1. Decree 06/2021/ND-CP on Qualidy management, construction and maintenance of construction works,

2. Decree 35/2023/ND-CP (Amending 06/2021/ND-CP).

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(English – Tiếng Anh)

1. Decree 06/2021/ND-CP on Qualidy management, construction and maintenance of construction works

DECREE 06/2021/ND-CP

January 26, 2021

Detailing a number of provisions on quality management, construction and maintenance of construction works

Pursuant to the June 19, 2015 Law on Organization of the Government; and the November 22, 2019 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Organization of the Government and Law on Organization of Local Administration;

Pursuant to the June 18, 2014 Law on Construction; and the June 28, 2020 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Construction;

Pursuant to the June 25, 2015 Law on Occupational Safety and Health;

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

Pursuant to the November 20, 2018 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of 37 Laws concerning Planning;

Pursuant to the June 17, 2020 Law on Investment;

Pursuant to the June 18, 2020 Law on Investment in the Form of Public-Private Partnership;

Pursuant to the November 26, 2013 Bidding Law;

At the proposal of the Minister of Construction;

The Government promulgates the Decree detailing a number of provisions on quality management, construction and maintenance of construction works.

Chapter I. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of regulation and subjects of application

1. This Decree details a number of provisions on quality management of construction works, construction of works, and maintenance of construction works.

2. This Decree applies to domestic agencies, organizations and individuals, and foreign organizations and individuals involved in quality management of construction works, construction of works, and maintenance of construction works.

Article 2. Interpretation of terms

1. Quality management of a construction work means management by subjects engaged in construction activities under this Decree and relevant regulations during the preparation, construction investment, operation and use of such construction work to ensure its quality and safety.

2. Construction management of a work means management by subjects engaged in construction activities under this Decree and relevant regulations to ensure the safety, quality, progress and efficiency of the construction meeting design requirements and set objectives.

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

4. As-built drawings means drawings of a completed construction work, showing the work’s location and dimensions and actually used materials and equipment.

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

6. Specialized construction testing means measurement activities aiming to determine properties of construction land, building materials, construction environment, construction products, parts of construction works or construction works according to a certain process.

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

8. Land survey of a construction work means survey activities aiming to determine the location, shape and dimensions of the terrain or the construction work serving construction, quality management, warranty, maintenance and operation of the construction work and handling incidents therein.

9. Construction inspection means activities of checking and evaluating the quality or identifying causes of faults, value, lifetime and other technical specifications of construction products, parts of construction works, or construction works through monitoring and testing combined with calculation and analysis.

10. Construction assessment means construction inspection and evaluation of compliance with regulations on construction investment which is carried out by a competent state agency in accordance with this Decree.

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

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

13. Maintenance of a construction work means a combination of jobs aiming to ensure and maintain the normal and safe operation of such construction work according to design requirements in the course of operation or use. Maintenance of a construction work may cover one, several or all of the following jobs: checking, monitoring, quality inspection, servicing and repair of the work; addition or replacement of items and equipment of the work to ensure its safe operation or use, but does not include activities that change the utilities or size of the work.

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

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

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

17. Warranty of a construction work means the contractor’s commitment on its/his/her responsibility to remediate and repair in a certain period faults and defects likely to occur in the course of operation and use of such work.

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

19. Work manager/user means the owner of such work in case this owner directly manages or uses the work, or a person authorized by this owner to manage or use the work in case this owner does not directly manage or use the work, or a person managing or using the work in accordance with relevant laws.

20. Safety in work construction means solutions to prevent and control impacts of dangerous elements or harmful elements in order to avoid causing injuries or deaths or reducing health status of humans and to prevent incidents affecting occupational safety in the course of work construction.

21. Safety management in construction means management by subjects engaged in work construction under this Decree and relevant regulations in order to ensure safety in work construction.

22. Periodical evaluation of safety of a construction work (below referred to as work safety evaluation) means periodical consideration and evaluation of the force-bearing capacity and conditions to ensure the safe operation or use of the work.

Article 3. Classification and grading of construction works

1. Based on their structural characteristics and utilities, construction works shall be classified as follows:

a/ By their structural characteristics, works shall be classified into houses and house-typed structures; bridges, roads, tunnels and ports; pillars, towers, reservoirs, silos, walls, dikes, dams and embankments; pipeline-typed structures; and other structures;

b/ By their utilities, works shall be classified into works for civil use; works for industrial production purposes; works used as technical infrastructure facilities; works serving transport purposes; works serving agricultural production and rural development; and works for national defense and security purposes, as provided in Appendix I to this Decree.

Utilities of a work may be provided by an independent work, a complex of works or a technological line consisting of interrelated different work items forming common utilities of the work. A construction investment project may have one or several independent work(s) or a complex of main works or a main technological line. A work belonging to a complex of works or technological line constitutes a work item in such complex or technological line.

2. Grades of construction works shall be determined for types of works under Point a, Clause 2, Article 5 of the June 18, 2014 Law on Construction (below referred to as Law No. 50/2014/QH14), which was amended and supplemented under Clause 3, Article 1 of the June 17, 2020 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Law on Construction (below referred to as Law No. 62/2020/QH14), and used for management of construction investment activities under the Minister of Construction-issued regulations on grades of construction works.

3. The Minister of National Defense and Minister of Public Security shall provide the use of work grades referred to in Clause 2 of this Article in construction investment management for works used for national defense and security purposes.

Article 4. Specialized construction testing, monitoring and land survey of works

1. Specialized construction testing, monitoring and land survey of works are measuring activities carried out in the course of construction for determining technical parameters and positions of materials, structures and parts of works to serve construction and acceptance test of construction works.

2. Specialized construction testing shall be carried out by capable organizations and individuals as specified by law.

3. Organizations and individuals carrying out specialized construction testing, monitoring and land survey of works shall provide truthful and objective figures and take responsibility for the accuracy of the figures they provide.

4. Construction contractors shall organize specialized construction testing, monitoring and land survey of works in the course of construction of works according to construction contracts and relevant technical regulations and standards.

Article 5. Counter testing, construction inspection, and testing of force-bearing capacity of building structures

1. Counter testing during construction shall be carried out in the following cases:

a/ It is stated in technical instructions or construction contracts;

b/ When materials, construction products or equipment installed onto works or the built works show signs of failing to meet quality requirements set out in design dossiers;

c/ It is requested by a specialized construction agency.

2. Construction inspection and testing of the force-bearing capacity of building structures shall be carried out in the following cases:

a/ It is stated in technical instructions or construction contracts;

b/ When the built works show signs of failing to meet quality requirements set out in designs or when there are insufficient grounds for quality assessment and acceptance test;

c/ It is requested by an agency competent to sign contracts on public-private partnership (PPP) investment projects;

d/ It is requested by an agency competent to examine acceptance test under Clause 2, Article 24 of this Decree;

dd/ When the design life of works expires while the works’ owners wish to continue using them;

e/ When the works currently in operation or use show dangerous signs or are likely to become unsafe;

g/ To serve maintenance work.

3. Contents of construction inspection:

a/ Quality inspection of parts of construction works or construction works;

b/ Inspection to identify causes of breakdowns, causes of incidents, and lifetime of parts of construction works or construction works;

c/ Quality inspection of building materials, construction structures and construction products.

4. Expenses for construction inspection:

a/ Expenses for construction inspection shall be determined by estimation under regulations on management of construction investment costs and other relevant regulations as suitable to contents and volumes of jobs stated in signed contracts or approved inspection outlines;

b/ In the course of construction, construction engineering contractors, construction contractors, contractors supplying or producing construction products, and other related contractors shall bear inspection expenses if the results of inspection of their performed jobs show their faults. In other cases, inspection expenses shall be included in the total investment for work construction;

c/ Work owners or managers/users shall pay inspection expenses in the course of operation and use of such works. If inspection results show faults of related organizations or individuals, such organizations or individuals shall bear inspection expenses in proportion to their faults.

Article 6. Construction assessment

1. Contents of construction assessment:

a/ Quality assessment of construction surveys, construction designs, building materials, construction structures, construction products, parts of construction works, and construction works;

b/ Assessment of causes of breakdowns or incidents of construction works as specified in Chapter IV of this Decree;

c/ Other contents.

2. Agencies competent to organize construction assessment:

a/ Provincial-level People’s Committees shall organize assessment of works in their localities, except the cases specified at Points b and c of this Clause;

b/ The Ministry of National Defense or Ministry of Public Security shall organize assessment of national defense and security works;

c/ Ministries managing specialized construction works shall organize assessment of construction works as assigned by the Prime Minister;

d/ The competence to organize assessment of causes of incidents must comply with Clause 1, Article 46 of this Decree.

3. Expenses for construction assessment cover several or all of the following expenses:

a/ Expenses for construction assessment by assessment agencies, including working trip allowances and other expenses serving the assessment;

b/ Expenses for hiring experts to participate in construction assessment, including travel expenses, expenses for accommodations during working trips, and remuneration for experts;

c/ Expenses for hiring inspection organizations serving construction assessment, which shall be determined by estimation under regulations on management of construction investment costs and other relevant regulations as suitable to volumes of jobs stated in inspection outlines;

d/ Other necessary expenses serving assessment.

4. Project owners or work owners or managers/users shall pay assessment expenses. If assessment results show faults of related organizations or individuals, such organizations or individuals shall bear assessment expenses in proportion to and remediate their faults.

Article 7. Division of responsibilities of subjects in work construction management

1. Subjects directly involved in work construction activities include:

a/ Project owners and their representatives (if any);

b/ Construction contractors;

c/ Contractors supplying construction products, building materials, or structures and equipment to be installed onto works;

d/ Consultancy contractors, including contractors providing consultancy on survey, engineering, project management, supervision, testing, and inspection, and other consultancy contractors.

2. To participate in construction activities, the contractors specified at Points b, c and d, Clause 1 of this Article must fully satisfy the law-specified capacity conditions and shall directly and entirely take responsibility for the quality and safety of their performed jobs before law, project owners and main contractors in case they are subcontractors. Main contractors shall take responsibility before project owners for the jobs performed by subcontractors.

3. For joint-name contractors, they shall take responsibility for the quality of jobs they perform as stated in the joint-name agreement; such agreement must clearly state responsibilities of the head of the joint-name entity, general responsibilities of members and responsibilities of each member of the joint-name entity, as well as scope and volume of jobs to be performed by each member; these contents shall be stated in construction contracts with project owners.

4. In case of application of general contracts on engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) or turnkey contracts, general contractors shall organize quality management and construction supervision for the jobs they perform and those performed by subcontractors; and discharge other responsibilities as assigned by project owners under construction contracts.

5. Project owners shall organize construction management as suitable to forms of investment, forms of project management, forms of contracting, and amount and source of investment in the course of construction investment, according to the contents specified in Clause 1, Article 10 of this Decree; organize construction supervision and acceptance test of construction jobs, parts or items of construction works, and construction works; and organize handover and putting of works into operation or use under this Decree and relevant regulations. Project owners may themselves carry out construction activities if fully satisfying the law-specified capacity conditions. Project owner’s acceptance test does neither replace nor reduce responsibilities of construction contractors for jobs performed by the latter.

6. In case project owners establish management units of construction investment projects or assign tasks to specialized management units or regional management units of construction investment projects (below referred to as project management units):

a/ Project owners may authorize or assign project management units to perform one or several of the tasks falling within the scope of the former’s responsibilities in construction management under this Decree and such authorization or assignment shall be recorded in writing. Project owners shall direct, examine, and take responsibility for, tasks they have authorized or assigned to project management units;

b/ Project management units shall take responsibility before law and project owners for the performance of the authorized or assigned tasks referred to at Point a of this Clause.

7. In case project owners hire project management consultancy contractors or construction supervision contractors:

a/ Project owners may assign such contractors to perform one or several of the tasks falling within the scope of the former’s responsibilities in construction management under construction contracts. Project owners shall supervise the performance of construction contracts, and handle matters arising between construction contractors and local administrations in the course of project implementation;

b/ Project management consultancy contractors or construction supervision contractors shall take responsibility before law and project owners for their assigned tasks under contracts and relevant regulations.

8. In case of application of EPC general contracts or turnkey contracts, project owners shall examine and urge the performance of construction management tasks agreed upon in construction contracts; organize acceptance test of completed construction work items or construction works, and organize handover and putting of works into operation or use.

