreed in advance with general contractors in examination and acceptance test plans under Point a, Clause 3, Article 25 of this Decree.

4. Supervision organizations defined in Clause 2, and Point a, Clause 3, of this Article shall develop their quality management systems and must have sufficient personnel for conducting supervision at construction sites as relevant to the scale and requirements of supervision tasks. Depending on the size, nature and technical requirements of a work, a construction supervision organization may consist of the chief supervisor and supervisors. Supervisors of the above organization must have a construction supervision practice certificate relevant to the discipline they have been trained in and to the grade of works.

5. For works using state budget funds or non-budget state funds:

a/ Construction supervision organizations must be independent from construction contractors and contractors manufacturing, producing or supplying materials, products, structures and equipment used for works;

b/ Construction supervision organizations may not participate in inspecting the quality of construction works they have supervised;

c/ Contractors manufacturing, producing or supplying materials, products, structures and equipment used for works may not participate in inspecting the quality of products related to supplies or equipment they have supplied.

6. The Ministry of Construction shall guide the supervision of construction of works.

Article 27.Acceptance test of construction jobs

1. Based on plans to test and examine construction jobs and actual progress of construction at site, the construction contractor’s construction supervisor and person in charge of technical matters for construction shall conduct acceptance test of the construction jobs before moving on to another construction phase. Acceptance test results shall be certified in a record for one or more construction job(s) of a work item in the sequence of construction.

2. The construction supervisor shall examine construction jobs requested to be tested, based on the approved working drawing and technical instructions, applied technical regulations and standards, and results of testing the quality of materials and equipment during construction which are related to objects subject to acceptance test.

3. The construction supervisor shall conduct acceptance test of construction jobs and certify them in a record within 24 hours after receiving from the construction contractor a notice of acceptance test of construction jobs in order to move on to another construction phase. If refusing to carry out acceptance test, the construction supervisor shall notify in writing the construction contractor of such refusal, stating the reason.

Article 28.Author supervision by design contractors during construction

1. Contractors making technical designs in case of three-step designing, or contractors making designs of working drawings in case of one-step or two-step designing, shall carry out author supervision according to construction contracts.

2. Contents of supervision:

a/ Explaining and clarifying design documents upon request of project owners, construction contractors or construction supervision contractors;

b/ Coordinating with project owners upon request in settling design-related arising problems during construction, adjusting designs to suit the actual construction, and settling design irrationalities at the request of project owners;

c/ Promptly notifying project owners, and proposing handling measures when detecting, that the construction is carried out by construction contractors in contravention of approved designs;

d/ Participating in the acceptance test of construction works upon request of project owners. When detecting that a work item or a work fails to fully satisfy the conditions for acceptance, promptly sending written opinions thereon to project owners.

Article 29.Counter-testing, quality inspection, and testing of force-bearing capacity of work structures during construction

1. Counter testing shall be conducted in the following cases:

a/ It is stated in the construction contract or technical instructions, for national important works, large works involving complicated technical requirements, or works exerting great impacts on community safety and environment;

b/ When building materials, products or equipment or construction fail/s to meet quality requirements set out in technical instructions or designs;

c/ At the request of a specialized construction agency.

2. Quality inspection and testing of force-bearing capacity of work structures shall be conducted in the following cases:

a/ It is stated in the construction contract or technical instructions as required by designs;

b/ When a work, work item or work part fails to meet quality requirements set out in designs;

c/ At the request of a state agency competent to sign contracts on public-private partnership investment;

d/ At the request of a procedure-conducting agency or person under the law on judicial assessment or at the request of the agency in charge of assessment of causes of construction work incidents;

dd/ At the request of the State Acceptance-Test Council for Construction Works or a specialized construction agency when necessary.

3. In the case specified at Point c, Clause 1, or Point d or dd, Clause 2, of this Article, the requesting agency may designate a consultancy organization according to the simple contractor appointment process prescribed in Clause 1, Article 56 of the Government’s Decree No. 63/2014/ND-CP of June 26, 2014, detailing a number of articles of the Bidding Law regarding selection of contractors.

4. Construction design contractors, construction contractors, contractors supplying or producing construction products, and other related contractors shall pay expenses for counter-testing, quality inspection, and testing of force-bearing capacity of work structures if the testing or inspection results show errors of these contractors. Otherwise, such expenses shall be included in the total construction investment amounts.

Article 30.Acceptance test of construction phases or parts of construction works

1. Based on specific conditions of each construction work, the project owner and construction contractor may agree on acceptance test of a construction phase or a part of the work in the following cases:

a/ When a construction phase or part is completed, requiring examination and acceptance test for assessing its quality before moving on to the subsequent phase of construction;

b/ When a construction bidding package is completed.

2. The project owner and related construction contractor shall agree on the time, sequence and contents of acceptance test, and persons participating in the acceptance test. Acceptance test results shall be written in a record.

Article 31.Acceptance test upon completion of items of construction works or construction works before being put to use

1. Project owners shall conduct acceptance test of completed items or construction works.

2. Conditions for acceptance test upon completion of items or construction works:

a/ The performed construction jobs have been tested before acceptance under Articles 27 and 30 of this Decree. The results of testing, examination and trial operation show satisfaction of technical requirements stated in construction designs;

b/ There are no serious problems in construction quality that may affect the operation and use safety;

c/ The items or works have received the fire prevention and fighting police office’s acceptance test document on fire prevention and fighting under the law on fire prevention and fighting; the environmental impact assessment report-approving agency’s written certification of completion of environmental protection facilities under projects in accordance with the law on environmental protection, and another competent agency’s written approval under relevant laws, if any.

3. The project owner may decide to test each part of a work or conduct conditional test in case there remain quality problems that do not affect the force-bearing capacity, life or uses of the work and the work is safe for operation. The acceptance test record must clearly indicate quality problems to be addressed or construction jobs to be further carried out and deadline for completion of these jobs. The project owner shall conduct acceptance test of the completed work after the quality problems have been addressed or the remaining construction jobs have been completed.

4. Conditions for putting a work or an item of a work to use:

a/ The work or item has been tested for acceptance under regulations;

b/ The acceptance test of the works specified in Clause 1, Article 32 of this Decree has been examined by a competent agency defined in Clause 2, Article 32 of this Decree that has issued a written approval of the results of the project owner’s acceptance test prescribed at Point a of this Clause. Particularly for works using state budget funds or non-budget state funds, project owners may finalize construction contracts only after obtaining a written approval of the above acceptance test results.

5. The project owner and related contractors shall agree on the time, sequence and contents of acceptance test. The acceptance test results shall be written in a record.

Article 32.Examination of acceptance test of construction works

1. The acceptance test of a construction work shall be examined by a competent agency defined in Clause 2 of this Article during construction and upon completion of construction of the work under Clause 4, Article 123 of the Construction Law, including:

a/ National important works and large works involving complicated technical requirements on the list decided annually by the Prime Minister;

b/ Works using state budget funds or non-budget state funds;

c/ Works exerting great impacts on community safety as specified in Appendix No. II to this Decree, except those mentioned at Points a and b of this Clause;

d/ Works exerting great impacts on the environment, except those mentioned at Points a, b and c of this Clause, which shall be examined by competent agencies under the law on environmental protection;

dd/ Particularly for power grids and transformer stations of a voltage of up to 35 kV, or grade-IV works using non-budget state funds, project owners may themselves conduct acceptance test in accordance with this Decree. Project owners shall report acceptance test results to specialized construction agencies as decentralized at Point c, Clause 2 of this Article for summarization and monitoring.

