Can foreigners be granted construction practicing certificates in Vietnam?

1. Can foreigners be granted construction practicing certificates in Vietnam?

In Clause 1, Clause 2, Article 62 of Decree 15/2021/ND-CP stipulating construction practice certificates, specifically as follows:

1. The construction practicing certificate (hereinafter referred to as “the practicing certificate”) shall be issued to any Vietnamese citizens, overseas Vietnamese or foreigners who legally carry out construction activities in Vietnam in order for them to hold certain positions or run their own construction business as prescribed in Clause 3 Article 148 of the Law on Construction 2014, amended by clause 53 Article 1 of the Law No. 62/2020/QH14.

The fields to be covered by the practicing certificate are specified in Appendix VI hereto. The consulting activities relevant to architecture and fire safety shall comply with the law on architecture and fire safety.

2. Any foreigner or overseas Vietnamese who obtained a practicing certificate issued by a foreign authority or organization and has practiced construction in Vietnam for less than 06 months or he/she has provided construction consulting services in Vietnam while living abroad, he/she must have the practicing certificate bear consular authentication to practice construction activities. If he/she has practiced construction in Vietnam for at least 06 months, he/she is required to apply for conversion of the practicing certificate to the competent authority as prescribed in Article 64 of this Decree.

Pursuant to Point a, Clause 53, Article 1 of the revised Construction Law 2020 has the following provisions:

3. Holders of titles and individuals practicing construction activities who are required to possess practice certificates as prescribed in this Law include construction investment project managers, construction planning design managers, construction survey managers, construction design or design verification managers, construction supervision consultants, and managers in charge of formulating, verifying and managing construction investment costs. Practice certificates shall be classified into class I, class II and class III.

According to this Article, the foreigner you hire as a construction investment project manager has practiced construction in Vietnam for less than 06 months or he/she has provided construction consulting services in Vietnam while living abroad, he/she must have the practicing certificate bear consular authentication to practice construction activities.

Therefore, if these conditions are met, the foreign individual will still be granted a practicing certificate.

2. Do construction activities for works of class IV require construction practice certificates in Vietnam?

According to Clause 3, Article 62 of Decree 15/2021/ND-CP, an individual is not required to obtain a practicing certificate as prescribed in this Decree to perform the following construction activities:

a) Design, supervision of communications, telecommunications system in a work;

b) Design, supervision of 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;

c) Construction activities for works of class IV; green parks; telecom signal transmission cable lines.

Thus, individuals when conducting construction for works of class IV will not require a practicing certificate as prescribed in Vietnam.

3. What are cases of revocation of construction practicing certificates in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 63 of Decree 15/2021/ND-CP stipulating that an individual whose practicing certificate shall be revoked in one of the following cases:

a) The individual no longer satisfies the conditions specified in Clause 1 Article 66 of this Decree;

b) The application for issuance of the practicing certificate contains counterfeit documents;

c) The holder of the practicing certificate rents it, lends it, leases it, borrows it or allows another person to use it;

dd) Contents of the practicing certificate are corrected, erased or falsified;

dd) The practicing certificate is misstated at the fault of the issuing authority;

e) The practicing certificate is issued ultra vires;

g) The practicing certificate is issued in the case of failure to meet eligibility requirements as prescribed.

With this provision, individuals falling into one of the above cases will have their construction practicing certificates revoked in Vietnam.

Best Regards!