9. For PPP projects:

a/ PPP project enterprises shall discharge responsibilities of project owners regarding construction management in accordance with this Decree;

b/ Contract-signing agencies under the law on investment in the form of PPP shall organize the implementation of Clause 8, Article 19 of this Decree. In case competent agencies authorize their attached agencies or units to sign contracts, they shall direct, examine, and take responsibility for, the tasks performed by the contract-signing agencies; and contract-signing agencies shall take responsibility before competent agencies and before law for performance of their authorized tasks.

10. Rights, obligations and division of responsibilities of the subjects specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall be stated in contracts and must comply with law.

Article 8. Construction work quality awards

1. Construction work quality awards include:

a/ National awards on construction work quality;

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

2. Contractors winning the construction work quality awards specified in Clause 1 of this Article will be considered for enjoying priority when participating in construction bidding in accordance with the bidding law. Awards to be taken into account in considering 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.

3. The Ministry of Construction shall organize and approve construction work quality awards in accordance with Clause 4, Article 162 of Law No. 50/2014/QH13.

Article 9. Management of construction of separate houses

1. The management of construction of separate houses shall be carried out on principles of ensuring safety for humans, property, equipment, the houses themselves, adjacent works and the surrounding environment.

2. Construction designs of separate houses of households or individuals:

a/ For households’ or individuals’ separate houses without basements and with a total area of construction floor smaller than 250 m² or with fewer than 3 stories or with a height of under 12 meters, their designs may be implemented by project owners constructing these separate houses;

b/ For households’ or individuals’ separate houses with fewer than 7 stories or with 1 basement, except the case specified at Point a of this Clause, their designs shall be made by organizations or individuals fully meeting the law-specified capacity conditions;

c/ For households’ or individuals’ separate houses with 7 or more stories or with 2 or more basements, their design dossiers must have construction designs verified in terms of work safety before applying for construction permits. The making and verification of designs shall be carried out by organizations or individuals fully satisfying the law-specified capacity conditions.

3. Management of construction of separate houses of households or individuals:

a/ Project owners constructing separate houses shall organize and supervise the construction of such houses and take responsibility for the construction safety. They are encouraged to supervise construction activities, and make and archive dossiers, of separate houses in accordance with this Decree, except the case specified at Point b of this Clause;

b/ For the separate houses specified at Point c, Clause 2 of this Article, their construction and construction supervision shall be carried out by organizations or individuals fully satisfying the law-specified capacity conditions.

4. Contents of supervision of construction of separate houses of households or individuals:

a/ Supervision of construction methods and safety assurance measures for houses and adjacent works;

b/ Supervision of quality of materials, construction structures and equipment before using them in construction;

c/ Supervision of scaffolds, temporary support structures, machinery and equipment serving the construction;

d/ Measures to ensure occupational safety and environmental sanitation in the course of construction.

5. In addition to this Article, the construction of separate houses must also comply with other relevant regulations and regulations on management of construction investment projects in case separate houses belong to construction investment projects.

Chapter II. MANAGEMENT OF CONSTRUCTION OF WORKS

Article 10. Contents of management of construction of works

1. Contents of management of construction of works include:

a/ Management of quality of construction of works;

b/ Management of progress of construction of works;

c/ Management of volume of construction of works;

d/ Management of occupational safety and construction environment in construction of works;

dd/ Management of construction investment costs in the course of construction of works;

e/ Management of other contents under construction contracts.

2. The contents mentioned at Points a, b, c and d, Clause 1 of this Article are specified in this Decree. The content mentioned at Point dd, Clause 1 of this Article shall be specified in the Decree on management of construction investment costs.

Article 11. Procedures for management of construction of works

1. Receiving grounds for construction; managing construction sites.

2. Managing materials, products, structures and equipment used for construction works.

3. Managing contractors’ construction of works.

4. Supervising project owners’ construction of works, examining and carrying out acceptance test of construction jobs in the course of construction of works.

5. Supervising by engineering contractors as authors in the course of construction of works.

6. Carrying out counter-testing, testing of the force-bearing capacity of building structures, and carrying out construction inspection in the course of construction of works.

7. Carrying out acceptance test of completed construction stages or completed parts of construction works (if any).

8. Carrying out acceptance test of completed construction work items or construction works before putting them into operation or use.

9. Examining acceptance test of construction works by competent state agencies (if any).

10. Making and archiving as-built documents.

11. Restoring construction grounds.

12. Handing over construction works.

Article 12. Management of building materials, products and structures and equipment used for construction works

1. Responsibilities of contractors supplying construction products and building materials being marketable commodities:

a/ To organize testing for quality inspection and provide principals (purchasers of construction products) with certificates, written certifications, information and documents relating to construction products and building materials under construction contracts and relevant regulations;

b/ To check quality, quantity and types of construction products and building materials as required under contracts before handing them over to principals;

c/ To notify principals of requirements on transportation, storage and preservation of construction products and building materials;

d/ To repair or replace construction products not up to quality requirements according to commitments on warranty for construction products and construction contracts.

2. Responsibilities of contractors manufacturing or producing building materials, structures and equipment used for construction works according to separate requirements of designs:

a/ To submit to principals (purchasers) processes for production, experiment and testing according to design requirements and processes for quality control during production and manufacture with regard to building materials, structures and equipment;

b/ To organize manufacture, production, experiments and testing according to processes approved by principals and meeting design requirements; to carry out self-control of quality and coordinate with principals in controlling quality during manufacture, production, transportation and storage at construction sites;

c/ To organize checking and acceptance test of building materials, structures and equipment before handing them over to principals;

d/ To transport and hand over building materials, structures and equipment to principals according to contracts;

dd/ To provide principals with relevant certificates, written certifications, information and documents according to contracts and relevant regulations.

3. The contractors specified in Clause 1 or 2 of this Article shall be held responsible for the quality of building materials, products, structures and equipment they supply, produce or manufacture against requirements of principals and for the accuracy and truthfulness of documents provided to principals; acceptance test by principals does not reduce the above-mentioned responsibilities of such contractors.

4. Principals shall:

a/ Stipulate quantity, type and technical requirements of materials, products, structures and equipment stated in contracts signed with supply contractors or production and manufacture contractors in conformity with design requirements and technical instructions applicable to relevant works;

b/ Check quantity, type and technical requirements of materials, products, structures and equipment stated in contracts; request supply contractors or production and manufacture contractors to discharge responsibilities specified in Clause 1 or 2 of this Article before carrying out acceptance test of materials, products, structures and equipment for putting them into use for relevant works;

c/ Carry out quality control in the course of manufacture or production according to processes agreed upon with contractors;

d/ Make dossiers for quality management of materials, products, structures and equipment used for relevant works under Clause 5 of this Article.

5. A dossier for quality management of materials, products, structures and equipment used for a work must comprise:

a/ The producer’s quality certificate as required under the construction contract and regulations on product and goods quality;

b/ A certificate of origin, which must comply with the contract between the supply contractor and purchaser and the list of supplies and materials approved by the project owner, in case of import under regulations on goods origin;

c/ A regulation conformity certificate as required by relevant technical regulations and legal provisions, for materials, products, structures and equipment subject to regulation conformity certification and regulation conformity declaration in accordance with the law on product and goods quality;

d/ Information and documents relating to materials, products, structures and equipment used for the work under the contraction contract;

dd/ Results of experiment, testing and inspection of materials, products, structures and equipment used for the work according to applied technical regulations or standards and requirements of designs implemented in the course of construction of the work;

e/ Minutes of acceptance test of materials, products, structures and equipment used for the work under regulations;

g/ Other relevant documents as required under the construction contract.

6. Change of type or origin of materials, products, structures and equipment used for construction works:

a/ To-be-replaced materials, products, structures and equipment must satisfy design requirements and conform to applied technical regulations or standards and shall be approved by project owners under contracts;

b/ For works using public investment funds or state capital other than public investment funds, if the change leads to adjustment of a project, they must comply with regulations on management of construction investment projects.

Article 13. Responsibilities of construction contractors

1. To receive and manage construction grounds, preserve positioning markers and boundary markers of works, and manage construction sites under regulations.

 2. To develop and notify construction management systems of contractors to project owners and related subjects. Construction management systems must conform to sizes and characteristics of works and clearly indicate the organizational structure and responsibilities of each individual for construction management, including chief commanders of construction sites or project managers of contractors; individuals in charge of construction engineering and managing construction quality, safety, volumes, progress and  dossiers.

3. To submit to project owners for approval:

a/ Plans on testing, checking, inspection, experiment, trial operation, monitoring 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 construction methods;

c/ Construction progress;

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

dd/ General plans on occupational safety based on the contents provided in Appendix III to this Decree; detailed measures for safety assurance for jobs highly likely to affect occupational safety as determined in general plans on occupational safety;

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

4. To identify dangerous areas in construction.

5. To arrange personnel and construction equipment as stated in construction contracts and prescribed by relevant laws. To organize the implementation of general plans on occupational safety for the jobs they perform. Persons in charge of managing occupational safety of construction contractors must be trained in occupational safety or construction techniques and comply with other provisions of the law on occupational safety and health.

6. To perform responsibilities of principals in procurement, manufacture and production of materials, products, structures and equipment to be used for works under Article 12 of this Decree and construction contracts.

7. To organize testing, checking, experiment and inspection of construction materials, structures, products, engineering equipment, and technological equipment before and during construction according to design requirements and construction contracts. Specialized construction laboratories of contractors or hired by contractors under construction contracts must fully meet capacity conditions for carrying out testing and directly perform this job to ensure that testing results can help properly evaluate quality of construction materials, structures, products, engineering equipment, and technological equipment used for works.

8. To carry out construction activities strictly according to construction contracts, construction permits (if any) and construction designs. To promptly notify project owners of differences between design dossiers or construction contracts and actual conditions in the course of construction. To control the quality of construction jobs they have performed based on design requirements and construction contracts. Quality management dossiers for construction jobs must conform to the actual period of construction at construction sites.

9. To stop construction jobs or construction of parts or items of constructions works when detecting quality faults or defects or incidents, and remediate such faults, defects or incidents. To stop construction of works when detecting dangers of occupational accidents or incidents affecting occupational safety and take remedial measures to ensure safety before resuming the construction; to remediate consequences of occupational accidents or incidents affecting occupational safety occurring in the course of construction of works.

10. To carry out land survey and monitoring of works according to design requirements. To conduct testing, and examine trial operation of non-load independent works and non-load complexes of works under plans before requesting acceptance test thereof.

11. As main contractors or general contractors, to examine construction jobs carried out by subcontractors.

12. To properly use expenses for occupational safety assurance in the course of construction.

13. To keep construction diaries and as-built drawings according to Appendix II to this Decree.

14. To request project owners to organize acceptance test under Articles 21, 22 and 23 of this Decree.

15. To report to project owners on the progress, quality and volumes of construction, and occupational safety and environmental sanitation in the course of construction under construction contracts and relevant regulations or at the request of project owners.

16. To restore grounds and move supplies, machinery, equipment and other assets from construction sites after acceptance test and handover of works, unless otherwise agreed in construction contracts.

17. To make and archive construction management dossiers for the jobs they have performed.

18. Persons in charge of occupational safety management of construction contractors shall:

a/ Organize the implementation of general plans on occupational safety in the course of construction as approved by project owners; coordinate with stakeholders in regularly reviewing general plans on occupational safety and safety assurance methods and promptly propose adjustments in conformity with construction reality;

b/ Guide workers in identifying dangers likely to cause accidents and methods to prevent accidents at construction sites; request workers to properly and sufficiently use personal protective equipment when working; inspect and supervise workers in observing occupational safety requirements; and manage the number of workers at construction sites;

c/ Take timely remedies when detecting violations of regulations on occupational safety management or dangers likely to cause occupational accidents or incidents affecting occupational safety; decide on suspension of construction of jobs likely to cause occupational accidents or incidents affecting occupational safety; terminate work of workers who fail to observe safety technical measures or violate regulations on use of personal protective equipment in the course of construction and report such to chief commanders of construction sites or project managers;

d/ Participate in rescuing victims and remediating consequences of occupational accidents or incidents affecting occupational safety.

Article 14. Responsibilities of project owners

1. To select fully capable organizations and individuals to carry out and supervise construction of works (if any), carry out work quality testing and inspection (if any) and other construction consultancy jobs.

2. To hand over grounds to construction contractors according to work construction progress and construction contracts.

3. To examine conditions for construction commencement specified in Article 107 of Law No. 50/2014/QH13, which was revised in Clause 39, Article 1 of Law No. 62/2020/QH14. To issue a notice of the construction commencement under the construction law according to the form provided in Appendix V to this Decree. For works subject to examination of acceptance tests under Clause 1, Article 24 of this Decree, notices of construction commencement shall be concurrently sent to specialized construction agencies according to power delegation.