2. Examining competence:

a/ The State Acceptance-Test Council for Construction Works established and operating under the Prime Minister’s decision shall examine the works specified at Point a, Clause 1 of this Article;

b/ Specialized construction agencies under the Ministry of Construction and ministries managing specialized construction works shall examine works under their management, regardless of investment funding sources under Clauses 1 and 2, Article 51 of this Decree, for grade-I works, special-grade works, works assigned by the Prime Minister, works built in lines running through 2 or more provinces, works the investment in which is decided by the Ministry of Construction or ministries managing specialized construction works, and works the investment in which is decided by, or the owners of which are, state economic groups, except the works prescribed at Point a of this Clause;

c/ Provincial-level Construction Departments and departments managing specialized construction works shall examine construction works under their management in localities in accordance with Clause 4, Article 51 of this Decree, except the works specified at Points a and b of this Clause;

Based on local practical conditions, provincial-level People’s Committees may authorize district-level People’s Committees’ divisions with the construction management function to examine a number of grade-III and grade-IV works managed by provincial-level Construction Departments or departments managing specialized construction works;

d/ In case a construction investment project consists of many works or items of different types and grades as mentioned in Clause 1 of this Article, the examination agency must be the agency responsible for examining main works or items of the highest grade under this project;

dd/ The Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security shall prescribe the competence to examine national defense and security works.

3. Examination contents must include examining the observance of regulations on quality management of construction works by project owners and contractors in survey, designing and construction of works in accordance with this Decree and relevant laws.

4. Sequence of examination:

a/ For the works specified in Clause 1 of this Article, after starting construction, their owners shall send to competent agencies defined in Clause 2 of this Article the following information: name and contact address of the project owner, name of the work, location of construction, size of the work and schedule of construction;

b/ Competent agencies defined in Clause 2 of this Article shall notify project owners of examination plans; organize examination and notify the results of examination during construction within 7 days after an examination is completed;

c/ At least 15 days, for special-grade or grade-I works, or 10 days, for other works, before the date the project owner intends to organize acceptance test under Clause 1 or 3, Article 31 of this Decree, he/she/it shall send a written request for examination of acceptance test to the competent agency defined in Clause 2 of this Article;

d/ Competent agencies defined in Clause 2 of this Article shall examine the acceptance tests and issue a written approval of acceptance test results within 15 days, for special-grade or grade-I works, or 10 days, for other works, after the date of completing the examination. In case project owners have to comply with the requirements specified at Point dd of this Clause, the above time limit shall be counted from the time they satisfy such requirements;

dd/ During examination, competent agencies may request project owners and related units to give explanations and settle problems (if any), and shall conduct counter-testing, trial operation and quality inspection of parts, items or the whole works under Article 29 of this Decree;

e/ Competent agencies may invite relevant capable organizations and individuals to participate in the examination.

5. Expenses for examination of the acceptance test during construction and upon construction completion shall be estimated, appraised and approved by project owners and included in the total construction investment amounts.

6. The Ministry of Construction shall guide in detail the examination of the acceptance test during construction and upon completion of construction of works.

Article 33.Making and archive of as-built documents of construction works

1. Project owners shall fully make as-built documents of constructions works before putting the items or works to operation.

2. As-built documents of a construction work shall be made once for the whole construction investment project if the works (items) under this project is put to operation and use at a time. In case they are put to operation and use at different times, separate as-built documents for each work (item) may be made.

3. The project owner shall make and archive a set of as-built documents for each construction work; subjects of construction investment activities shall themselves archive documents related to the jobs they have performed. Particularly for houses and relics, their documents shall be archived under the laws on housing and cultural heritages.

4. The Ministry of Construction shall guide the list, and duration for archive, of as-built documents of construction works.

Article 34.Handover of items of construction works or construction works

1. The handover of items of construction works or construction works must comply with Article 124 of the Construction Law.

2. Depending on specific conditions of a work, a part or an item already completed and tested for acceptance under regulations, it may be handed over and put to operation at the request of the project owner or operating and using unit.

3. In case of investment in the form of public-private partnership, state management agencies competent to sign project contracts and investors shall consider whether or not transfer conditions stated in project contracts and other relevant legal documents are satisfied.

Article 35.Requirements on warranty of construction works

1. Construction contractors and equipment supply contractors shall take responsibility before project owners for providing warranty for the jobs they have carried out.

2. The warranty period for new items or construction works or renovated or upgraded ones shall be counted from the time of acceptance test prescribed in Clause 1 or 3, Article 31 of this Decree, and must:

a/ Not be shorter than 24 months, for works and items of works of special grade or grade-I;

b/ Not be shorter than 12 months, for works and items of works of other grades;

c/ Comply with the housing law, for houses.

3. The warranty period for equipment and technological equipment shall be determined based on construction contracts but must not be shorter than the warranty period set by manufacturers and shall be counted from the time of acceptance test of the completed installation of equipment.

4. Depending on specific conditions of a work, the project owner may agree with the contractor on a separate warranty period for one or several item(s) or bidding package(s) on construction or equipment installation in addition to the warranty period for the work under Clause 2 of this Article but such separate warranty period must not be shorter than the warranty period specified in Clause 2 or 3 of this Article.

5. The warranty period for items that have quality-related defects or incidents during construction which have been remedied by the contractor may be longer as agreed between the project owner and construction contractor before the items are tested.

6. The project owner shall agree in the construction contracts with contractors engaged in construction, on the rights and responsibilities of the parties in relation to the warranty of construction works; warranty periods for construction works, equipment and technological equipment; warranty amount; storage, use and refund of warranty amount, and replacement of the warranty amount with a bank’s letter of warranty guarantee of equivalent value. These contractors may be refunded the warranty amount or returned the letter of warranty guarantee only after the warranty period expires and obtains the project owner’s certification of warranty completion.

7. For state-funded construction works, the warranty amount is prescribed as follows:

a/ At least 3% of the contractual value, for works of special grade and grade I;

b/ At least 5% of the contractual value, for works of other grades;

c/ For works using other funding sources, the warranty amount specified at Point a or b of this Clause may be referred to for application.

Article 36.Warranty of construction works

1. During the warranty period for a construction work, when detecting faults or defects of the work, its owner or use manager shall notify such to the project owner for requesting the construction contractor or equipment supply contractor to carry out warranty.

2. The construction contractor or equipment supply contractor shall carry out warranty for the jobs he/she/it has performed after receiving a request for warranty from the project owner or the work’s owner or use manager, for faults arising in the warranty period, and bear all warranty-related expenses.

3. The construction contractor or equipment supply contractor may refuse to carry out warranty for faults or defects caused not by his/her/its fault or caused byforce majeureevents. For faults or defects caused by the contractor’s fault while the contractor fails to carry out warranty, the project owner may use the warranty amount to hire another organization or individual to provide warranty. The project owner or the work’s owner or use manager shall comply with regulations on operation and maintenance of construction works during operation and use.

