At what stages is the pre-acceptance test of construction works performed in Vietnam?

At what stages is the pre-acceptance test of construction works performed in Vietnam?

Article 123 of the 2014 Law on Construction, as amended by Clause 45, Article 1 of the revised Construction Law 2020, stipulates pre-acceptance test of construction works, specifically as follows:

1. The pre-acceptance test of construction works covers:

a/ Pre-acceptance test of construction works in the process of construction and pre- acceptance test of transitional construction stages when necessary;

b/ Pre-acceptance test of completed work items or construction works before being put into operation or use.

2. Completed work items or construction works may only be put into operation or use after their pre-acceptance test results show that they meet requirements of construction designs, applied standards and technical regulations and regulations on the management and use of building materials and their pre-acceptance tests are conducted in accordance with this Law.

3. Project owners shall organize the pre-acceptance test of construction works. Organizations and individuals participating in pre-acceptance test of construction works shall take responsibility for products they have certified when conducting the pre- acceptance test.

4. For national important works, large-sized works with complicated technical requirements, works significantly affecting the community safety ad interests, and works using public investment funds, pre-acceptance tests during the process of construction and of completed works shall be examined. The responsibility for examination of pre-acceptance tests is prescribed as follows:

a) The council established by the Prime Minister shall examine pre-acceptance tests of construction works of national important projects and large-sized works with complicated technical requirements;

b) Specialized construction agencies shall examine pre-acceptance tests performed by project owners with regard to construction works other than those mentioned at Point a of this Clause.

5) The Government shall elaborate the quality management, pre-acceptance test and settlement of incidents of construction works and large-sized works with complicated technical requirements.

Thus, the pre-acceptance test of construction works in Vietnam includes pre-acceptance test of construction work in the process of construction and pre- acceptance test of transitional construction stages when necessary; pre-acceptance test of completed work items or construction works before being put into operation or use.

How much is administrative fine for failing to organize pre-acceptance test of construction works in Vietnam? 

Pursuant to Article 13 of Decree 16/2022/ND-CP on violation of regulation on construction design (design following fundamental design, one-step design) and construction estimate, as follows:

1. A fine ranging from VND 40.000.000 to VND 60.000.000 shall be imposed on:

a) Failing to approve construction design as per the law for structures within projects where feasibility study report of construction investment is required;

b) Failing to submit construction design to construction authorities for appraisal as per the law;

c) Failing to organize commissioning in a manner satisfactory to regulations and law.

2. A fine ranging from VND 60.000.000 to VND 80.000.000 shall be imposed on:

a) Failing to organize preparation of construction design tasks in a manner satisfactory to investment guidelines or containing adequate details as per the law;

b) Revising construction design without obtaining reappraisal or reapproval as per the law when any of the following details is changed: engineering geology, design structural load, structural solutions, load-bearing structural components, or construction solutions that effect safety and load-bearing capacity of the structure;

c) Approving construction design in a manner not satisfactory to national technical regulations or applied standards or conforming to expired construction standards;

d) Approving design of the subsequent step in a manner unsatisfactory to primary details and configurations of the design of the previous step; approving construction drawing which is not conforming to design tasks in case of one-step design;

dd) Approving technical specifications without conforming to technical regulations applicable to the approved construction and requirements of construction design;

e) Approving safety design in manner exceeding the regulations thereby causing waste in case of construction utilizing public investment, non-public investment state capital, public-private partnership projects.

3. A fine ranging from VND 80.000.000 to VND 100.000.000 shall be imposed on:

a) Approving construction design without meeting economic technical requirements or granting earth and rock in a manner not suitable for geological surveying results or calculating transport distance in a manner not suitable for surveying results for construction utilizing public investment, non-public investment state capital, public-private partnership projects;

b) Approving cost estimates which contain details or norms not suitable for work or contain data inconsistent with applied norms thereby increasing the cost estimates for construction utilizing public investment, non-public investment state capital, public-private partnership projects;

c) Approving estimates with workload not suitable for technical design dossiers or construction drawing design or FEED design, technical specifications, technical requirements, and required tasks of the projects, structure, work items, and workload calculated from design drawing and required work of the structure;

d) Approving projects that contain: (i) incorrect calculation of transport costs of materials and equipment, or (ii) incorrect calculation of costs for earth removal and relocation, or (iii) incorrect calculation of workload, or (iv) incorrect calculation of costs of materials, equipment, personnel, construction machinery in a manner unsatisfactory to applicable regulations on construction cost management, unsatisfactory to regulations applicable at the time of determining construction estimates and market price of location of the construction for projects utilizing public investment, non-public investment state capital, public-private partnership projects;

dd) Approving design or estimates in a manner disregarding regulations on use of materials or non-baked construction materials.

4. Remedial measures:

a) Mandated law-compliant approval of construction design for violations under Point a Clause 1 of this Article;

b) Mandated submission of construction design to construction authorities for appraisal for violation under Point b Clause 1 of this Article;

c) Mandated commissioning or re-commissioning of construction design dossiers for violations under Point c Clause 1 of this Article;

d) Mandated preparation or re-preparation of law-compliant construction and design tasks for violations under Point a Clause 2 of this Article if construction has not been commenced or is in progress;

dd) Mandated appraisal or approval of revised construction design for violations under Point b Clause 2 of this Article if construction has not been commenced or is in progress;

e) Mandated re-approval of construction design in order to conform to national technical regulations for violations under Point c Clause 2 of this Article;

g) Mandated re-approval of subsequent design steps in order to conform to preceding design steps or design tasks for violations under Point d Clause 2 of this Article if construction has not been commenced;

h) Mandated re-approval of technical specifications for violations under Point dd Clause 2 of this Article if construction has not been commenced or is in progress;

i) Mandated re-approval of estimates, contract package estimates for violations under Points b, c, and d Clause 3 of this Article if contractor has not been selected or economic contract has not been signed to serve as the basis for revising contract package cost;

k) Mandated revision of design and estimates using percentage of non-baked construction materials for violations under Point dd Clause 3 of this Article if construction has not been commenced or is in progress.

According to this Article, when testing is not carried out, the unit may be fined from VND 40,000,000 to VND 60,000,000. In addition, it is also required to organize the pre-acceptance test or re-acceptance of construction design documents according to regulations in Vietnam.

Best Regards!