Regulations on renovation, upgradation and construction of folk religious buildings, religious buildings and auxiliary works in Vietnam

According to Clause 30, Article 1 of the Law amending the Construction Law 2020, amending Article 89 of the Construction Law 2014, general provisions on grant of construction permits in Vietnam are as follows:

- Construction works required to have construction permits granted by competent state agencies to project owners in accordance with regulations laid down herein, except the cases prescribed in Clause 2 of Article 89 of the Construction Law 2014 (amended in 2020).

- Cases in which construction permit is exempted:

(1) Works involving state secrets; works constructed under emergency orders;

(2) Works of projects using public investment funds in which the construction investment is decided by the Prime Minister, heads of central-level agencies of political organizations, People’s Supreme Procuracy, People’s Supreme Court, State Audit Office of Vietnam, Office of the President, the Office of the National Assembly, ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, Governmental agencies, central-level agencies of Vietnamese Fatherland Front and of socio-political organizations or chairpersons of People’s Committees at different levels;

(3) Makeshift construction works as prescribed in Article 131 of the Construction Law 2014 (amended in 2020);

(4) Works undergoing repair or renovation of their interior parts or works undergoing repair or renovation of their external architecture not facing roads in urban centers subject to architectural management requirements of competent state agencies; such repair or renovation does not alter the functions and force-bearing structures of the works, and must be conformable with construction planning approved by competent state agencies and requirements on fire and explosion prevention and fighting, and environmental protection;

(5) Advertisement works not subject to construction permits as prescribed by the Law on advertisement; passive telecom infrastructure works as prescribed by the Government;

(6) Construction works located in the territories of two or more provincial-level administrative units, works constructed in lines outside urban areas which conform to construction planning or detailed planning approved by competent state agencies;

(7) Construction works of which results of appraisal of the construction design following the fundamental design have been notified by specialized construction agencies to meet conditions for approval and which meet requirements for construction permit prescribed by the Construction Law 2014;

(8) Detached houses with under 07 stories of urban area construction investment projects or housing construction investment projects under detailed planning of 1:500 scale approved by competent state agencies;

(9) Grade-IV construction works or detached houses with under 07 stories in rural areas without urban planning, function zone construction planning or detailed construction planning on rural residential points approved by competent state agencies; Grade-IV construction works or detached houses in mountainous areas or islands without urban planning or function zone construction planning, except detached houses built in conservation zones or historical and cultural relic zones;

(10) Project owners of construction works prescribed in (2), (6), (7), (8) and (9), except detached houses prescribed in Point (9), shall send written notices of the time of construction commencement and construction design dossiers to local construction management agencies.

- Construction permits include:

+ New construction permit;

+ Repair and renovation permit;

+ Relocation permit;

+ Definite-term construction permit.

- Works shall be granted stage-based construction permits after having construction designs following the fundamental design for each stage appraised and approved in accordance with regulations laid down herein.

- For a construction investment project consisting of multiple works, construction permits may be granted for one, several or all of these works when they need to be implemented concurrently provided conditions and time limit for granting construction permit and project synchronism must be ensured.