4. The project owner shall examine, and test before acceptance, the warranty work performed by the construction contractor or equipment supply contractor.

5. Certification of completion of warranty of construction works:

a/ Upon the expiration of the warranty period, the construction contractor and equipment supply contractor shall make a report on warranty accomplishment and send it to the project owner. The project owner shall certify in writing the contractor’s accomplishment of warranty of construction works;

b/ The work’s owner or use manager shall participate in certifying warranty accomplishment for the construction contractor and equipment supply contractor upon request of the project owner.

6. Construction survey contractors, construction design contractors, construction contractors, equipment supply contractors and other related contractors shall take responsibility for the quality of jobs they have performed even after the warranty period.

Chapter V

MAINTENANCE OF CONSTRUCTION WORKS

Article 37.Sequence of maintaining a construction work

1. Developing and approving a maintenance process.

2. Planning and estimating funds for maintenance.

3. Carrying out maintenance and managing the quality of maintenance.

4. Assessing the work’s force-bearing safety and operational safety.

5. Making and managing maintenance documents.

Article 38.Maintenance process of a construction work

1. A maintenance process of a construction work must cover the following contents:

a/ Technical and technological specifications of the work, its parts and equipment;

b/ Regulations on the objects, methods and frequency of the inspection of the work;

c/ Regulations on the contents of and instructions for service of the work suitable to each part and type of the work and installed equipment;

d/ Regulations on the time, and instructions for periodical replacement, of installed equipment;

dd/ Instructions on methods to remedy faults of the work and degradations;

e/ Regulations on the lifetime of the work;

g/ Regulations on the contents and time of periodical assessment of works subject to safety assessment during operation and use under relevant laws;

h/ Determination of the time, objects and contents of periodical inspection;

i/ Regulations on the time, methods and cycles of observation of works subject to observation;

k/ Other instructions related to maintenance and regulations on conditions to ensure occupational safety and environmental sanitation during maintenance.

2. Responsibility to develop and approve a maintenance process of a construction work:

a/ The construction design contractor shall establish a maintenance process for a construction work and its parts and hand it together with the design dossier following the base design to the project owner; and update this process to suit changes (if any) in the design during construction before conducting acceptance test of a part or the work to be put to use;

b/ The equipment supply contractor shall develop a maintenance process of equipment he/she/it has supplied and hand it over to the project owner before installing such equipment in the work;

c/ In case the construction design contractor or equipment supply contractor cannot develop a maintenance process, the project owner may hire another fully capable consultancy unit to develop it for the objects mentioned at Points a and b of this Clause and shall pay consultancy expenses;

d/ The project owner shall develop and approve a maintenance process under Point b, Clause 1, Article 126 of the Construction Law. The project owner or the work’s owner or use manager may hire a fully capable consultancy unit to verify part or the whole of the maintenance process developed by the design contractor as a basis for approval;

dd/ For construction works put to operation and use without a maintenance process, their owners or use managers shall develop and approve a maintenance process and may, when necessary, inspect the quality of such works as a basis for developing a maintenance process. The maintenance process must clearly indicate the remaining lifetime of a work.

3. A separate maintenance process is not required for works of grade III or lower grade, separate houses and makeshift works, unless otherwise provided by law. Owners or use managers of these works shall still maintain them under this Decree’s provisions on maintenance of construction works.

4. In case there are technical standards on maintenance or there is an appropriate maintenance process applicable to similar works, owners or use managers of works may apply such standards or process to the works without having to develop another maintenance process.

5. Adjustment of the maintenance process of a construction work:

a/ The owner or use manager of a work may adjust the maintenance process when detecting irrationalities that may affect the quality, operation or use of the work and shall take responsibility for his/her/its decision;

b/ The maintenance process-developing contractor shall modify, supplement or change irrationalities in the maintenance process which are caused by his/her/its fault and may refuse unreasonable requests of the work’s owner or use manager for adjustment of the maintenance process;

c/ The work’s owner or use manager may hire another fully capable contractor to modify, supplement or change the maintenance process if the contractor that has developed the maintenance process cannot do so. The contractor modifying or supplementing the maintenance process shall take responsibility for the quality of jobs he/she/it has performed;

d/ For works the maintenance of which is conducted according to technical standards on maintenance, when these standards are modified or replaced, owners or use managers of such works shall maintain them according to modified contents;

dd/ Owners or use managers of works shall approve adjustments to the maintenance process, unless otherwise provided by law.

Article 39.Maintenance plans for construction works

1. The owner or use manager of a construction work shall devise an annual maintenance plan for such work based on the approved maintenance process and its actual conditions.

2. A maintenance plan must have the following principal contents:

a/ Names of jobs to be performed;

b/ Maintenance duration;

c/ Method of maintenance;

d/ Maintenance expenses.

3. A maintenance plan may be modified and supplemented during implementation. The owner or use manager of a construction work shall decide to modify or supplement the maintenance plan for such work.

4. Depending on expense levels, the procedures for repairing works or equipment are prescribed as follows:

a/ In case the repair of a work or an equipment costs a state budget fund amount of under VND 5 million, the work’s owner or use manager shall decide on the repair plan with the following contents: names of work parts or equipment to be repaired or replaced; reason for and purpose of repair or replacement; volume of work; estimated expenses and time for repair or replacement and time of completion;

b/ In case the repair of a work or an equipment costs a state budget fund amount of VND 5 million or more, the work’s owner or use manager shall make and submit an economic-technical report or a construction investment project for appraisal and approval under the law on work construction investment;

c/ In case the repair of a work or an equipment is not funded by the state budget, the work’s owner or use manager is encouraged to refer to and apply the provisions at Point a or b of this Clause.

Article 40.Maintenance of a construction work

1. The owner or use manager of a work shall examine, service and repair the work according to the approved maintenance process if he/she/it is fully capable of doing so or may hire a fully capable organization to do so.

2. The owner or use manager of a work shall regularly, periodically or irregularly inspect the work to promptly detect degradations or faults of the work or equipment installed in the work as a basis for service.

3. The owner or use manager of a work shall service the work under the annual maintenance plan and approved maintenance process.

4. Repair of a work must cover:

a/ Periodical repair, including periodical repair of faults or replacement of broken parts or installed equipment as stated in the maintenance process;

b/ Irregular repair, which is conducted when a part or the work is broken down by unexpected impacts such as wind, typhoon, flood, earthquake, collision or fire or others, or when a part or the work is degraded, affecting its use and operation safety.

5. Quality inspection serving maintenance shall be conducted in the following cases:

a/ Periodical inspection according to the approved maintenance process;

b/ When detecting faults in some parts or the work showing signs which are unsafe for operation and use;

c/ Upon request for assessing the actual quality of the work to serve the development of a maintenance process, for works put to use without a maintenance process;

d/ When it is necessary to have a ground for deciding to prolong the lifetime of the work, for works with expired design life, or serving the renovation or upgrading of the work;

dd/ Upon request of a state management agency in charge of construction.