4. To carry out supervision of construction under Article 19 of this Decree.

5. To set up construction management systems and notify related contractors of tasks and powers of individuals in construction management systems of their own or of construction supervision contractors (if any). To arrange sufficient personnel qualified for supervision and safety management of construction; to examine the mobilization and appointment of personnel by construction supervision contractors against requirements of construction contracts (if any). Persons performing the management of occupational safety of project owners must be those trained in occupational safety or construction engineering and satisfying other requirements specified by the law on occupational safety and health.

6. To examine and approve general and detailed schedules of construction of work items prepared by contractors in order to ensure their conformity with approved construction schedules. To adjust construction schedules under construction contracts when necessary.

7. To examine and certify tested construction volumes under regulations and arising volumes under construction contracts (if any).

8. To report on safety assurance measures to specialized construction agencies under Clause 4, Article 52 of this Decree in case of construction of works in dangerous areas likely to greatly impact the community safety.

9. To organize counter testing and quality inspection of construction work sections, work items and works under Article 5 of this Decree.

10. To organize acceptance tests of construction works.

11. To make as-built documents of construction works.

12. To suspend or cease construction activities of construction contractors when deeming that the construction quality fails to meet technical requirements, or construction measures are unsafe or in violation of regulations on management of occupational safety, thus causing or being likely to cause occupational accidents or incidents affecting occupational safety.

13. To assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with related parties in, addressing problems arising in the course of construction; to report and handle, and remedy consequences of, incidents in construction works and incidents affecting occupational safety; to coordinate with competent agencies in handling incidents in construction works, investigating breakdown of construction machinery and equipment under this Decree.

14. To organize the implementation of regulations on environmental protection in construction of works in accordance with the law on environmental protection.

15. To make and send reports to specialized construction agencies for examination of acceptance tests under this Decree.

16. To perform by themselves, if fully capable, or hire qualified consultants under regulations to perform, supervision of one, several or all of the jobs specified in Clauses 3 thru 7 of this Article; to examine performance by these consultants as required by construction contracts and relevant regulations.

17. Persons of project owners that perform the management of occupational safety have the following responsibilities:

a/ To supervise observance of regulations on safety in construction by contractors;

b/ To organize coordination among contractors in the management of safety and resolution of occupational safety-related problems arising in the course of construction;

c/ To suspend or cease construction upon detecting signs of violation of regulations on safety in the course of construction.

Article 15. Responsibilities of workers in assurance of occupational safety on construction sites    

When carrying out activities on construction sites, workers of entities engaged in construction activities shall:

1. Perform responsibilities of workers in accordance with the law on occupational safety and health.

2. Report to competent persons on threats to occupational safety in the course of construction.

3. Refuse to perform their assigned jobs when deeming that the occupational safety is not secured or if they are not provided with sufficient personal protective equipment under regulations.

4. Accept to perform jobs subject to strict requirements on occupational safety and health only after having been trained and granted occupational safety and health cards.

5. Participate in rescue of victims and remediation of consequences of occupational accidents and incidents affecting occupational safety.

6. Perform other jobs as specified by the law on occupational safety and health.

Article 16. Management of machinery and equipment subject to strict requirements on occupational safety and used in construction activities   

1. Machinery and equipment subject to strict requirements on occupational safety and used in construction activities must go through technical inspection of occupational safety carried out by qualified organizations or individuals in accordance with the law on occupational safety and health.

2. Organizations and individuals that participate in technical inspection of occupational safety shall use online software for management of inspection databases (below referred to as software) as specified in Clause 3 of this Article for updating data on inspected machinery and equipment subject to strict requirements on occupational safety and used in construction activities.

3. The Ministry of Construction shall:

a/ Develop, manage and update software, and guide and request organizations and individuals engaged in technical inspection of occupational safety to use software;

b/ Upload information on organizations obtaining certificates of eligibility for technical inspection of occupational safety on software;

c/ Upload information on individuals obtaining inspector certificates on software.

Article 17. Management of construction volumes

1. Construction of works shall be carried out under approved design dossiers.

2. Construction volumes shall be calculated and certified between project owners, construction contractors and supervision consultants according to construction duration or phases and compared with approved design volumes to serve as a basis for acceptance tests and payment under contracts.

3. When construction volumes arise beyond approved construction designs and cost estimates, project owners, construction supervision units of project owners, design consultants and construction contractors shall consider and handle such volumes. Arising construction volumes approved by project owners or investment deciders may serve as a basis for payment and account-finalization of construction contracts.

4. Declaration of false or groundlessly increased construction volumes or collusion among parties leading to falsification of volumes eligible for payment is prohibited.

Article 18. Management of construction schedules

1. Before commencing construction of works, construction contractors shall work out construction schedules of such works in conformity with the contract performance duration and overall progress of projects approved by project owners.

2. For large-scale construction works with prolonged construction duration, their construction schedules shall be worked out for each monthly, quarterly or annual period.

3. Project owners, construction supervision units of project owners, construction contractors and related parties shall monitor and supervise construction progress and may adjust construction schedules in case the construction progress in some phases is prolonged without affecting the overall progress of projects.

4. If deeming that the overall construction progress of works needs to be prolonged, project owners shall report such to investment deciders for deciding on adjustment of the overall construction progress.

Article 19. Supervision of construction of works

1. Construction works shall be supervised in the course of construction under Clause 1, Article 120 of Law No. 50/2014/QH13. Supervision of the construction of a work covers:

a/ Checking conformity of 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 of the construction contractor;

b/ Examining the contractor’s construction measures against approved ones; approving general plans on safety and detailed safety assurance measures for special jobs highly likely to affect occupational safety in the course of construction;

c/ Considering and approving the contents specified in Clause 3, Article 13 of this Decree as submitted by the construction contractor and requesting the latter to modify these contents in the course of 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;

d/ Examining and approving building materials, structures and products and equipment installed onto the work;

dd/ Examining and urging the construction contractor and other contractors to perform jobs at the construction site according to requirements of construction designs and construction schedule;

e/ Supervising the observance of regulations on management of safety in the course of construction; supervising measures to ensure safety for adjacent works and supervising the monitoring of the work;

g/ Requesting the project owner to adjust designs when detecting errors or irrationalities;

h/ Requesting the contractor to suspend the construction when deeming that the construction quality fails to meet technical requirements or construction measures are unsafe or in violation of regulations on management of occupational safety, thus causing or being likely to cause occupational accidents or incidents affecting occupational safety; assuming the prime responsibility for, and coordinating with related units in, solving problems arising in the course of construction and coordinating with one another in handling and remediating incidents under this Decree;

i/ Examining and evaluating results of testing building materials, structures and products in the course of construction and other relevant documents serving acceptance tests; examining and certifying as-built drawings;

k/ Organizing counter testing and quality inspection of work parts, work items or the whole works (if any) under Article 5 of this Decree;

l/ Carrying out acceptance tests specified in Articles 21, 22 and 23 of this Decree; examining and certifying completed construction volumes;

m/ Performing other jobs as stated in the construction contract.

2. Project owners may themselves supervise the construction of works if fully capable to do so, or hire fully capable consultants to supervise one, several or all of the jobs specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

3. For EPC general contracts or turnkey contracts, the construction supervision responsibility is provided as follows:

a/ General contractors shall supervise the construction for 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 jobs specified in Clause 1 of this Article, which 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 carry out 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 d, Clause 3, Article 13 of this Decree.

4. Supervision organizations defined in Clause 2, and at Point a, Clause 3, of this Article shall develop their quality management systems and must have sufficient personnel for carrying out supervision at construction sites as relevant to the scale and requirements of supervision tasks. Depending on the size, characteristics and technical requirements of works, the personnel structure of the construction supervision organization may consist of the chief supervisor and supervisors. Supervisors of such organization must possess a construction supervision practice certificate relevant to disciplines they have been trained in and to grades of works.

5. Organizations and individuals that supervise the construction of works shall make reports on construction supervision with contents specified in Appendix IV to this Decree and send them to project owners and take responsibility for the accuracy, truthfulness and objectivity of contents of these reports. Such a report shall be made as:

a/ A regular report or report for a construction phase as provided in Appendix IVa to this Decree. Project owners shall provide the making of regular reports or reports for construction phases and time of report making;

b/ A report upon acceptance test of a construction phase or acceptance test of completion of a bidding package, work item or work as provided in Appendix IVb to this Decree.

6. In case project owners, EPC general contractors or general contractors under turnkey contracts carry out by themselves both construction supervision and construction, they shall set up their construction supervision units independent from direct construction units.

7. For works constructed with public investment funds or state capital other than public investment 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.

8. For PPP projects, contract-signing agencies shall:

a/ Examine requirements on capacity and experience of contractors in bidding dossiers or dossiers of requirements and examine results of contractor selection for bidding packages of their projects (if any);

b/ Examine the supervision of construction of works based on outlined supervision contents and tasks and under this Decree; examine the compliance with standards and technical regulations applicable to works and technical regulations of design dossiers in the course of construction.

Contract-signing agencies shall organize formulation and approval of examination outlines which must state the scope and contents of examination, number of examinations, and other requirements conformable to jobs to be performed and agreements in project contracts;

c/ Propose PPP project enterprises to request supervision consultants and construction contractors to replace their staffs who fail to meet capacity requirements stated in bidding dossiers or dossiers of requirements and specified by the construction law;

d/ Request PPP project enterprises to suspend or cease the construction of works upon detecting incidents affecting safety of works or showing signs of violation of regulations on force-bearing safety, fire prevention and fighting, or environmental protection, thus affecting human lives, community safety, and safety of adjacent works, and to request contractors to remediate such violations before assuming the construction;

dd/ Inspect the quality of parts, items and the whole of construction works upon having doubts about their quality or when so requested by state management agencies; organize inspection contractor selection and approve inspection contractor selection results in accordance with the bidding law; examine the performance of inspection under regulations;

e/ Participate in acceptance test of completed work items and works before being put into use under Article 23 of this Decree;

g/ Inspect the quality of works for use as a basis for transfer under project contracts, for BOT and BLT contracts, upon expiration of the commercial operation or service lease period.

Article 20. Author supervision by design contractors in the course of construction

1. Contractors that make construction designs shall carry out author supervision when so requested by project owners and as stated in construction contracts.

2. Contents of author supervision:

a/ Explaining and clarifying design documents when so requested by project owners, construction contractors or construction supervision contractors;

b/ Coordinating with project owners when so requested in settling design-related problems arising in the course of construction; adjusting designs to suit actual construction activities, and addressing design irrationalities when so requested by project owners;

c/ Promptly notifying project owners, and proposing solutions when detecting, that the construction carried out by construction contractors contravenes approved designs;

d/ Participating in acceptance test of construction works when so requested by project owners; when detecting that a work item or a work is not eligible for acceptance, promptly sending written opinions thereon to project owners.

Article 21. Acceptance test of construction jobs

1. Based on plans to test and examine construction jobs and actual progress of construction on construction sites, construction supervisors and persons in charge of construction engineering of construction contractors shall carry out acceptance test of construction jobs and take responsibility for results of quality evaluation of performed and tested construction jobs. Acceptance test results shall be certified in written records.

2. Construction supervisors shall base themselves on approved working drawing design dossiers and technical instructions, applied technical regulations or standards, and results of examination and testing of quality of materials and equipment in the course of construction which are related to objects subject to acceptance test to examine construction jobs requested for testing.

3. Construction supervisors shall carry out acceptance test of construction jobs within 24 hours after receiving requests of construction contractors for acceptance test of construction jobs. If refusing to carry out acceptance test, construction supervisors shall state reasons in writing to construction contractors.

4. A written record of acceptance test of construction jobs may be made for one or more than one construction job of a work item according to construction sequence and must have the following principal contents:

a/ Name(s) of job(s) tested;

b/ Test time and location;

c/ Persons signing the record;

d/ Acceptance test conclusions, clearly stating acceptance or non-acceptance; permission for performance of subsequent jobs; request for repair or completion of performed jobs, and other requests (if any);

dd/ Signatures, full names and positions of persons signing the record;

e/ Annexes (if any).

5. Persons signing a written record of acceptance test:

a/ Person directly supervising the construction of the project owner;

b/ Person in charge of construction engineering of the construction contractor or of general contractor or main contractor;

c/ Persons in charge of construction engineering of subcontractors of the general contractor or main contractor.

