If companies want to participate in construction activities specializing in construction survey, are they required to have a certificate of eligibility for construction activities?

Main Content

• Is construction surveying organization required to have a certificate of eligibility for construction activities?
• What are eligibility requirements to be satisfied by organizations responsible for construction survey?
• What are the issuing authorities?

Is construction surveying organization required to have a certificate of eligibility for construction activities?

Pursuant to Article 83 of Decree 15/2021/ND-CP of Vietnam:

1. Each organization engaging in construction activities in the following fields must meet eligibility requirements:

a) Construction survey;

b) Construction planning;

c) Design and design assessment;

d) Construction project management consulting;

dd) Construction execution;

e) Construction supervision;

g) Construction inspection;

h) Construction cost management.

2. Each organization involved in construction activities in the fields specified in Points a through e Clause 1 of this Article must obtain a certificate of eligibility for construction activities (hereinafter referred to as “the eligibility certificate”), except for circumstances in clause 3 hereof. The fields to be covered by the practicing certificate are specified in Appendix VII hereto.

3. An organization is not required to obtain an eligibility certificate as prescribed in this Decree to engage in the following construction activities:

a) Perform project management tasks of a field-based PMB or area-based PMB (except for project management consulting as prescribed in Clause 4 Article 21 of this Decree); construction project management unit of one project as prescribed in Article 22 of this Decree; or the investor that manages the project in accordance with Article 23 of this Decree;

b) Design, supervise, execute fire safety as per the law on fire safety;

c) Design, supervise and execute communications, telecommunications system in the work;

d) Perform finishing activities of a building, such as plastering, tiling, painting, installing doors, windows, furniture and other similar works without affecting the load bearing structures of the work;

dd) Participate in construction activities for works of class IV; green parks, public lighting works; telecommunication signal transmission cable lines; projects which only have the works mentioned at this point;

e) Carry out construction activities of foreign organizations under construction operating licenses specified in Clause 2, Article 148 of the Law on Construction in 2014.

4. The organization engaging in the construction activities specified in Clause 1 of this Article must be an enterprise that is prescribed by the Law on Enterprises 2020 or an organization that is licensed to carry out construction activities and established as prescribed by law and must meet the requirements applied to each field as prescribed in this Decree.

5. The practicing certificate is valid for up to 10 years upon first issuance or adjustments to certificate rank or certificate renewal. In case of issuance upon adjustments or supplementation to the certificate or re-issuance as the unexpired certificate is lost, damaged or misstated, the validity period of the new certificate shall coincide with the former certificate.

According to the above regulations, it can be seen that a certificate of eligibility for construction activities is not required, but your company needs to meet all the competency requirements to be granted a certificate of eligibility for construction activities. In addition, your company must be an enterprise under the provisions of the Law on Enterprises 2020 or an organization with a function of participating in construction activities established in accordance with the law, having a suitable industry and satisfying specific requirements for each field of construction activities.

The certificate of eligibility for construction activities

What are eligibility requirements to be satisfied by organizations responsible for construction survey?

Eligibility requirements to be satisfied by organizations responsible for construction survey are stipulated in Article 91 of Decree 15/2021/ND-CP of Vietnam:

(1) General eligibility requirements for the ranks:

a) The organization responsible for construction survey must have laboratories or sign a written agreement or principal contract on cooperation in carrying out testing with the recognized laboratory serving construction survey for the field of geotechnical engineering survey;

b) The organization responsible for construction survey must have machinery and equipment or be capable of providing machinery and equipment for survey related to the field for which an eligibility certificate is sought.

(2) Specific eligibility requirements for each rank:

a) Rank I:

- The individual working as a president in charge of carrying out survey shall obtain a Rank-I construction survey practicing certificate relevant to the field for which an eligibility certificate is sought;

- The individual participating in carrying out survey shall have his/her expertise relevant to the type of construction survey for which an eligibility certificate is sought for;

- The organization has carried out construction survey of at least 01 group A project or higher or 02 group B projects or higher or 01 Class I work or higher or 02 Class II works or higher with the same type of survey.

b) Rank II:

- The individual working as a president in charge of carrying out survey shall obtain a Rank-II construction survey practicing certificate or higher relevant to the field for which an eligibility certificate is sought;

- The individual participating in carrying out survey shall have his/her expertise relevant to the type of construction survey for which an eligibility certificate is sought for;

- The organization has carried out construction survey of at least 01 group B project or higher or 02 group C projects or higher or 03 projects that require economic - technical reports or 01 Class II work or higher or 02 Class III works or higher with the same type of survey.

c) Rank III:

- The individual working as a president in charge of carrying out survey shall obtain a Rank-III construction survey practicing certificate or higher relevant to the field for which an eligibility certificate is sought;

- The individual participating in carrying out survey shall have his/her expertise relevant to the type of construction survey for which an eligibility certificate is sought for.

According to that, your company needs to fully meet the general conditions and one of the three specific groups of conditions of each rank to be granted a corresponding certificate of eligibility for construction activities.

What are the issuing authorities?

The power to issue the certificate of eligibility for construction activities is stipulated in Clause 1 Article 86 of Decree 15/2021/ND-CP of Vietnam:

- Construction authorities affiliated to the Ministry of Construction shall issue Rank-I eligibility certificates;

- Departments of Construction, socio-professional organizations shall issue Rank-II and Rank-III eligibility certificates.

If the eligibility certificate is issued against the law but the competent authority that issued the eligibility certificate fails to revoke it, the Ministry of Construction shall directly revoke that eligibility certificate.

Thus, if your company does business through construction survey, and if it is not in the cases where a certificate of eligibility is not required, it is required to satisfy general and specific eligibility requirements for each rank to be granted certificate of eligibility for construction activities. The power to issue the certificate of eligibility for construction activities is specifically divided according to each respective rank in the current law.