6. Observation to serve maintenance shall be conducted in the following cases:

a/ National important works, or works that might cause catastrophes if incidents occur;

b/ Works showing signs of subsidence, tilt or crack or other abnormal signs of collapse;

c/ At the request of project owners or owners or use managers of works;

The Ministry of Construction and ministries managing specialized construction works shall prescribe the lists of works subject to observation during operation and use.

7. For a work with many owners, in addition to maintaining its parts under their private ownerships, these owners shall also maintain those parts under common ownership in accordance with relevant laws.

8. For works not yet handed over to their owners or use managers, project owners shall develop a maintenance plan and carry out maintenance under this Article and Article 39 of this Decree. Project owners shall hand over maintenance documents to owners or use managers of works before handing over the works to the latter for operation and use.

Article 41.Quality management of maintenance jobs

1. The owner or use manager of a work shall conduct regular, periodical or irregular examination of the work visually, based on regular observation data (if any), or with specialized examination equipment when necessary.

2. The service of a work shall be conducted step by step as stated in the maintenance process. The service results shall be written in a record. The work’s owner or use manager shall certify the service accomplishment and keep these results in maintenance documents.

3. The owner or use manager of a work shall supervise and test before acceptance repair jobs; make, manage and archive repair documents in accordance with the law on management of construction works and other relevant laws.

4. Warranty for the repair of a work shall be provided for at least 6 months, for works of grade II or lower grade, or at least 12 months, for works of grade I or higher grade.

5. The owner or use manager of a work shall agree with the repair contractor on the rights and responsibilities for warranty, warranty duration and warranty amount for repair jobs performed during maintenance.

6. The owner or use manager of a work shall supervise and test before acceptance repair jobs; make, manage and archive repair documents in accordance with law.

7. For a work subject to observation or quality inspection, its owner or use manager shall hire a fully capable organization to conduct observation or quality inspection. When necessary, the work’s owner or use manager may hire an independent organization to assess the report on inspection results or report on observation results.

8. Documents serving maintenance of a construction work:

a/ Documents serving maintenance of a construction work include the maintenance process; as-built drawings, record of equipment installed in the work, and other necessary documents;

b/ The project owner shall hand over documents serving maintenance of a construction work to the work’s owner or use manager before handing over the work for operation and use.

9. Documents on maintenance of a construction work must include:

a/ The documents specified in Clause 8 of this Article;

b/ Maintenance plan;

c/ Results of regular and periodical examination of the work;

d/ Results of maintenance and repair of the work;

dd/ Results of observation and results of quality inspection (if any) of the work;

e/ Results of assessment of the force-bearing safety and operational safety of the work during operation and use (if any);

g/ Other relevant documents.

Article 42.Maintenance costs of construction works

1. Funds for maintenance of construction works shall be formed from the following sources:

a/ Annual allocations from the state budget (central budget and local budgets), for projects using state budget funds;

b/ Collected charges for use of construction works, for works not funded by the state budget;

c/ Capital of project owners or owners, for commercial construction works;

d/ Capital contributed by or mobilized from organizations and individuals;

dd/ Other lawful sources.

2. Costs for development and appraisal of maintenance processes of construction works:

a/ The cost for developing and appraising a maintenance process for a construction work shall be included in the total investment amount of such work;

b/ The cost for developing and appraising a maintenance process for a construction work which has been put to operation and use without maintenance process shall be included in its maintenance cost;

c/ The cost for modifying a maintenance process of a construction work shall be included in its maintenance cost. The contractor that has developed the maintenance process shall bear the cost for modifying such process in case the modification is required due to its/his/her fault.

3. Maintenance cost estimates

a/ The maintenance cost estimate of a construction work (below referred to as maintenance cost estimate) shall be made based on specific maintenance jobs and used as a basis for the work’s owner or use manager to manage the maintenance cost;

b/ Maintenance cost estimates shall be made based on the work volume determined in maintenance plans and construction unit prices prescribed by competent authorities for performance of such work volume;

c/ For construction works using state budget funds or state funds from other sources, their owners or user managers shall make, appraise and approve maintenance cost estimates.

For construction works using other funding sources, their owners or use managers are encouraged to make, appraise and approve maintenance cost estimates;

d/ The agencies specified in Clauses 2, 3 and 4, Article 51 of this Decree shall, based on the Ministry of Construction-guided method of establishing construction work maintenance cost norms to establish and issue construction work maintenance cost norms as suitable to specific characteristics of their ministries and localities and send such norms to the Ministry of Construction for monitoring and management.

4. Owners or use managers of construction works shall approve maintenance cost estimates according to the law on management of costs in construction activities.

5. Management, payment and finalization of maintenance costs:

a/ For construction works using state budget funds, their owners or user managers shall manage, pay and finalize maintenance costs in accordance with the Law on the State Budget and other relevant laws;

b/ For construction works using non-state budget funds, their owners or use managers shall manage, pay and finalize maintenance costs.

6. For the case specified in Clause 8, Article 40 of this Decree, maintenance costs shall be included in total investment amounts of construction works.

Article 43.Assessment of load-bearing safety and operational safety of works during operation and use

1. For national important works and large works involving complicated technical requirements which may affect community safety, periodical assessment of safety of works shall be conducted during their operation and use.

2. The assessment must cover load-bearing safety and safety during operation and use. The assessment of safety against fire, nuclear incidents and other safety contents must comply with relevant laws.

3. Owners or use managers of construction works shall organize periodical assessment of load-bearing safety and operational safety and send assessment results to competent agencies specified in Clause 4 of this Article for monitoring and inspection.

4. Competence to inspect the assessment of load-bearing safety and safety during the operation and use of construction works:

a/ Agencies managing construction activities under the Ministry of Construction and ministries managing specialized construction works shall conduct the inspection, for construction works of grade I or a higher grade under their management as prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 51 of this Decree;

b/ Provincial-level Construction Departments and provincial-level departments managing specialized construction works shall conduct the inspection, for construction works of grade II or a lower grade under their management as prescribed in Clause 4, Article 51 of this Decree;

c/ For national defense and security works, the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security shall conduct the inspection.

5. Costs for safety assessment of construction works during operation and use include costs for quality inspection, costs for hiring experts and other necessary costs. Such costs shall be paid by owners or use managers and included in maintenance costs of construction works.

6. The Ministry of Construction shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with ministries managing specialized construction works, the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security in, determining construction works subject to assessment of load-bearing safety and operational safety during operation and use, the frequency of assessment, and the assessment process.

Article 44.Handling of construction works showing signs of danger and failure to ensure safe operation and use

1. When detecting that its/his/her work or an item thereof shows signs of danger and failure to ensure safe operation and use, the work owner or use manager shall:

a/ Inspect the current state of the work;

b/ Inspect the quality of the work (if necessary);

c/ Decide to take urgent measures such as restricting or suspending the use of the work, and evacuating people and property to safety in case the work is at risk of collapse;

d/ Immediately report the situation to the administration of the nearest locality;

dd/ Repair damaged parts which likely affect the safety of the work during operation and use, or demolish the work when necessary.