6. Persons signing a written record of acceptance test in case of application of an EPC contract:

a/ Person directly supervising the construction of the EPC general contractor or of the project owner, for jobs he/she has supervised under the contract;

b/ Person in charge of construction engineering of the EPC general contractor.

In case the EPC general contractor hires a subcontractor, the person in charge of construction engineering of the EPC general contractor and person in charge of construction engineering of the subcontractor shall sign the record;

c/ Representative of the project owner as agreed upon with the general contractor (if any).

7. Persons signing a written record of acceptance test in case of application of a turnkey contract:

a/ Person directly supervising the construction of the general contractor;

b/ Person in charge of construction engineering of the general contractor.

8. In case of joint-name contractors, the persons in charge of construction of members of the joint-name entity shall sign a written record of acceptance test of construction jobs they have performed.

Article 22. Acceptance test of construction phases or parts of construction works

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

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

b/ When a construction bidding package is completed.

2. Acceptance test of construction phases or parts of construction works shall be carried out on the basis of considering results of construction jobs tested under Article 21 of this Decree, results of experiments, examination, inspection, testing and trial operation up to technical requirements as stated in construction designs and legal documents in accordance with relevant regulations in the construction phase in order to evaluate conditions for acceptance test as agreed upon by parties.

3. Project owners and related contractors may agree on the time, sequence and contents of, conditions for, and persons participating in, acceptance test; acceptance test results shall be certified in written records.

Article 23. Acceptance test of completed work items or construction works before being put into use

1. Acceptance test of completed work items or construction works:

Before putting a work item or construction work into use, the project owner shall organize and directly participate in acceptance test of the whole work item or construction work when the following conditions are fully satisfied:

a/ Construction jobs have been fully performed under the approved design dossier;

b/ Acceptance test of construction jobs, parts and phases in the course of construction has been fully carried out under Articles 21 and 22 of this Decree;

c/ Results of experiments, examination, inspection, testing and trial operation are up to technical requirements as stated in construction designs;

d/ Regulations on fire prevention and fighting and environmental protection and other relevant regulations are complied with.

2. Conditional acceptance test and partial acceptance test of construction works:

a/ Project owners may decide to organize conditional acceptance test for putting work items or construction works into temporary operation in case the construction has been basically completed according to design requirements but there remain some quality problems that do not affect the force-bearing capacity, lifetime and uses of such works which can be safely operated in compliance with relevant specialized laws. Acceptance test results shall be certified in written records with the contents specified in Clause 6 of this Article, clearly stating quality problems that need to be remediated or construction jobs that need to be further performed and time needed to complete such jobs, and requirements on scope of use of works (if any). Project owners shall organize acceptance test of completed works after quality problems are remediated or the remaining construction jobs are completed;

b/ In case parts of construction works have been completed and satisfy the conditions specified in Clause 1 of this Article, project owners may decide to organize acceptance test of such parts for being put into temporary operation. Acceptance test results shall be certified in written records with the contents specified in Clause 6 of this Article, clearly stating tested parts of works. Project owners shall continue organizing the construction and acceptance test for the remaining parts or items of construction works under designs. Such construction must ensure safety and must not affect the normal operation of tested parts of construction works.

3. Conditions for putting works or work items into operation or use:

a/ Such works or work items have been tested for acceptance under Clause 1 or 2 of this Article;

b/ For the works specified in Clause 1, Article 24 of this Decree, acceptance test shall be examined by competent state agencies specified in Clause 2, Article 24 of this Decree before issuing documents on approval of acceptance test results of project owners under Point a of this Clause. For works using public investment funds or state capital other than public investment funds, project owners may make account-finalization of construction contracts only after obtaining the above documents on approval of acceptance test results. For works under PPP projects, the above documents on approval of acceptance test results serve as a basis for PPP project enterprises to make dossiers of request for certification of completion of works.

4. For works completely constructed with some main technical specifications and parameters not up to design requirements and not or not yet eligible for acceptance test of completed works or conditional acceptance test as specified in Clause 1 or 2 of this Article:

a/ Project owners and contractors shall clarify the technical specifications and parameters not up to design requirements; determine responsibilities of related organizations and individuals, and handle violations under construction contracts;

b/ These works may be considered for being put into operation or use only if they are traffic works or essential technical infrastructure facilities serving community interests on the basis of re-determination of technical parameters and conditions for putting them into operation or use as approved by investment deciders after obtaining opinions of competent state agencies in accordance with relevant regulations.

5. Project owners and related contractors shall reach agreement on the acceptance test time, procedures and contents; acceptance test results shall be certified in written records. Contents of and persons signing written records of acceptance test are specified in Clauses 2, 6 and 7 of this Article.

6. A written record of acceptance test of a completed work item or construction work must have the following contents:

a/ Name of the tested work item or construction work;

b/ Acceptance test time and location;

c/ Persons signing the record;

d/ Evaluation of satisfaction of the conditions for acceptance test specified in Clause 1 of this Article and conformity of the constructed work item or construction work with design requirements, technical instructions and other requirements of the construction contract;

dd/ Acceptance test conclusions (acceptance or non-acceptance of completion of the work item or construction work; request for repair or supplementary completion, and other opinions, if any);

e/ Signatures, full names, positions and legal person seals of persons signing the record;

g/ Annexes (if any).

7. Persons signing a written record of acceptance test:

a/ At-law representative of the project owner or an authorized person;

b/ At-law representative of the construction supervision contractor and chief supervisor;

c/ At-law representatives, chief commanders, or project managers of main construction contractors or the general contractor in case of application of general contracts; or at-law representative, chief commander or project manager of each member of the joint-name entity, in case of joint-name contractors;

d/ At-law representative and designing manager of the designing contractor when so requested by the project owner;

dd/ At-law representative of the agency competent to sign the project contract or an authorized person in case of investment in the PPP form.

Article 24. Examination of acceptance test of construction works

1. Acceptance test of construction works shall be examined by the competent state agencies defined in Clause 2 of this Article in the course of construction and upon completion of construction of these works under Clause 45, Article 1 of Law No. 62/2020/QH14, including:

a/ Construction works of national important projects; large-sized works involving complicated technical requirements specified in Appendix VIII to this Decree;

b/ Construction works using public investment funds;

c/ Construction works exerting great impacts on community safety and interests in accordance with regulations on management of construction investment projects other than those specified at Points a and b of this Clause.

2. Examining competence:

a/ The Council defined in Article 25 of this Decree may carry out examination for the works specified at Point a, Clause 1 of this Article;

b/ Specialized construction agencies under ministries managing specialized construction works may carry out examination for works under their management, regardless of investment funding sources, under Clause 3, Article 52 of this Decree, including grade-I works, special-grade works, works assigned by the Prime Minister, works built in lines running through 2 or more provinces, works under projects in which investment is decided by central agencies of political organizations, the Supreme People’s Procuracy, the Supreme People’s Court, the State Audit Office of Vietnam, the President Office, the National Assembly Office, ministries, ministerial-level agencies, government-attached agencies, or central agencies of the Vietnam Fatherland Front or of socio-political organizations (below collectively referred to as ministries and central agencies) or is delegated or authorized to others; and works under projects in which investment is decided by, or owners of which are, state economic groups, except the works specified at Point a of this Clause;

c/ Specialized construction agencies of provincial-level People’s Committees may carry out examination for construction works under their management in localities under Clause 4, Article 52 of this Decree, except the works specified at Points a and b of this Clause; provincial-level People’s Committees may delegate powers to specialized agencies of district-level People’s Committees to carry out examination of acceptance test;

d/ The Minister of National Defense and Minister of Public Security shall provide the competence to carry out examination for national defense and security works;

dd/ In case a construction investment project consists of many works or work items of different types and grades as specified in Clause 1 of this Article, the agency assuming the prime responsibility for examination shall be responsible for examining main works or work items of the highest grade under this project.

3. Contents of and procedures for examination of acceptance test in the course of construction and upon completion of construction of the works specified at Point a, Clause 1 of this Article must comply with the working regime of the Council specified in Clause 1, Article 25 of this Decree.

4. Contents of examination by specialized construction agencies:

a/ Examination of compliance with regulations on management of quality and safety in the construction of works by project owners and contractors participating in construction activities under this Decree and relevant regulations;

b/ Examination of conditions for acceptance test of completed works for being put into operation or use.

5. Procedures for examination of acceptance test in the course of construction by specialized construction agencies:

a/ After receiving a notice of commencement of construction of a work from the project owner as specified in Appendix V to this Decree, a specialized construction agency shall carry out examination for no more than 3 times, for special-grade or grade-I works, or no more than twice, for other works, during the period from the commencement of construction to completion of the work, unless the work encounters a quality incident in the course of construction or the project owner organizes acceptance test under Clause 2, Article 23 of this Decree;

b/ Based on the project owner’s report on work information, a specialized construction agency shall decide on the time of examination and notify the project owner of an examination plan; organize examination under Point a, Clause 4 of this Decree and issue a notice of examination results in the course of construction and send it to the project owner; the time limit for issuance of such notice is 14 days for grade-I or special-grade works or 7 days for other works from the date of examination.

6. Procedures for examination of acceptance test of completed works:

a/ At least 15 days, for special-grade or grade-I works, or 10 days, for other works, before the expected date of organization of acceptance test of a completed work by the project owner under Article 23 of this Decree, the project owner shall send 1 dossier of request for examination of acceptance test as specified in Appendix VI of this Decree to the concerned specialized construction agency;

b/ The specialized construction agency shall carry out examination under Point b, Clause 4 of this Article; for a work not undergoing examination in the course of construction under Clause 5 of this Article, it shall carry out examination under Clause 4 of this Article, and issue a document on approval of acceptance test results of the project owner as specified in Appendix VII to this Decree or a document on disapproval of acceptance test results of the project owner, clearly stating problems that need to be remediated. The time limit for issuance of such document is 30 days for grade-I or special-grade works or 20 days for other works from the date of receipt of a dossier of request for examination of acceptance test;

c/ During examination, the competent agencies specified in Clause 2 of this Article may request project owners and related parties to explain and remediate problems (if any) and request counter testing, construction inspection and testing of the force-bearing capacity of building structures under Article 5 of this Decree;

d/ Competent agencies may invite relevant capable organizations and individuals to participate in the examination of acceptance test.

7. Examination of acceptance test by the competent agencies specified in Clause 2 of this Article does neither replace, nor reduce responsibilities of, project owners for quality management of construction works and responsibilities of contractors participating in construction activities for quality of construction works regarding construction jobs they have performed in accordance with law.

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

9. The Minister of Construction shall provide guidance on expenses for examination of acceptance test in the course of construction and upon completion of construction of works.

 Article 25. Council established by the Prime Minister to examine acceptance test of construction works

1. The Prime Minister shall decide to establish the State Examination Council for Acceptance Test of Construction Works (below referred to as the Council) and provide organizational structure, responsibilities, powers, and working regime of the Council at the request of the Minister of Construction for the Council to discharge responsibilities specified at Point a, Clause 4, Article 123 of Law No. 50/2014/QH13 which was amended and supplemented under Clause 45, Article 1 of Law No. 62/2020/QH14.

2. The Council shall annually propose a list of construction works subject to examination of acceptance test by the Council to the Prime Minister for approval.

3. Ministries, ministerial-level agencies, Government-attached agencies, provincial-level People’s Committees and related organizations and individuals shall coordinate with the Council in the latter’s operation.

Article 26. Making and retention of as-built documents of construction works

1. Project owners shall make as-built documents of construction works according to Appendix VIb to this Decree before putting construction works or work items into operation.

2. For each construction investment project, as-built documents shall be made once for the whole project if the works (work 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. Project owners shall make and retain a set of as-built documents; subjects engaged in construction investment activities shall themselves retain documents related to the jobs they have performed. In case primary source documents are not available, original documents or lawful copies may be used. Particularly for houses and relics, the retention of documents must also comply with the law on housing or cultural heritages, respectively.

4. The retention period of as-built documents must be at least 10 years, for works of group-A projects, 7 years, for works of group-B projects, and 5 years, for works of group-C projects, since construction works or work items are put into use.

5. As-built documents transferred to historical archives must comply with the law on archives.

Article 27. Handover of construction works and work items

1. The handover of construction works and work items must comply with Article 124 of Law No. 50/2014/QH13 which was amended and supplemented under Clause 46, Article 1 of Law No. 62/2020/QH14.

