Originally published 29 December 2010

Keywords: new regulations, maintenance, construction works, Vietnam

On 6 December 2010 the Vietnamese Government issued Decree No. 114/2010/ND-CP guiding the implementation of the Law on Construction regarding maintenance of construction works on the territory of Vietnam (Decree 114).

Maintenance of construction works means a set of tasks conducted for the purpose of ensuring and keeping the normal and safe operation of construction works as stipulated in the design and in the process of their exploitation and use.

Maintenance may contain one or some or all of the following tasks: checking, monitoring, quality testing, maintaining, and repairing of construction works.

Where construction works and their components are put into use and operation, the owners or their authorised representatives, the managers or the users must maintain such construction works in accordance with the provisions of Decree 114.

The provincial People's Committee will co-ordinate with line Ministries to inspect and supervise observance by the owners or their authorised representatives of the regulation on construction works maintenance under the following two inspection regimes:

  • Random inspection of all construction works;
  • Periodic inspection of construction works of grade II or higher, to be conducted at least once every five years, and of the construction works where incidents occur which may cause disasters pursuant to the provisions of legislation on management of construction works quality.

If any downgrade on the quality of the construction works is found, the owners or their authorised representatives must conduct inspection and take safety measures such as restriction on the use, suspension of the operation, or repair of the construction works. If they fail to do so, they will be subject to legal liability.

Expenditures on maintenance may come from the following sources:

  • State budget
  • Fees collected for use of the construction works (outside the State budget)
  • Equity of investors or owners in respect of commercial works
  • Contribution and mobilisation from organisations and/or individuals
  • Other legally established funds

The following persons must pay for maintenance costs:

  • The owner or authorised person, unless otherwise prescribed by law;
  • The user of the construction works which have become operational;
  • For construction works of multiple owners, these owners must pay for the cost of maintaining their own portions and the maintenance cost of using facilities of common ownership.

The Ministry of Construction will exercise unified State management over maintenance of construction works.

Decree 114 will take effect on 20 January 2011. On this effective date Decree 114 will repeal and replace the regulations on maintenance in Chapter VII of Decree No. 209/2004/ND-CP dated 16 December 2004 of the Government on the quality management of construction works.

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