2. When detecting or being informed of a part of a work or a work showing signs of danger and failure to ensure safe operation and use, a local administration shall:

a/ Inspect, notify, require and instruct the owner or use manager to survey and inspect the quality of the work, assess the degree of danger, and repair or demolish the work or its part, if necessary;

b/ Order the owner or use manager to take urgent measures prescribed at Point c, Clause 1 of this Article in order to ensure safety, in case the owner or use manager fails to do so;

c/ In case a work or an item shows signs of danger and is likely to collapse, competent state management agencies shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with its owner or use manager in, immediately taking safety measures, including restricting or suspending the use of the work and evacuating people and property, if necessary, so as to ensure safety;

d/ To handle the owner or use manager in accordance with law if they fail to comply with the requests of competent state management agencies as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 45 of this Decree.

3. Particularly for old apartment buildings and apartment buildings showing signs of danger and failure to ensure safe operation and use, their owners or use managers shall comply with this Decree and other provisions of the housing law.

4. When detecting a construction work or a part thereof having an incident or showing signs of danger and failure to ensure safe operation and use, every citizen is entitled to report such to its owner or use manager, state management agencies or the mass media for timely handling.

5. When receiving information on a construction work or a part thereof having an incident or showing signs of danger and failure to ensure safe operation and use, its owner or use manager and competent state management agencies shall take safety measures prescribed at Point c, Clause 1 of this Article. In case of failure to take such measures in time, causing human casualties and property damage, they shall take responsibility before law.

Article 45.Handling of construction works with expired design life which are proposed for continued use

1. Upon the expiration of the design life of a construction work, its owner or use manager shall:

a/ Examine, inspect and assess the quality and current state of the work;

b/ Reinforce and renovate the work and repair damaged items (if any) so as to ensure the uses and safety of the work before considering and deciding to continue using it;

c/ Decide whether or not to continue using the work after performing the tasks prescribed at Points a and b of this Clause, except the case prescribed at Point d of this Clause;

d/ Report the quality examination, inspection and assessment results, and repair results (if any) to the agencies specified in Clause 2 of this Article for consideration and approval of the extension of the design life, for the works specified in Appendix II to this Decree.

2. Responsibilities to report on and competence to handle construction works with expired design life which are proposed for continued use:

a/ The Ministry of Construction and ministries managing specialized construction works, for special-grade construction works under their management as prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 51 of this Decree;

b/ Provincial-level People’s Committees, for grade-I and -II construction works;

c/ District-level People’s Committees, for other construction works;

d/ The Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security shall define the responsibility to report on and competence to handle defense or security works with expired design life which are proposed for continued use.

dd/ Particularly for houses, the handling competence must comply with the housing law.

3. The period of continued use of a work shall be decided based on its technical conditions, specific use requirements, type and grade.

4. Cases in which a construction work with expired design life is not permitted for continued use:

a/ Its owner or use manager does not wish to continue using the work;

b/ Its owner or use manager has applied the measures specified in Clause 1 of this Article but the work is still unsafe.

5. The owner or use manager of a construction work specified in Clause 4 of this Article shall demolish such work.

Chapter VI

CONSTRUCTION WORK INCIDENTS

Article 46.Grading of incidents occurred during construction and operation and use of construction works

Based on the degree of damage to construction works and human casualties, incidents shall be graded into 3 levels, including level I, level II and level III as follows:

1. Level-I incidents include:

a/ Incidents killing 6 or more persons;

b/ Collapse of a construction work of grade I or a higher grade or an item of such work, or damage likely causing the collapse of a construction work of grade I or a higher grade or an item of such work.

2. Level-II incidents include:

a/ Incidents killing between 1 and 5 persons;

b/ Collapse of a grade-II or -III construction work or an item of such work, or damage likely causing the collapse of a grade-II or -III construction work or an item of such work.

3. Level-III incidents include incidents other than those prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.

Article 47.Reporting on construction work incidents

1. Immediately after an incident occurs, the project owner shall briefly report it in the quickest way to the People’s Committee of the commune where the incident occurs and to its superior agency. Upon receiving the information, the commune-level People’s Committee shall report the incident to the district- and provincial-level People’s Committees.

2. Within 24 hours after an incident occurs, the project owner shall send a report on the incident to the district- and provincial-level People’s Committees of the locality where the incident occurs. For all types of incidents, if there are human casualties, the project owner shall report such to the Ministry of Construction and other competent state management agencies as prescribed by relevant laws.

3. After receiving a written report or information about an incident, the provincial-level People’s Committee shall send a report on the incident to the Ministry of Construction and ministries managing specialized construction works, for level-I incidents and other incidents involving human casualties.

4. Competent state management agencies may request project owners and related parties to provide information about incidents.

5. In case a construction work has an incident during operation and use, the work owner or use manager shall comply with Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article.

Article 48.Handling of construction work incidents

1. When an incident occurs, the project owner and construction contractor shall promptly take measures to look for, rescue and ensure safety for people and property, limit and prevent any further possible dangers; protect the incident scene and make reports according to Article 47 of this Decree. People’s Committees of all levels shall direct and support involved parties in organizing rescue forces, protecting the incident scene and performing other necessary tasks in the course of handling the incident.

2. The provincial-level People’s Committee shall assume the prime responsibility for handling the incident and perform the following tasks:

a/ To consider and decide to halt or suspend the construction or operation and use of the whole or part or an item of the work, depending on the level and scope of the incident;

b/ To consider and decide to demolish or clear the incident scene on the basis of meeting the following requirements: ensuring safety for people, property, the work and adjacent works. Involved parties shall take photos, shoot films, collect evidence and record necessary documents to serve the inspection of causes and compilation of the dossier of the incident before the incident scene is demolished or cleared;

c/ To notify the results of inspection of causes and tasks to be performed to remedy the incident to the project owner, owner and other stakeholders;

d/ To handle involved parties in accordance with law;

dd/ Based on their local practical conditions, provincial-level People’s Committees may authorize district-level People’s Committees to take the main charge of handling level-III construction work incidents.

3. Project owners and construction contractors, for incidents occurring during construction, or owners or use managers, for incidents occurring during operation and use, shall remedy incidents as requested by competent state agencies. After the remedy, competent agencies specified in Clause 2 of this Article shall decide on whether the construction or use of the works can continue.

4. Organizations and individuals causing incidents shall compensate for damage and pay expenses for the remedy of incidents based on the nature, level and scope of impact of incidents.

Article 49.Inspection of causes of construction work incidents

1. The competence to organize inspection of causes of construction work incidents is prescribed as follows:

a/ The Ministry of Construction or ministries managing specialized construction works shall assume the prime responsibility for organizing the inspection of causes of level-I incidents occurring in specialized construction works under their management as prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2, Article 51 of this Decree, except other cases requested by the Prime Minister;

b/ Provincial-level People’s Committees shall organize the inspection of causes of level-II and -III incidents occurring in their localities. When necessary, provincial-level People’s Committees may request ministries managing specialized construction works to coordinate in, or take charge of, organizing the inspection of causes of above-said incidents;

c/ The Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security shall organize the inspection of causes of incidents occurring in national defense or security works.