2. Depending on specific conditions of each construction work, parts or items which have been completed and tested for acceptance under regulations may be handed over and put into operation at the request of project owners or operators/users.

3. Project owners shall make 1 management, operation and maintenance dossier according to Appendix IX to this Decree, and hand over such dossier to the construction work owners or managers/users upon handover of construction works or work items. Construction work owner or managers/users shall retain such dossier throughout the process of operation and use.

4. In case an item of a construction work or work item is put into use in part, the project owner shall make as-built documents, make and handoverthe management, operation and maintenance dossier for each part of the construction work that is put into use.

Chapter III. WARRANTY, MAINTENANCE AND DISMANTLEMENT OF
CONSTRUCTION WORKS

Section 1. WARRANTY OF CONSTRUCTION WORKS

Article 28. Requirements on warranty of construction works

1. Construction contractors and equipment supply contractors shall take responsibility before project owners for the performance of warranty for jobs they have performed.

2. Project owners shall agree in 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, work equipment and technological equipment; methods and forms of warranty; warranty value; keeping, use and refund/return of cash or assets retained as warranty security or guarantee and other forms of warranty security of equivalent value. The above-mentioned contractors may only receive back cash or assets retained as warranty security or guarantee and warranty security in other forms only after the warranty period expires and the contractors’ completion of warranty liability is certified by project owners. For works funded with public investment capital or state capital other than public investment capital, warranty security shall take the form of retention money or bank letter of guarantee; warranty period and warranty value are specified in Clauses 5, 6, and 7 of this Clause.

3. Depending on specific conditions of a construction work, the project owner may agree with contractors on a separate warranty period for one or several item(s) or bidding package(s) on construction or equipment installation, apart from the warranty period for the whole work under Clause 5 of this Article.

4. In case quality defects are detected or incidents occur in the course of construction of a work item and the contractor has managed to repair or remedy such defects or incidents, the warranty period for the work item may be extended as agreed upon between the project owner and construction contractor before such item is tested for acceptance.

5. The warranty period for new construction works and work items or renovated or upgraded ones shall be counted from the time project owners conduct acceptance tests according to regulations and must:

a/ Not be shorter than 24 months, for works of special grade or grade-I which are funded with public investment capital or state capital other than public investment capital;

b/ Not be shorter than 12 months, for works of other grades which are funded with public investment capital or state capital other than public investment capital;

c/ Point a or b of this Clause may be referred to when deciding on the warranty period for works funded with capital from other sources.

6. The warranty period for work equipment and technological equipment shall be determined based on construction contracts but must not be shorter than the warranty period provided by their manufacturers and shall be counted from the time the installation of equipment is tested for acceptance.

7. For works funded with public investment capital or state capital other than public investment capital, the level of warranty security is as follows:

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

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

c/ Point a or b of this Clause may be referred to when deciding on the warranty amount for works funded with capital from sources.

Article 29. Responsibilities of related subjects in provision of warranty of construction works

1. During the warranty period for construction works, when detecting errors or defects of construction works, project owners or construction work owners or managers/users shall notify such to project owners for requesting construction contractors or equipment supply contractors to provide warranty.

2. Construction contractors and equipment supply contractors shall provide warranty for jobs they have performed after receiving a request for warranty from project owners or construction work owners or managers/users for errors occurred in the warranty period and bear all warranty-related expenses.

3. Construction contractors and equipment supply contractors may refuse to provide warranty for errors or defects for which they are not at fault or which occur due to force majeure events specified in construction contracts. For errors or defects which occur due to contractors’ fault but contractors refuse to provide warranty, project owners may use warranty security to hire other organizations or individuals to provide warranty. The project owners or construction work owners or managers/users shall comply with regulations on operation and maintenance of construction works during operation and use.

4. Project owners shall examine and test before acceptance warranty work performed by construction contractors and equipment supply contractors.

5. Certification of completion of warranty of construction works

a/ When the warranty period expires, construction contractors and equipment supply contractors shall make a report on completion of warranty and send it to project owners. The project owners shall certify in writing the contractors’ completion of warranty of construction works and refund the amount of cash retained as warranty security (or release the letter of guarantee) to the contractors in case the examination and acceptance test of warranty jobs performed by construction contractors or equipment supply contractors specified at Point 4 of this Clause show satisfactory results;

b/ Construction work owners or managers/users shall participate in certification of completion of warranty for construction contractors and equipment supply contractors when requested by project owners.

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 expires.

7. For houses, contents of, requirements for warranty, warranty liability forms, and warranty value and period must comply with the housing law.

Section 2. MAINTENANCE OF CONSTRUCTION WORKS

Article 30.  Procedures for conducting maintenance of a construction work

1. Formulating and approving a maintenance process.

2. Planning and estimating funds for the maintenance.

3. Conducting the maintenance and managing the quality of maintenance.

4. Assessing the work’s safety.

5. Making and managing maintenance documents.

Article 31. Construction work maintenance process

1. A construction work maintenance process must include the following major contents:

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

b/ Objects, methods and frequency of examination of the work;

c/ Contents and instructions for conducting the servicing of the work suitable to each part and type of the work and equipment installed therein;

d/ Time and instructions for periodical replacement of equipment installed in the work;

dd/ Instructions on methods to remedy errors and handle deteriorations;

e/ Lifetime of the work, its parts and items, and equipment installed therein;

g/ Contents, methods and time of first-time assessment and frequency of assessment, for works subject to safety assessment during operation and use, according to applicable technical regulations and standards and relevant laws;

h/ Time, objects and contents of periodical examination;

i/ Time, methods and frequency of observation of the construction work, for works subject to observation;

k/ Requirements on maintenance documents and updating of information in maintenance documents;

l/ Other instructions related to maintenance and conditions for ensuring occupational safety and environmental sanitation in the course of conducting maintenance of the construction work.

2. Responsibilities for formulating and approving the maintenance process of a construction work:

a/ The construction design contractor shall formulate a maintenance process for the construction work and its parts and hand it over to the project owner, together with construction design dossiers for the post-basic design stage; and update this process to suit changes (if any) in the design during construction before the construction work or work items is/are tested for acceptance and put into use;

b/ The equipment supply contractor shall develop a maintenance process for equipment it/he/she 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 formulate maintenance process, the project owner may hire another capable consultancy unit to develop maintenance processes for the objects specified at Points a and b of this Clause and shall pay consultancy expenses;

d/ The project owner shall formulate and approve the  maintenance process under Point b, Clause 1, Article 126 of Law No. 50/2014/QH13 which was amended and supplemented under Point a, Clause 47, Article 1 of Law No. 62/2020/QH14. The project owner or construction work owner or manager/user may hire a capable consultancy unit to verify part or the whole of the maintenance process formulated by the design contractor so as to obtain grounds for approval of such process.

3. For construction works which have been put into operation and use without maintenance process, construction work owners or managers/users shall develop and approve a maintenance process and may organize inspection of quality of construction works when necessary so as to obtain grounds for formulating the maintenance process. The maintenance process must clearly indicate the remaining lifetime of the work, its parts and items and equipment installed in the work.

4. It is not mandatory to formulate a separate maintenance process for each construction work of grade III or lower grade, detached house or makeshift work, unless otherwise provided by law. Construction work owners or managers/users shall still conduct the maintenance according to this Decree’s provisions on maintenance of construction works.

5. In case there exist standards on maintenance or appropriate maintenance processes applicable to similar works, construction work owners or managers/users may apply such standards or processes to their works without having to develop separate maintenance processes for their works.

6. Adjustment of construction work maintenance processes

a/ Construction work owners or managers/users may adjust construction work maintenance processes when detecting irrationalities that may affect the quality or operation or use of works and shall take responsibility for their decision;

b/ Contractors that have formulated maintenance processes shall modify, supplement such processes or change irrationalities in such processes which are caused by their fault and may refuse unreasonable requests for adjustment of maintenance processes of construction work owners or managers/users;

c/ Construction work owners or managers/users may hire other capable contractors to modify, supplement or change maintenance processes if contractors that have formulated these processes cannot do so. Contractors modifying or supplementing maintenance processes shall take responsibility for the quality of jobs they perform;

d/ For works the maintenance of which is conducted according to technical standards on maintenance, when these standards are modified or replaced, construction work owners or managers/users shall carry out the maintenance according to modified contents;

dd/ Construction work owners or managers/user shall approve adjustments to construction work maintenance processes, unless otherwise provided by law.

Article 32. Construction work maintenance plans

1. Construction work owners or managers/users shall devise annual maintenance plans for their works based on the approved maintenance processes and the works’ actual conditions.

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

a/ Jobs to be performed;

b/ Implementation time;

c/ Implementation method;

d/ Implementation expenses.

3.  Maintenance plans may be modified or supplemented during implementation. Construction work owners or managers and users shall decide on modification or supplementation of maintenance plans of their construction works.

Article 33. Maintenance of construction works

1. Construction work owners or managers/users may themselves carry out examination, servicing and repair of construction works according to approved maintenance processes if they are fully capable or hire capable organizations to perform such jobs.

2. It is required to conduct regular, periodical and irregular examination of construction works so as to promptly detect signs of deterioration or errors of construction works and equipment installed therein which shall serve as grounds for servicing activities.

3. Servicing of construction works shall be carried out under annual maintenance plans and approved maintenance processes.

4. Repair of construction works includes:

a/ Periodical repair, including periodical repair of deteriorations or replacement of parts of and equipment installed in construction works which are damaged according to maintenance processes;

b/ Irregular repair, which shall be conducted when construction works or parts of construction works are damaged due to unexpected impacts such as wind, typhoon, flood, earthquake, collision and fire or show signs of deterioration, thus affecting safety in the use and operation of works.

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

a/ Periodical inspection according to approved maintenance processes;

b/ When detecting that construction works or parts of construction works is damaged or show sign of danger, thus failing to ensure safe operation and use;

c/ Upon request for assessing the actual quality of construction works to serve the formulation of maintenance processes, for works which have been put into use without a maintenance process;

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

dd/ Upon request of a competent state management agency.

6. Observation of construction works in service of maintenance shall be carried out in the following cases:

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

b/ Works showing signs of subsidence, tilt or crack or other abnormal signs which might lead to collapse;

c/ At the request of project owners or construction work owners or managers/users;

The Ministry of Construction and ministries managing specialized construction works shall provide lists of works for which observation is mandatory during operation and use.

7. For construction works which belong to multiple owners, apart from being held responsible for maintenance of parts under their private ownership, these owners shall also take charge of maintenance of parts under common ownership in accordance with relevant laws.

8. For construction works not yet handed over to their owners or managers/users, project owners shall formulate maintenance plans and carry out maintenance under this Article and Article 31 of this Decree.

Article 34. Quality management of maintenance jobs

1. The work owner or manager/user shall conduct regular, periodical or unscheduled examination of the work visually, based on regular monitoring data (if any), or with specialized examination equipment when necessary.

2. The servicing of a construction work shall be conducted step by step as stated in the maintenance process of such construction work. The servicing results shall be written in a record. The work owner or manager/user shall certify completion of the servicing and include relevant papers in maintenance documents.

3. The work owner or manager/user shall organize supervision and acceptance test of repair jobs; make, manage and archive repair documents in accordance with the regulations on management of construction works and other relevant regulations.

4. The repair of a work shall be subject to warranty 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. The warranty amount must not be lower than 5% of the contractual value.

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

6. For a work subject to monitoring or quality inspection, the work owner or manager/user shall hire a fully capable organization to conduct monitoring or quality inspection or, when necessary, may hire an independent organization to evaluate the report on inspection results or report on monitoring results.

7. 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 onto the work, and other necessary documents;

b/ The project owner shall hand over documents serving maintenance of a construction work to the work owner or manager/user before handing over the work for being put into operation or use.

8. Documents on maintenance of a construction work include:

a/ The documents specified in Clause 7 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 monitoring and results of quality inspection (if any) of the work;

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

g/ Other relevant documents.

9. For PPP projects

a/ Contract-signing agencies shall inspect PPP project enterprises’ performance of maintenance of construction works in accordance with this Decree;

b/ PPP project enterprises shall transfer technologies and hand over documents serving maintenance of construction works, and documents on maintenance of construction works to contract-signing agencies before handing over the works under project contracts.

Article 35. Maintenance costs of construction works

1. Maintenance costs of a construction work cover all necessary costs determined based on requirements of jobs to be done in conformity with the approved construction work maintenance process and plan. Maintenance costs may cover one, several or all costs of maintenance of a construction work as required by the approved maintenance process of such construction work.

