Guidelines on maintenance of works belonging to inland waterway infrastructure assets in Vietnam

Guidelines on maintenance of works belonging to inland waterway infrastructure assets in Vietnam​ (Image from the Internet)

On January 20, 2025, the Government of Vietnam issued Decree 12/2025/ND-CP governing the management, utilization, and exploitation of inland waterway infrastructure assets.

Guidelines on maintenance of works belonging to inland waterway infrastructure assets in Vietnam

As detailed in Article 10 of Decree 12/2025/ND-CP, the maintenance of works belonging to inland waterway infrastructure assets is to be conducted as follows:

- Works belonging to inland waterway infrastructure assets must be maintained to ensure normal and safe operations during their use and exploitation.

- The maintenance of works belonging to inland waterway infrastructure assets includes maintenance by execution quality and maintenance by actual volume.

+ Maintenance by execution quality involves performing maintenance activities according to specified quality standards, within a defined period with a specified amount of money as stated in the Economic Contract. This form of maintenance by execution quality is only applied to the regular maintenance of works belonging to inland waterway infrastructure assets.

Supervision, acceptance criteria for maintenance outcomes of works belonging to inland waterway infrastructure assets by execution quality are to be determined by the Minister of Transport.

+ Maintenance by actual volume entails conducting maintenance activities according to the actual work volume performed.

+ The Minister of Transport (for assets managed by the central government) and the Provincial People's Committee (for assets managed by local authorities) decide or delegate decision-making authority on the application of maintenance by execution quality or maintenance by actual volume for regular maintenance tasks.

- Other maintenance contents for works belonging to inland waterway infrastructure assets are to be carried out in accordance with the law on inland waterway transport, laws on quality management and construction maintenance, and other related laws.

- During the maintenance of works belonging to inland waterway infrastructure assets, if retrieval materials and supplies arise, they shall be handled following the regulations on handling retrieved materials and supplies from the liquidation of assets as stated in Decree 12/2025/ND-CP.

- In case of leasing the right to exploit assets, transferring for a limited time the right to exploit inland waterway infrastructure assets, if the contract stipulates that the lessee or the transferee is responsible for maintaining works, then the lessee or transferee is responsible for maintenance according to the law and the signed contract using their own funds.

The handling of retrieved materials and supplies (if any) in this case is to be carried out by the transferee or the lessee according to relevant legal provisions.

- Maintenance of works belonging to inland waterway infrastructure assets by the form of maintenance combining dredging and product extraction is to be executed following the Government of Vietnam's regulations on managing dredging activities in maritime waters and inland waterway areas.

More details can be found in Decree 12/2025/ND-CP effective from January 20, 2025.

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