2. Competent agencies prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article shall form investigation teams to inspect causes of incidents. An incident investigation team must be composed of representatives of the units under the agency with the main charge of handling the incident, related agencies and specialists related to the incident. When necessary, the agency with the main charge of inspection of causes of the incident shall designate an inspection organization to inspect the quality of the work to serve the analysis of causes of the incident and proposal of remedies.

For incidents with serious consequences, the Prime Minister shall decide to form an incident investigation committee or team with the Ministry of Construction assuming the prime responsibility for, and coordinating with related agencies in, inspecting their causes.

3. Contents of inspection of causes of an incident:

a/ Collecting related dossiers, documents and technical data and carrying out professional activities to identify causes of the incident;

b/ Assessing the safety of the work after the occurrence of the incident;

c/ Determining responsibilities of involved organizations and individuals;

d/ Compiling a dossier of inspection of causes of the incident, including an inspection report and relevant documents collected during the inspection.

4. Expenses for inspection of causes of incidents

a/ For an incident occurring during construction, the project owner shall pay expenses for inspection of its causes. After the inspection results are released and responsibilities of involved parties are defined, the organization(s) or individual(s) causing the incident shall pay inspection expenses. In case the incident occurs due toforce majeurereasons, the responsibility to pay inspection expenses must comply with the construction contract;

b/ For an incident occurring during the operation and use, the work’s owner or use manager shall pay expenses for inspection of its causes. After the inspection results are released and responsibilities of related parties are defined, organization(s) or individual(s) causing the incident shall pay inspection expenses. In case the incident occurs due toforce majeurereasons, the work’s owner or use manager shall pay inspection expenses.

Article 50.Dossiers of construction work incidents

Project owners, owners or user managers of construction works shall compile dossiers of incidents, each comprising:

1. A written record of the inspection of the incident scene specifying: name of construction work or item where the incident occurs; location of the construction site, time of occurrence of the incident, preliminary descriptions of the incident and its happening process; the state of the work when the incident occurs; preliminary report on human casualties and property damage.

2. Documents on the design and construction of the work which are related to the incident.

3. Dossier of the inspection of causes of the incident.

4. Dossiers related to the handling of the incident.

Chapter VII

STATE MANAGEMENT OF THE QUALITY OF
CONSTRUCTION WORKS

Article 51.State management responsibilities for quality of construction works

1. The Ministry of Construction shall perform the unified state management of the quality of construction works nationwide and manage the quality of specialized construction works, including civil works; construction works of the building-material industry and light industries; technical infrastructure works; and urban transport works, except railway works, river bridges and national highways.

2. Ministries managing specialized construction works:

a/ The Ministry of Transport shall manage the quality of transport works, except those managed by the Ministry of Construction;

b/ The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development shall manage the quality of agriculture and rural development works;

c/ The Ministry of Industry and Trade shall manage the quality of industrial works, except those managed by the Ministry of Construction.

3. The Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security shall manage the quality of national defense and security works.

4. Provincial-level People’s Committees shall perform the state management of the quality of construction works in their localities. Provincial-level Construction Departments and provincial-level departments managing specialized construction works shall assist provincial-level People’s Committees in managing the quality of specialized construction works in their localities as follows:

a/ Provincial-level Construction Departments shall manage the quality of civil works, construction works of the building-material industry and light industries; technical infrastructure works; urban transport works, except railway works, river bridges and national highways;

b/ Provincial-level Transport Departments shall manage the quality of transport works, except those managed by provincial-level Construction Departments;

c/ Provincial-level Agriculture and Rural Development Departments shall manage the quality of agriculture and rural development works;

d/ Provincial-level Industry and Trade Departments shall manage the quality of industrial works, except those managed by provincial-level Construction Departments.

Article 52.Contents of uniform state management of the quality of construction works by the Ministry of Construction

1. To promulgate, and guide the implementation of, legal documents on the quality management of construction works according to its competence.

2. To organize periodical inspection according to plan and irregular inspection of the quality management by ministries, sectors, localities and subjects involved in the construction of works, and of the quality of construction works when necessary.

3. To request and urge ministries managing specialized construction works and provincial-level People’s Committees to periodically inspect the quality management and the quality of construction works under their management.

4. To guide the registration of information on the capacity of organizations and individuals engaged in construction activities nationwide and post such information on its website according to regulations.

5. To verify construction designs of works according to the Decree on management of construction investment projects.

6. To examine the acceptance testing of specialized construction works under its management and coordinate with ministries managing specialized construction works in inspecting specialized construction works according to Article 32 of this Decree.

7. To provide guidance on costs for development, appraisal and modification of maintenance processes of construction works; identify organizations and individuals responsible for maintenance of construction works and guide the contribution of funds for maintenance of works under its management; to guide methods of estimating maintenance costs and organize the formulation and promulgation of construction cost norms for maintenance work.

8. To examine the maintenance of construction works and assess load-bearing safety and operational safety during operation and use.

9. To consider and decide to permit the use of construction works with expired design life, handle works showing signs of quality degradation and failure to ensure safe operation and use, and announce information on works with expired design life which are allowed for continued used or which are suspended from use, for works under its management.

10. To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries, ministerial-level agencies and localities in, inspecting and examining the observance of the law on maintenance of construction works nationwide.

11. To organize the inspection of the quality of construction works specified in Clause 1, Article 51 of this Decree when so requested or when detecting works of poor quality failing to meet design requirements or posing load-bearing risks.

12. To organize inspection of causes of incidents according to Article 49 of this Decree, for construction works specified in Clause 1, Article 51 of this Decree.

13. To take the main charge of organizing the conferment of construction work quality awards according to Article 9 of this Decree.

14. To annually and irregularly upon request summarize and report to the Prime Minister on the quality and quality management of construction works nationwide.

15. To handle violations in the quality management of construction works according to regulations.

16. To perform other tasks related to the quality management of construction works according to relevant laws.

Article 53.Contents of state management by other ministries and sectors of the quality of construction works

1. Ministries managing specialized construction works shall perform the quality management of construction works as follows:

a/ To guide the implementation of legal documents on the quality management of construction works applicable to specialized construction works;

b/ To conduct periodical inspection according to plan and irregular inspection of the quality management by subjects engaged in construction activities and inspection of the quality of specialized construction works under their management when necessary or when requested by the Ministry of Construction;

c/ To report to the Ministry of Construction on plans and results of inspection of the quality management and on the quality of construction works under their management;

d/ To comply with provisions of Clauses 5 thru 9, Article 52 of this Decree, for specialized construction works under their management;

dd/ To coordinate with the Ministry of Construction and related localities in inspecting and examining the observance of the law on maintenance of construction works nationwide;

e/ To organize the inspection of the quality of construction works according to Clause 2, Article 51 of this Decree when requested or when detecting works of poor quality failing to meet design requirements or posing load-bearing risks;

g/ To organize inspection of causes of incidents according to Article 49 of this Decree, for construction works specified in Clause 2, Article 51 of this Decree;

h/ To coordinate with the Ministry of Construction in organizing the conferment of construction work quality awards according to Article 9 of this Decree.