2. Based on forms of ownership over and use management of construction works, funds for maintenance jobs of such construction works may come from one or several of the following sources: state capital other than public investment funds, state budget funds reserved for current expenditures, revenues from operation or use of construction works; funding sources contributed by or mobilized from organizations and individuals, and other lawful funding sources.

3. Categories of maintenance costs of construction works:

a/ Costs for annual maintenance jobs, including: costs for formulation of construction work maintenance plans and cost estimates; costs for regular and periodical examination of construction works; costs for servicing of construction works under annual maintenance plans; costs for development and operation of the database on maintenance of construction works; and costs for formulation and management of documents on maintenance of construction works.

b/ Costs for (periodic and unscheduled) repair of construction works, including costs for repair of the construction jobs of a work and costs for repair of equipment of a work according to the approved construction work maintenance process, and in case it is necessary to add or replace items and equipment of the work to ensure its safe operation or use with proper uses;

c/ Costs of consultancy serving the maintenance of a construction work, including costs for formulating and appraising of a maintenance process (in case a maintenance process is not available) or adjusting the maintenance process of a construction work; conducting quality inspection serving maintenance (if any); monitoring the work serving maintenance (if any); examining the work upon request (if any); periodically evaluating the safety of the work during its operation and use (if any); carrying out surveys serving designs for repair; formulating and verifying designs for repair and making maintenance cost estimates; compiling bidding dossiers or dossiers of requirements and evaluating bid dossiers or dossiers of proposals for selection of contractors; supervising the construction and repair of the work and supervising the repair of equipment of the work; and performing other consultancy jobs;

d/ Other costs, including other necessary costs for performing such jobs serving the maintenance of a construction work as audit and verification for approval of final accounts; insurance for the work; appraisal charge and other related costs;

dd/ Cost of maintenance management by work owners or managers/users.

4. Costs for the repair of works or equipment

a/ In case the repair of a work or an equipment requires a cost of under VND 500 million from state capital other than public investment funds and state budget funds reserved for current expenditures, the work owner or manager/user shall decide on the repair plan with the following contents: names of work parts or equipment to be repaired or replaced; reason for or purpose of the repair or replacement; volume of jobs to be performed; estimated expenses and time for the repair or replacement and time of completion;

 b/ In case the repair of a work or an equipment requires a cost of VND 500 or million or more from state capital other than public investment funds and state budget funds reserved for current expenditures, the work owner or manager/user shall make an techno-economic report or a construction investment project and submit it for appraisal and approval under the regulations on work construction investment;

c/ In case the repair of a work or an equipment is funded by other sources, the work owner or manager/user is encouraged to apply Point a or b of this Clause to determine costs for repairing the work or equipment.

5. Work owners or managers/users shall make estimates of costs for annual maintenance (excluding costs for repair of works or equipment). The management of costs for annual maintenance must comply with relevant regulations applicable to funding sources used for the maintenance.

Section 3. WORK SAFETY EVALUATION

Article 36. Sequence of evaluating the safety of a work

1. To make and approve a safety evaluation outline.

2. To organize the work safety evaluation.

3. To formulate a report on safety evaluation results.

4. To send the report to an agency competent to receive, and give opinions about, the results of work safety evaluation specified in Clause 4, Article 39 of this Decree.

Article 37. Contents of work safety evaluation

1. To examine and evaluate the working capacity of main force-bearing structures and work parts likely to be unsafe.

2. To examine and evaluate conditions ensuring the normal operation of a work, including: noise level, pollution levels of smoke, dust and harmful substances affecting human health; fire and explosion safety; results of inspection of equipment subject to strict safety requirements, and other relevant safety conditions.

3. Ministries managing specialized construction works shall:

a/ Promulgate technical regulations, standards, processes of work safety evaluation ;

b/ Announce inspection organizations fully capable of evaluating the safety of specialized construction works;

c/ Define lists of works for which the agencies specified in Clause 4, Article 39 of this Decree need to consider, and give their opinions about, results of work safety evaluation.

Article 38. Responsibilities for organization of work safety evaluation

1. The work owner or manager/user shall:

a/ Organize work safety evaluation under Article 36 of this Decree by itself/himself/herself if being fully capable to do so, or hire a fully capable inspection organization to carry out the work safety evaluation;

b/ Hand over documents serving the work safety evaluation to the inspection organization for use as a basis for making a work safety evaluation outline, including documents on maintenance of the work, designs of working drawings, as-built drawings, records of equipment installed onto the work, and other necessary documents. In case no document is available or documents of the work are not enough for the safety evaluation, the work owner or manager/user shall hire a fully capable organization to survey and make a document on actual state of the work to serve safety evaluation;

c/ Organize verification and approval of the work safety evaluation outline;

d/ Organize supervision of the work safety evaluation;

dd/ Consider and certify results of work safety evaluation;

e/ Send 1 copy of the report on results of work safety evaluation to a competent state agency specified in Clause 4, Article 39 of this Decree;

g/ Include documents on work safety evaluation in the documents serving maintenance of the work.

2. An organization carrying out work safety evaluation shall:

a/ Make a work safety evaluation outline in conformity with applicable technical regulations or standards and construction contract, and submit it to the work owner or manager/user for approval;

b/ Carry out the work safety evaluation according to the approved outline;

c/ Make a report on results of safety evaluation, and submit it to the work owner or manager/user under regulations;

d/ Take responsibility for the quality of its safety evaluation. That the work owner or manager/user certifies the report on safety evaluation results does neither replace nor reduce the responsibility for the safety evaluation carried out by the inspection organization.

3. A provincial-level People’s Committee shall:

a/ Review construction works subject to work safety evaluation in its locality; specify the roadmap and request the work owner or manager/user to organize the work safety evaluation in accordance with this Decree;

b/ Organize the safety evaluation in accordance with this Decree, for the works specified at Point a of this Clause with their owners or managers/users not yet identified in its locality.

Article 39. Certification of results of work safety evaluation

 1. The work owner or manager/user shall examine the volume of safety evaluation carried out, and consider the conformity of the work safety evaluation report with the approved work safety evaluation outline and terms of the contract in order to certify the results of work safety evaluation.

2. In case the report on results of work safety evaluation is unsatisfactory, the work owner or manager/user shall send its/his/her written refusal to certify such results to the inspection organization, stating the unsatisfactory contents to be re-evaluated or additionally evaluated by the inspection organization.

3. Within 14 days after receiving the report on results of work safety evaluation from the work owner or manager/user under Point e, Clause 1, Article 38 of this Decree, the state agency competent to receive reports on results of work safety evaluation shall consider and notify its opinion on work safety evaluation results to the owner of or person managing or using the work, specifically as follows:

a/ Approving the report on safety evaluation; requesting the work owner or manager/user to implement the recommendations of the safety evaluation organization to ensure that the work meets safety requirements;

b/ Disapproving the report on safety evaluation in case the performed jobs and reported results fail to meet requirements; requesting the work owner or manager/user to organize a re-evaluation or additional evaluation;

c/ In case the evaluation results show that the work fails to satisfy safety conditions, requesting the work owner or manager/user to comply with Article 40 of this Decree.

4. Unless otherwise prescribed by law, the competence to receive and give opinions about results of work safety evaluation is provided as follows:

a/ Provincial-level People’s Committees, for construction works located in a province;

b/ Ministries managing specialized construction works, for specialized construction works located in 2 provinces or more according to the competence specified in Clause 3, Article 52 of this Decree;

c/ The Ministry of National Defense or Ministry of Public Security, for works serving defense and security.

Section 4. HANDLING OF CONSTRUCTION WORKS SHOWING SIGNS OF DANGER OR CONSTRUCTION WORKS WITH EXPIRED LIFETIME, DISMANTLEMENT OF CONSTRUCTION WORKS

Article 40. Handling of construction works showing signs of danger, failing to ensure safe operation or use

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

a/ Examine 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, determining dangerous areas, and evacuating people and property so as to ensure safety, in case the work is likely to collapse;

d/ Immediately report the situation to the local administration of the nearest place;

dd/ Repair damaged parts which are likely to affect the work’s use or operation safety, or dismantle the work when necessary.

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

a/ Examine, notify, request and instruct the work owner or manager/user to survey and inspect the quality of the work, evaluate the degree of danger, and repair or dismantle the work’s part(s) or the work, if necessary;

b/ Request the work owner or manager/user to take urgent measures specified at Point c, Clause 1 of this Article, and the time limit for taking urgent measures in case the work owner or manager/user fails to take the initiative in applying such measures in order to ensure safety;

c/ In case a work item or work shows signs of danger and is likely to collapse, a competent state management agency shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the work owner or manager/user 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/ Handle the work owner or manager/user in accordance with law if it/he/she fails to comply with the request of the competent state management agencies specified in Clause 4, Article 39 of this Decree.

3. Particularly for an old apartment building or apartment building showing signs of danger, failing to ensure safe operation or use, the owner or manager/user of such building shall comply with this Decree and other provisions of the housing law.

4. When detecting a work item or work encountering an incident or showing signs of danger, failing to ensure safe operation or use, every citizen may report such to the work owner or manager/user, a competent state agency or the mass media for timely handling.

5. When receiving information on a work item or work encountering an incident or showing signs of danger, failing to ensure safe operation or use, the work owner or manager/user and the competent state agencies specified in Clause 4, Article 39 of this Decree shall take safety measures specified at Point c, Clause 1 of this Article. In case of failure to timely take such measures, causing human and property damage, it/he/she/they shall take responsibility in accordance with law.

Article 41. Handling of construction works with expired design lifetime

1. Construction work owners or managers/users shall determine the lifetime of works according to construction design dossiers and technical regulations and standards applied to the works.

2. For works having great impacts on community safety and benefits as specified by the law on management of construction investment projects, at least 12 months before the works’ design lifetime expires, work owners or managers/users shall report to the competent state agencies specified in Clause 4, Article 39 of this Decree on the time the works’ design lifetime expires and tentative handling plans.

3. After receiving the report specified in Clause 2 of this Article, the competent state agencies specified in Clause 4, Article 39 of this Decree shall make announcement of construction works with expired design lifetime on their websites.

4. Except detached houses of households and individuals, in case construction work owners or managers/users wish to continue using construction works with expired design lifetime, they shall:

a/ Organize examination and inspection of the construction works so as to assess the quality and state of the works, propose a plan to reinforce and renovate the construction works and repair damaged item(s) (if any), and determine the use duration after the works are repaired or reinforced;

b/ Reinforce and renovate the construction works and repair damaged item(s) (if any) so as to ensure the utilities and safety of the works;

c/ Send a report on results of implementation of the tasks specified at Points a and b of this Clause to the competent state agency specified in Clause 4, Article 39 of this Decree and other competent state agencies in accordance with relevant laws to seek the latter’s opinions on extension of the lifetime of the construction works, except detached houses. The time limit for competent state agencies to consider and give opinions on the extension of the lifetime of construction works is 14 days after receiving a report;

d/ Based on results of implementation of the tasks specified at Points a and b of this Clause and opinions of the competent state agencies specified at Point c of this Clause, decide whether or not to continue using the construction works and take responsibility for their decision.

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

a/ The construction work owner or manager/user does not wish to continue using the work;

b/ The results of examination and inspection to assess the actual quality of the work show that the work is unsafe and cannot be reinforced, renovated or repaired;

c/ The work is not permitted for continued operation or use by a competent state agency.

6. The competent state agencies specified in Clause 4, Article 39 of this Decree shall:

a/ Review construction works whose lifetime cannot be determined due to lack of grounds as specified in Clause 1 of this Article and request construction work owners or managers/users to perform the jobs specified in Clause 4 of this Article;

b/ Determine lifetime and announce works with expired lifetime and proceed with the jobs specified in this Article, for works whose owners or manager/users have not yet been identified;

c/ Notify construction work owners or managers/users of the cessation of the use of construction works and request construction work owners or managers/users to take charge of dismantling construction works and time of dismantlement for construction works which are not permitted for continued use specified in Clause 5 of this Article.

7. The handling of apartment buildings with expired lifetime must comply with the law on housing.

8. For households’ and individuals’ detached houses with expired lifetime, if wishing to continue using such houses, house owners or managers/users shall proceed with the jobs specified at Points a and b, Clause 4 of this Article, and base themselves on implementation results to decide whether to continue using such houses, except the cases specified in Clause 5 of this Article, and take responsibility for their decision.

Article 42. Dismantlement of construction works

1. Construction works shall be dismantled in the following cases:

a/ Serving ground clearance for construction of new works or makeshift works;

b/ In compliance with Point b, Clause 1, Article 118 of Law No. 50/2014/QH13, which was amended and supplemented in Clause 44, Article 1 of Law No. 62/2020/QH14;

c/ At the request of the competent state agencies specified at Points c, d and dd, Clause 1, Article 118 of Law No. 50/2014/QH13 which was amended and supplemented in Clause 44, Article 1 of Law No. 62/2020/QH14;

d/ Upon the expiration of the lifetime of the works as specified in Article 41 of this Decree.

2. Responsibility for dismantlement of construction works:

a/ Project owners and construction work owners or managers/users shall organize the dismantlement of construction works in accordance with the law on construction and other relevant laws;

b/ Chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees, chairpersons of district-level People’s Committees or competent state management agencies shall decide on the dismantlement of construction works in accordance with the law on construction and other relevant laws; decide on and organize coercive dismantlement of construction works in case project owners or construction work owners or managers/users fail to fulfill the responsibility in the dismantlement of construction works;

c/ Agencies competent to sanction administrative violations shall decide to apply the remedial measure of forced dismantlement of construction works or work items involved in violation in accordance with the law on handling of administrative violations;

d/ Competent agencies shall decide on the dismantlement and coercive dismantlement of houses in accordance with the housing law;

dd/ The Minister of National Defense or the Minister of Public Security shall prescribe the competence to dismantle works serving national defense or security purposes.

3. The plan and solution for dismantlement of a construction work must cover the following major contents:

a/ Grounds for formulation of the plan and solution for dismantlement of the construction work;

b/ General information about the work or work item to be dismantled;

c/ A list of applicable standards and technical regulations;

d/ Dismantlement design plan;

dd/ Progress and funds for dismantlement;

e/ Other contents (if any).

4. The person assigned to manage and conduct the dismantlement of a construction work in an emergency circumstance may himself/herself decide on all jobs in the course of dismantlement so as to ensure dismantlement progress, safety, and environmental protection and shall take responsibility for his/her decision.

5. In addition to this Decree, the dismantlement of construction works being public property must also comply with the law on management and use of public property.

Chapter IV. INCIDENTS IN CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION OR USE OF CONSTRUCTION WORKS

Section 1. CONSTRUCTION WORK INCIDENTS

Article 43. Grades of incidents occurring during construction and operation or use of construction works

Based on the degree of damage to construction works or 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/ Incidents causing the collapse of a construction work of grade I or a higher grade; causing the collapse of part of a construction work of grade I or a higher grade or causing damage which likely leads the collapse of a construction work of grade I or a higher grade.

2. Level-II incidents include:

a/ Incidents killing between 1 person and 5 persons;

b/ Incidents causing the collapse of a grade-II or grade-III construction work; causing the  collapse of part of a grade-II or grade-III construction work or causing damage which likely leads to the collapse of a grade-II or grade-III construction work.

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

Article 44. Reporting on construction work incidents

1. Right after an incident occurs, the project owner shall, in the quickest way possible, notify the incident, covering information on name of the work and location of the construction site and brief descriptions of the incident and damage (if any), to the commune-level People’s Committee of the locality where the incident occurs and its/his/her superior agency (if any). 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 written report on the incident to the district- and provincial-level People’s Committees of the locality where the incident occurs. For all incidents involving human casualties, project owners shall send reports to the Ministry of Construction and other competent state management agencies specified by relevant laws. Such a report must comprise the following major contents:

a/ Name of the work, location of the construction site, size of the work;

b/ Names of organizations and individuals engaged in construction of the work;

c/ Descriptions of the incident and the state of the construction work when the incident occurs, time of occurrence of the incident;

d/ Human casualties and property damage (if any).

3. For an incident related to a work running through 2 or more provinces, after receiving a written report or information on the incident, the provincial-level People’s Committee of the locality where the incident occurs shall send a report on the incident to the related specialized construction work-managing ministry.

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

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

Article 45. Handling of construction work incidents

1. When an incident occurs, the project owner and construction contractor shall promptly take measures to search, rescue and ensure safety for humans and property, restrict and prevent any further possible dangers; protect the incident scene and make reports as according to Article 44 of this Decree. People’s Committees of all levels shall direct and support involved parties in organizing forces to carry out search and rescue activities, protect the incident scene and perform other necessary tasks in the course of handling the incident.

2. Provincial-level People’s Committees shall assume the prime responsibility for handling construction work incidents and perform the following tasks:

a/ To consider and decide to halt or suspend the construction or operation or use of the whole or part or items of construction works, depending on the nature, degree and scope of impact of incidents;

b/ To consider and decide to dismantle or clear incident scenes on the basis of ensuring safety for humans, property, the construction works and adjacent works. Involved parties shall take photos, shoot videos, collect evidence and record necessary documents to serve the assessment of causes of incidents and compilation of incident case files before the incident scenes are dismantled or cleared;

c/ To notify the results of assessment of causes and tasks to be performed to remediate the incident to project owners, work owners and other involved parties;

d/ To handle involved parties in accordance with law;

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

3. Project owners and construction contractors, for incidents occurring during construction, or construction work owners or managers/users, for incidents occurring during operation or use, shall remediate incidents as requested by competent state agencies. After incidents are remediated, the 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 remediation of incidents based on the nature, level and scope of impact of incidents.

5. The Minister of National Defense and the Minister of Public Security shall prescribe the reporting and handling of incidents occurring in national defense and security works.

Article 46. Assessment of causes of construction work incidents

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

a/ Provincial-level People’s Committees shall assume the prime responsibility for organizing the assessment of causes of incidents occurring in their localities;

b/ The Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security shall assume the prime responsibility for organizing the assessment of causes of incidents occurring in national defense or security works;

c/ Ministries managing specialized construction works shall assume the prime responsibility for organizing the assessment of causes of construction work incidents when assigned by the Prime Minister.

2. The competent agencies specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall form incident investigation teams to assess causes of incidents. An incident investigation team must be composed of representatives of the units under the agency taking charge of handling the incident, related agencies and experts specialized in technical disciplines related to the incident. When necessary, the agency taking charge of organizing the assessment of causes of the incident shall designate an inspection body to assess the quality of the work so as to analyze causes of the incident and work out remedial solutions.

3. Jobs to done in assessment 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 incident occurs;

c/ Determining responsibilities of involved organizations and individuals;

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

4. Expenses for assessment of causes of incidents

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

b/ In case an incident occurs during the operation or use of a construction work, the construction work owner or manager/user shall pay expenses for assessment of the causes of the incident. After the assessment results are released and responsibilities of related parties are defined, the organization(s) or individual(s) causing the incident shall pay assessment expenses. In case the incident occurs due to force majeure reasons, the construction work owner or manager/user shall pay assessment expenses.

Article 47. Construction work incident case files

Project owners, construction work owners or managers/users shall compile incident case files, each comprising:

1. A record of inspection of the incident scene specifying: name of construction work or item involved in the incident; location of the construction site, time of occurrence of the incident, preliminary descriptions of the incident and its happening; the state of the work when the incident occurs; preliminary information on damage to humans and property; preliminary information on causes of the incident.

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

3. Dossier of the assessment of causes of the incident.

4. Documents related to the handling of the incident.

Section 2. INCIDENTS AFFECTING OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY DURING WORK CONSTRUCTION

Article 48. Incidents affecting occupational safety during work construction

1. Incidents affecting occupational safety during the work construction include:

a/ Collapse of machinery and equipment serving the work construction (below referred to as machinery and equipment incidents);

b/ Occupational accident incidents occurring during the work construction.

2. The declaration, investigation, reporting and handling of incidents affecting occupational safety during the work construction must comply with:

a/ Articles 49 and 50 of this Decree, for the incidents specified at Point a, Clause 1 of this Article;

b/ The law on occupational safety and health, for the incidents specified at Point b, Clause 1 of this Article.

Article 49. Declaration, reporting and handling of machinery or equipment incidents

1. When a machinery or equipment incident occurs, the project owner or construction contractor shall  notify as soon as possible the commune-level People’s Committee of the locality where the incident occurred, covering information about the name of the relevant work and location of construction of the work and preliminary information about the incident and damage (if any). Immediately after receiving the information, the commune-level People’s Committee shall report it to the district- and provincial-level People’s Committees, specialized construction agency and related organizations for promptly organizing the handling of the incident.

2. Apart from the declaration specified in Clause 1 of this Article, for machinery or equipment incidents that cause death or serious injury to 2 or more persons, the construction contractor shall make declaration in accordance with the law on occupational safety and health.

3. Project owners and construction contractors shall comply with the law on occupational safety and health and take timely measures to search, rescue and secure safety for people and property, and limit and prevent further possible dangers; and protect incident scenes and make declaration in accordance with Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.

4. People’s Committees at all levels shall direct and support related agencies to organize search and rescue forces, protect incident scenes and perform other necessary tasks during the handling of incidents.

5. An agency specified in Clause 1, Article 50 of this Decree shall:

a/ Inspect the incident scene, and examine the declaration and handling of the incident by the project owner and construction contractor in accordance with this Article;

b/ Consider and decide to stop or suspend the use of machinery and equipment; and stop or suspend the construction of items, part or the whole of the work, depending on the severity and scope of impacts of the incident;

c/ Consider and decide to dismantle or clear the incident scene on the basis of ensuring safety for people, property, the work and adjacent works. Involved parties shall take photos, shoot films, collect evidence and record necessary data on the scene of the incident to serve the investigation and identification of causes and compilation of the incident case file before the incident scene is dismantled  or cleared;

d/ Notify the results of investigation of causes of the machinery or equipment incident to the project owner and involved parties; and requirements for the project owner and involved parties to fulfill in order to handle the machinery or equipment incidents;

dd/ Handle involved parties in accordance with law.

6. Project owners, construction contractors or owners, or managers/users of machinery or equipment shall handle machinery or equipment incidents to meet safety requirements before resuming the construction.

7. Organizations and individuals causing machinery or equipment incidents shall compensate for damage and pay expenses for the handling of incidents and, depending on the nature, severity and scope of impacts of the incidents, be handled in accordance with other relevant regulations.

Article 50. Investigation of machinery or equipment incidents

1. Competence to investigate machinery or equipment incidents:

a/ Provincial-level People’s Committees shall assume the prime responsibility for investigating machinery and equipment incidents occurring in provinces, except the cases specified at Points b and c of this Clause;

b/ The Minister of National Defense and Minister of Public Security shall prescribe the investigation of incidents of machinery and equipment used in the construction of works serving national defense and security purposes;

c/ Ministries managing specialized construction works shall assume the prime responsibility for investigating incidents of machinery and equipment used for construction as assigned by the Prime Minister.

2. An agency competent to investigate incidents specified in Clause 1 of this Article shall set up an incident investigation team to investigate the incident. The incident investigation team shall be composed of representatives of the specialized construction agency, related agencies and experts in relevant technical specialties. In case of necessity, the agency in charge of incident investigation shall designate a consultancy organization to identify the cause of the incident and propose solutions thereto.

3. Contents of machinery or equipment incident investigation:

a/ To collect related dossiers, documents and technical specifications and perform professional jobs to identify the cause of the incident;

b/ To assess the safety level of machinery, equipment, the work and adjacent works (if any) after the incident;

c/ To clarify the responsibilities of involved organizations and individuals;

d/ To prepare an incident investigation dossier, comprising an incident investigation report and related documents during the investigation.

4. Project owners shall make advance payment for the cost for organization of incident investigation. After obtaining the incident investigation result and defining responsibilities of involved parties, the organization or individual causing the incident shall pay the cost for organization of incident investigation. In case the incident occurs due to a force majeure reason, the responsibility for paying the cost for organization of incident investigation must comply with relevant construction contracts.

5. Particularly, if the incident involves machinery or equipment not on the list of machinery and equipment subject to strict requirements for use in the construction of works and does not cause serious injury or death, the project owner shall assume the prime responsibility for organizing the investigation and handling of such machinery or equipment incident.