2. The Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security shall manage the quality of construction works as follows:

a/ To guide the implementation of legal documents on quality management of national defense and security works;

b/ To organize periodical inspection according to plan and irregular inspection of the quality management by subjects engaged in construction activities and inspection of the quality of national defense and security works under their management;

c/ To implement provisions of Clauses 5 thru 9, Article 52 of this Decree, for national defense and security works;

d/ To inspect the observance of the law on maintenance of national defense and security works;

dd/ To organize the inspection of the quality of construction works according to Clause 3, Article 51 of this Decree when requested or when detecting works of poor quality failing to meet design requirements or posing load-bearing risks;

e/ To organize the inspection of causes of incidents according to Article 49 of this Decree, for construction works specified in Clause 3, Article 51 of this Decree.

3. Ministries managing specialized construction works and other ministries and sectors shall summarize and make reports on the quality and quality management of construction works by their ministries and sectors annually before December 15 every year, and irregularly when requested.

Article 54.State management responsibilities of provincial-level People’s Committees for the quality management of construction works

1. To assign and delegate the responsibilities of state management of the quality of construction works to provincial-level departments managing specialized construction works and to district-level People’s Committees.

Based on their local practical conditions, provincial-level People’s Committees may authorize industrial park, economic zone and hi-tech park management boards to perform the state management of the quality of construction works in their areas.

2. To guide the implementation of legal documents on quality management of construction works in their localities.

3. To inspect the observance of this Decree by organizations and individuals engaged in construction activities in their localities.

4. To provide guidance on identification of organizations and individuals responsible for maintaining construction works in conformity with each type of works, sources of maintenance funds and forms of ownership over works.

5. To inspect the maintenance and assess the safety of construction works according to regulations.

6. To organize inspection of causes of incidents according to Article 49 of this Decree, for construction works prescribed in Clause 4, Article 51 of this Decree.

7. To organize inspection of the quality of construction works in their localities according to Clause 4, Article 51 of this Decree when requested.

8. To coordinate with the Ministry of Construction in organizing the conferment of construction quality awards according to Article 9 of this Decree.

9. To summarize and report to the Ministry of Construction on the quality and quality management of construction works in their localities annually before December 15 and irregularly upon request.

Article 55.Responsibilities of specialized agencies assisting provincial-level People’s Committees in performing the state management of the quality of construction works

1. Provincial-level Construction Departments shall act as the focal points to assist provincial-level People’s Committees in performing the uniform state management of the quality of construction works in their localities and the following tasks:

a/ Submitting documents guiding the implementation of legal documents on quality management of construction works in their localities to provincial-level People’s Committee chairpersons for promulgation;

b/ Guiding district-level People’s Committees, organizations and individuals engaged in construction activities in implementing legal documents on the quality management of construction works;

c/ Conducting regular and periodical inspections according to plan and irregular inspections of the quality management by agencies, organizations and individuals engaged in construction activities and of the quality of construction works in their localities;

d/ Assuming the prime responsibility for, and coordinating with provincial-level departments managing specialized construction works in, inspecting the observance of regulations on the quality management of specialized construction works;

dd/ Appraising designs of specialized construction works under their management according to the Decree on management of construction investment projects;

e/ Examining the acceptance test of construction works according to Article 32 of this Decree, for specialized construction works under their management;

g/ Inspecting the maintenance of construction works and assess load-bearing safety and operational safety during operation and use of specialized construction works under their management;

h/ Assisting provincial-level People’s Committees in organizing the inspection of construction works when requested and organizing inspection of causes of incidents according to Article 49 of this Decree; monitoring, summarizing and reporting on construction work incidents occurring in their localities to provincial-level People’s Committees;

i/ Guiding the registration of information on the capacity of organizations and individuals engaged in construction activities nationwide and post such information on their websites according to regulations;

k/ Making periodical and irregular reports on observance of regulations on the quality management and quality of construction works in their localities to provincial-level People’s Committees;

l/ Assisting provincial-level People’s Committees in summarizing and making annual and irregular reports on the quality of construction works in their localities for submission to the Ministry of Construction; making a list of contractors violating regulations on the quality management of construction works when conducting construction activities in their localities.

2. Provincial-level Departments managing specialized construction works shall:

a/ Assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with provincial-level Construction Departments in, organizing regular and periodical inspections according to plan and unexpected inspections of the quality management by organizations and individuals engaged in the construction of specialized construction works in their localities, and of the quality of such works;

b/ Implement the provisions of Points dd and e, Clause 1 of this Article, for specialized construction works under their management;

c/ Coordinate with provincial-level Construction Departments in inspecting specialized construction works when requested and inspecting incidents occurring in specialized construction works; summarize and make annual and irregular reports on the quality of specialized construction works in their localities for submission to provincial-level People’s Committees and provincial-level Construction Departments.

3. Construction management divisions under district-level People’s Committees shall:

a/ Guide commune-level People’s Committees and organizations and individuals engaged in construction activities in their localities to implement legal documents on the quality management of construction works;

b/ Conduct periodical and irregular inspections of the observance of regulations on the quality management of construction works, for construction works in their localities on which they are authorized to make investment decisions and grant construction permits;

c/ Coordinate with provincial-level Construction Departments and provincial-level departments managing specialized construction works in inspecting the maintenance of construction works and assessment of load-bearing safety and operational safety during operation and use;

d/ Coordinate with  provincial-level Construction Departments and provincial-level departments managing specialized construction works in examining construction works in their localities when requested;

dd/ Implement the provisions at Point dd and e, Clause 1 of this Article with regard to works decentralized to them for management;

e/ Report on, and handle, construction work incidents according to this Decree;

g/ Summarize and make annual and irregular reports on the observance of regulations on the quality management of construction works in the localities for submission to provincial-level People’s Committees and provincial-level Construction Departments.

4. Industrial park, economic zone and hi-tech park management boards shall perform the state management of the quality of construction works in the localities under their management as authorized by provincial-level People’s Committees.

Chapter VIII

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 56.Transitional handling

For works the construction of which has commenced before the effective date of this Circular, their acceptance test and operation must continue to  comply with the Government’s Decree No. 15/2013/ND-CP of February 6, 2013, on the quality management of construction works. For works the construction of which commences after the effective date of this Decree, the inspection of the acceptance test by project owners during and upon completion of construction must comply with this Decree.

Article 57.Organization of implementation

1. This Decree takes effect on July 1, 2015, and replaces the Government’s Decree No. 114/2010/ND-CP of December 6, 2010, on maintenance of construction works, and Decree No. 15/2013/ND-CP of February 6, 2013, on the quality management of construction works.

2. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees, heads of political organizations, socio-political organizations and socio-professional organizations, and related organizations and individuals shall implement this Decree.