Article 51. Making of machinery or equipment incident handling dossiers

Project owners shall make a machinery or equipment incident case file, which must comprise:

1. A written record of inspection of the incident scene, specifying the name and location of the construction work item or construction work affected by the incident; specifications and profiles of the incident-related machinery or equipment; the actual state of the construction work item or construction work affected by the incident, preliminary description of the incident and its developments; preliminary information on human casualties and property damage; and cause of the incident;

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

3. Files of investigation of causes of the incident; handling of related organizations and individuals; and measures to handle the incident;

4. Documents related to the handling of the incident.

Chapter V. IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 52. Implementation responsibility

1. The Ministry of Construction:

a/ To take responsibility before the Government for performing the unified state management of the contents falling within the scope of regulation of this Decree;

b/ To promulgate, and guide and examine the implementation of, legal documents on quality management of construction works and construction safety according to its competence, and guide the implementation of this Decree;

c/ To perform the state management of the contents falling within the scope of regulation of this Decree for specialized works under its management; to organize the examination and inspection of the observance of this Decree by ministries, sectors, localities and subjects engaged in the construction, management, operation and use of works; to examine the quality of construction works and construction safety when necessary;

d/ To request and urge ministries managing specialized construction works and provincial-level People’s Committees to examine the observance of this Decree according to their competence;

dd/ To guide the determination of maintenance costs of construction works; to issue maintenance norms for construction works, except those for specialized works.

2. Other ministries managing specialized construction works:

a/ To perform the state management of the contents falling within the scope of regulation of this Decree for specialized works; to guide the implementation of legal documents on quality management of construction works and construction safety applicable to specialized construction works;

b/ To organize periodical examination under plans or unscheduled examination of construction quality and safety management for subjects engaged in work construction; to examine the quality of specialized construction works under their management when necessary or at the request of the Ministry of Construction;

c/ To organize the formulation of and issue maintenance norms for specialized works;

d/ To summarize and report to the Ministry of Construction on the quality of construction works, and on their quality management of construction works and construction safety management before December 15 every year and make unscheduled reports upon request.

3. Ministries managing specialized construction works shall direct and examine their attached specialized agencies in organizing the examination of acceptance test of specialized works under the ministries’ management, specifically as follows:

a/ The Ministry of Construction, for works of investment projects on construction of civil works, investment projects on construction of urban areas and residential areas; investment projects on technical infrastructure construction for functional areas; investment projects on construction of light-industry works, industrial works for production of construction materials, construction products of investment projects on construction of technical infrastructure works and investment projects on construction of urban roads within urban areas (except national highways running through urban centers);

b/ The Ministry of Transport, for works of investment projects on construction of traffic works, except the works managed by the Ministry of Construction as specified at Point a of this Clause;

c/ The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, for works of investment projects on construction of works serving agriculture and rural development;

d/ The Ministry of Industry and Trade, for works of investment projects for construction of industrial works, except the works managed by the Ministry of Construction as specified at Point a of this Clause;

dd/ The Ministry of National Defense or Ministry of Public Security, for works of investment projects on construction of works serving national defense or security purposes.

4. Provincial-level People’s Committees shall perform the state management of the contents falling within the scope of regulation of this Decree in their administrative geographical  areas as delegated; and direct and examine their attached specialized agencies in examining acceptance test of construction works of investment projects on construction of specialized works in their localities, specifically as follows:

a/ Provincial-level Departments of Construction, for works of investment projects on construction of civil works, investment projects on construction of urban areas and residential areas, investment projects on technical infrastructure construction for functional areas, investment projects on construction of light-industry works and industrial works of construction materials, investment projects on technical infrastructure construction, investment projects on construction of urban roads within urban areas (except national highways running through urban centers), and other construction investment projects with mixed utilities;

b/ Provincial-level Departments of Transport, for works of investment projects on construction of traffic works, except the works specified at Point a of this Clause;

c/ Provincial-level Departments of Agriculture and Rural Development, for works of investment projects on construction of works serving agriculture and rural development;

d/ Provincial-level Departments of Industry and Trade, for works of investment projects on construction of industrial works specified at Point a of this Clause;

dd/ Management boards of industrial parks, export processing zones, hi-tech parks and economic zones, for works to be built in the geographical areas assigned to them for management;

e/ For provinces and centrally run cities where provincial-level Departments of Transport-Construction are organized, these Departments shall perform the tasks specified at Points a and b of this Clause.

5. Based on specific conditions of each locality, the provincial-level People’s Committee shall delegate powers to the district-level People’s Committee to perform the state management contents falling within the former’s competence in accordance with this Decree; and shall delegate powers to the agency assigned to manage construction activities under the district-level People’s Committee to examine acceptance test of construction works in the district, and may adjust the delegation of powers to examine acceptance test as specified at Point dd, Clause 4 of this Article.

6. District-level People’s Committees shall perform the state management of the contents regulated by this Decree in their respective localities as delegated; direct and examine their attached units with construction management functions to examine acceptance test of construction works as delegated by provincial-level People’s Committees.

7. Ministries managing specialized construction works and provincial-level People’s Committees shall, under the guidance of the Minister of Construction, send to the Ministry of Construction periodical and annual reports on construction work quality management and construction safety for summarization and monitoring.

Article 53. Transitional provisions

1. For works of construction investment projects in which investment has been decided before the effective date of this Decree, their types and grades shall be determined in accordance with regulations effective at the time of investment decision.

2. For works the construction of which has commenced before the effective date of this Decree and which are subject to acceptance test examination under the Government’s Decree No. 46/2015/ND-CP of May 12, 2015, on quality management and maintenance of construction works, but which are not subject to acceptance test examination under this Decree, acceptance test examination is no longer required. Project owners shall organize acceptance test of completed works for putting them into operation or use in accordance with this Decree and report the implementation results to specialized construction agencies as delegated for monitoring.

3. Works the construction of which has commenced before the effective date of this Decree and which are subject to acceptance test examination in accordance with this Decree must comply with this Decree.

4. The regulations on the grading of construction works enacted before the effective date of this Decree shall continue to apply pending the issuance of regulations on the grading of works guided by Law No. 62/2020/QH14 and this Decree.

Article 54. Organization of implementation

1. This Decree takes effect on the date of its signing, and replaces the Government’s Decree No. 46/2015/ND-CP of May 12, 2015, on quality management and maintenance of construction works.

2. Ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, heads of government-attached agencies, chairpersons of provincial-level People’s Committees, heads of 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.

* The Appendices to this Decree are not translated.

—

2. Decree 35/2023/ND-CP (Amending 06/2021/ND-CP)

DECREE 35/2023/ND-CP

June 20, 2023

Amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Decrees relating to the Ministry of Construction’s state management

[…]

Article 11. Amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 06/2021/ND-CP …

… dated January 26, 2021 of the Government detailing a number of provisions on quality management, construction and maintenance of construction works

1. To amend and supplement Clause 4, and add Clause 4a below Clause 4 Article 7 as follows:

“4. In case of application of the turnkey contracts, the general contractors shall organize quality management and construction supervision for the jobs they perform and those performed by subcontractors; and discharge other responsibilities as assigned by project owners under construction contracts.

4a. In case of application of the general contracts on engineering – procurement of materials and equipment – construction of works (hereinafter referred to as the EPC general contractor), the division of responsibilities between subjects is prescribed as follows:

a) The project owner and the EPC can agree and stipulate in the contract the assignment of the EPC general contractor to perform one or more or more construction supervision contents under the responsibility of the project owner specified at Points b, c, d, dd, e, g, h, i and m, Clause 1, Article 19 of this Decree;

b) The general contractor is responsible for organizing quality management and is responsible for the work undertaken by the general contractor and subcontractors (if any); carrying out other responsibilities in accordance with the contract with the project owner.”.

2. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 17 as follows:

“2. The construction volumes shall be calculated and certified between the construction supervisor of the project owner and the construction contractor according to construction duration or phases and compared with the approved design volumes to serve as a basis for acceptance tests and payment under contracts.”.

3. To amend and supplement Point a, Clause 3, Article 19 as follows:

“a) The general contractor is responsible for carrying out the construction supervision contents that fall within the general contractor’s supervision responsibility in accordance with the contract for the work performed by itself and by the subcontractors (if any). The general contractor may implement these contents itself or hire qualified consulting contractors according to regulations to implement these contents;”.

4. To amend and supplement Clause 6, Article 21 as follows:

“6. Persons signing a written record of acceptance in case of applying EPC general contractor contract:

a) The person who directly supervises the construction of the EPC general contractor or of the project owner for jobs he/she has supervised under the contract;

b) The person in charge of construction engineering of the EPC general contractor.

In case the EPC general contractor hires a subcontractor, the person in charge of construction engineering of the EPC general contractor and person in charge of construction engineering of the subcontractor shall sign the record;

c) Representative of the project owner as agreed upon with the EPC general contractor (if any).”.

5. To amend and supplement a number of clauses, points of Article 23 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Point d, Clause 1 as follows:

“d) Comply with the provisions of law on fire prevention and fighting, environmental protection in construction and other relevant specialized laws;”.

b) To add Points c and d to Clause 3 as follows:

“c) For works under urban center construction investment projects, the project owner must complete the construction of works under the technical infrastructure system, social infrastructure and other works (if any) in the project according to the construction plan stated in the construction investment feasibility study report of the appraised and approved project or component project;

d) Be granted an environmental permit by a competent authority or have carried out environmental registration in cases subject to having an environmental license or environmental registration according to the provisions of environmental law and implementing other relevant specialized laws (if any).

6. To amend and supplement a number of clauses, points of Article 24 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Point b, and add Point b1 after Point b Clause 2 as follows:

“b) Specialized construction agencies under ministries managing specialized construction works may carry out examination for works under their management, regardless of investment funding sources, under Clause 3, Article 52 of this Decree, including: works assigned by the Prime Minister, special-grade works, grade-I works, works located in the administrative areas of 2 or more provinces, except for works specified at Points a and b1 of this Clause and works under construction investment projects, with the only request of preparing construction investment techno-economic report;

b1) The specialized construction agencies under the People’s Committees of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City shall inspect works under projects invested with public investment funds decided by the Chairpersons of the City People’s Committees for investment or decentralization or authorization of investment decisions, except for the works specified at Point a of this Clause;”.

b) To amend and supplement Point b, Clause 4 as follows:

“b) Check the conditions for acceptance of completed works.”.

7. To amend and supplement Clause 2, Article 27 as follows:

“2. Based on specific conditions, construction works, parts or items which have been completed and tested for acceptance under regulations shall be handed over and put into operation and use at the request of project owners or operators/users. In case of handing over works or work items under an urban center construction investment project, before handover, it must complete the construction of works under the technical infrastructure system, social infrastructure and other works (if any) in the project according to the construction plan stated in the construction investment feasibility study report of the appraised and approved project or component project according to regulations.”.

8. To amend and supplement Clause 3 and add Clause 3a below Clause 3, Article 53 as follows:

“3. Construction works commenced before the effective date of this Decree that are subject to acceptance inspection in accordance with this Decree shall be carried out in accordance with this Decree, except for the cases specified in Clause 3a of this Decree.

3a. Construction works commenced before the effective date of this Decree that are subject to acceptance inspection in accordance with Decree No. 46/2015/ND-CP, this Decree and the authority to inspect the acceptance test determined in accordance with Decree No. 46/2015/ND-CP is a specialized construction agency under the Provincial-level People’s Committee or District-level People’s Committee according to decentralization, the authority to inspect the acceptance test shall comply with Decree No. 46/2015/ND-CP.”. 

9. To replace Appendix VII with Appendix V attached to this Decree.

[…]

Article 16. Transitional provision

[…]

7. Transitional provision for amendments and supplements to Decree No. 06/2021/ND-CP

a) Construction works commenced before the effective date of this Decree that are subject to acceptance inspection in accordance with this Decree shall be carried out in accordance with this Decree, except for the cases specified at Point b of this Clause;

Construction works commenced during the period from the effective date of Decree No. 06/2021/ND-CP to before the effective date of this Decree that are subject to acceptance inspection in accordance with Decree No. 06/2021/ND-CP, this Decree and the authority to inspect the acceptance test determined in accordance with Decree No. 06/2021/ND-CP is a specialized construction agency under the Provincial-level People’s Committee or District-level People’s Committee according to decentralization, the authority to inspect the acceptance test is carried out in accordance with Decree No. 06/2021/ND-CP.

[…]

Article 17. Implementation provisions

1. This Decree takes effect from the date of its signing.

2. The Ministries, the Heads of ministerial-level agencies, the Heads of Government-attached agencies, the Chairpersons of the People’s Committees of centrally-run cities and provinces, the relevant organizations and individuals shall take responsibilities for implementation of this Decree.

* All Appendices are not translated herein.