3. The Ministry of Construction shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related ministries and sectors in, guiding and organizing the implementation of this Decree.-

On behalf of the Government
Prime Minister
NGUYEN TAN DUNG

Appendix I

CLASSIFICATION OF CONSTRUCTION WORKS

(To the Government’s Decree No. 46/2015/ND-CP of May 12, 2015)

I. CIVIL WORKS

1. Houses: Apartment buildings and other collective houses; individual houses.

2. Public works

a/ Education works: nurseries, kindergartens; general schools of all levels; universities, colleges,  professional secondary schools; vocational schools, technical workers’ schools, professional schools and schools of other types;

b/ Health works: general hospitals, specialized hospitals at central and local levels; regional polyclinics and specialized clinics; health stations, maternity homes; convalescence, functional rehabilitation and orthopedics houses, nursing homes for the elderly; disease prevention and control establishments; other health facilities;

c/ Sports works: outdoor sports facilities, indoor sports facilities and other sports facilities;

d/ Cultural works: convention centers; theaters, cultural houses, clubs, cinemas, circuses, dance halls; recreation and entertainment facilities and other cultural facilities where people gather in large groups; vestige works; museums, libraries, exhibition and display halls, outdoor statues and monuments and other facilities of similar functions; independent advertising panels and billboards.

dd/ Religious and belief works

Religious works:  Offices of religious organizations, pagodas, churches, chapels, cathedrals, oratories, monasteries, religious activists’ training schools, statues, steles, towers  and similar works of religious organizations;

Belief works: Communal houses, temples, shrines, ancestral halls, lineage temples and similar works;

e/ Trade and service works and working offices: multi-functional works, hotels, guest houses, hostels; working offices of socio-professional organizations; non-business units and enterprises; trade centers, supermarkets; markets; shops; restaurants, cafeterias and similar works; communications service centers; post offices, postal departments and buildings with communications equipment;

g/ Terminals: airports, harbors, railway stations and car terminals; passenger telpher lines;

h/ Offices of state agencies: working offices of the National Assembly, the Government, the President, ministries, sectors, People’s Committees and their attached agencies at all levels; offices of political organizations and socio-political organizations.

II. INDUSTRIAL WORKS

1. Works for manufacturing building materials: cement plants; building-material mines and other establishments producing building materials/products.

2. Works for metallurgy and mechanical engineering: non-ferrous metal metallurgical plants; steel metallurgical plants; engine and agricultural machine manufacturing plants; machine tool and industrial equipment manufacturing plants; lifting equipment manufacturing plants; construction machine manufacturing plants; complete equipment manufacturing plants; plants manufacturing or assembling vehicles (cars, motorbikes, vessels, locomotives, etc.); electric-electronic equipment manufacturing plants; plants of the supporting industry.

3. Works for mining and mineral processing: coal pit mines, open-cast coal mines, coal sorting and processing plants; mineral processing plants; ore pit mines and ore open-cast mines; ore sorting and enrichment plants; aluminum plants.

4. Oil and gas works: marine exploitation facilities (oil rigs and tankers); oil refineries; gas processing plants; biofuel plants; petrol and oil depots; liquefied gas depots; gas and oil pipelines; filling stations; liquefied gas filling stations; lubricant plants; waste oil recycling plants.

6. Energy works: thermopower plants; heat supply plants; steam supply plants, compressed air supply plants; hydropower facilities; nuclear power plants; wind farms; solar power plants; geothermal power plants; tidal power plants; waste-to-energy power plants; biomass power plants; biogas power plants; combined heat and power plants; power grids and transformer stations.

6. Works of the chemical industry:

a/ Fertilizer production works; plant protection chemical production works; petrochemical production works; pharmachemical production works, works producing base chemicals and other chemicals; works producing chemical power sources; works producing industrial gas products; works producing rubber products, detergents, paint products and printing ink;

b/ Works producing industrial explosives; works producing explosive precursors; industrial explosive warehouses.

7. Works of light industries:

a/ Works of the food industry: dairy factories; confectionery and instant noodle factories; refrigerated warehouses; cooking oil and flavor factories; liquor, beer, beverage factories; other processing factories;

b/ Works of the consumer industry: polyester fiber factories; textile factories; printing and dyeing factories; garment factories; leather tanning and leather product factories; plastic product factories; glazed terra-cotta, porcelain and glass product factories; pulp and paper mills; cigarette factories; and other consumer goods factories;

c/ Works of the agricultural and aquatic product processing industry: seafood processing factories; canned food processing factories; rice milling and polishing factories; other agricultural product processing factories.

III. TECHNICAL INFRASTRUCTURE WORKS

1. Water supply facilities: water plants, clean water treatment facilities; pump stations (for raw water, clean water pumping or pressure pumping); clean water tanks; water supply pipelines (for raw water or clean water).

2. Water drainage facilities: rainwater sewers, common-use culverts; wastewater drainage sewers; detention reservoirs; rainwater pump stations; wastewater treatment facilities; mud treatment facilities.

3. Solid waste disposal facilities:

a/ Ordinary solid waste disposal facilities; waste dumping sites, waste transfer stations, waste disposal complexes/facilities; solid waste disposal facilities;

b/ Hazardous waste disposal facilities.

4. Public lighting works: power networks for lighting, lamp posts.

5. Other works:

a/ Works for information and communications: communications poles; radio and television receiving and transmitting facilities; telecommunications signal transmission cable lines (direct-buried cables, underground cables, submarine cables and aerial cables); concrete poles for hanging communications cables;

b/ Cemeteries, funeral parlors, crematoriums;

c/ Parks, greeneries;

d/ Car and motorbike garages: underground garages and ground garages;

dd/ Culvers, technical chambers, technical tunnels.

IV. TRANSPORT WORKS

1. Roads: highways; motorways, urban roads, rural roads, ferry landings.

2. Railways: high-speed and semi high-speed railways; urban railways, elevated railways; subways; national railways; special-use railways and local railways.

3. Bridges: road bridges, pedestrian flyovers (excluding suspension bridges belonging to the rural road system); railway bridges; pontoon bridges; suspension bridges belonging to the rural road system.

4. Tunnels: road tunnels, railway tunnels and pedestrian tunnels.

5. Inland waterway works: facilities repairing/building inland waterway vehicles (wharves, docks, slipways, etc.); inland waterway wharves; ship dry locks, navigable channels (on rivers, lakes, gulfs, canals and shore-to-island channels).

6. Maritime works: harbors; facilities repairing/building inland waterway vehicles (wharves, docks, slipways, etc.); navigable channels (one-way channels); regulation works (breakwaters, current direction/shore protection embankments).

7. Other maritime works: island ferry landings/ports, special-use harbors, marine floating facilities; river or marine navigation signal buoy system; lighthouses and beacons.

8. Aviation works: flight service areas (including flight assurance facilities).

V. AGRICULTURAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT WORKS

1. Irrigation works: reservoirs, dams (including reservoir dams, anti-salt intrusion, freshwater-retention and re-regulating dams on rivers, streams, etc.); flood spillways; water intakes, drainage culverts and discharge culverts; water conducting canals and pipelines; hydraulic construction tunnels; irrigation and drainage pump stations and other irrigation works.

2. Dike works: river dikes; sea dikes; estuary dikes and works in, on and under dikes.

3. Works for husbandry, cultivation, forestry, salt making, fisheries and other agricultural and rural development works.

VI. NATIONAL DEFENSE AND SECURITY WORKS

National defense and security works are works which are built with state funds and managed by the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security serving national defense and security. National defense and security works other than those prescribed in Section I thru V of this Appendix shall be defined by the Ministry of National Defense and Security.

APPENDIX II

LIST OF WORKS AND ITEMS AFFECTING COMMUNITY SAFETY

(To the Government’s Decree No. 46/2015/ND-CP of May 12, 2015)

THE END