Strengthening the management of building order and fire safety for housing and construction works in Vietnam

Strengthening the management of building order and fire safety for housing and construction works in Vietnam​ (Image from the internet)

On December 19, 2024, the Ministry of Construction of Vietnam issued Official Dispatch 6980/BXD-TTr regarding strengthening the management of building order and fire safety for housing and construction works in Vietnam.

Strengthening the management of building order and fire safety for housing and construction works in Vietnam

Through field inspections of a fire incident at No. 258 Pham Van Dong, Co Nhue 2 Ward, Bac Tu Liem District, Hanoi City, implementing the directive of the Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam in Official Telegram 136/CD-TTg dated December 19, 2024, according to the state management function in the construction sector, to ensure the safety of buildings, and the safety of lives and property of the people, the Ministry of Construction of Vietnam requests the People's Committees of provinces and centrally-run cities to implement the following actions:

- Continue to strictly implement the directives of the Government of Vietnam, the Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam on fire prevention and fighting, especially Directive 19/CT-TTg dated June 24, 2024, of the Prime Minister of the Government of Vietnam on strengthening fire prevention and fighting for multi-story, multi-apartment buildings, single-family homes combined with production and business, and Document 4157/BXD-QLN dated September 15, 2023, of the Ministry of Construction on strengthening the implementation of legal regulations on construction for single-family homes, buildings with multiple stories, multiple apartments; while enhancing the promotion, guidance, and dissemination of laws on construction order, construction safety and fire prevention, and fighting at buildings, facilities and crowded locations.

- Strictly control compliance with legal regulations on construction planning, issuance of construction permits, construction quality, and construction order. Pay special attention to managing the functional conversion of constructions or parts of constructions according to conformable law regulations on construction and related legal regulations; control compliance with regulations specified in National Technical Regulation QCVN 06:2022/BXD and Circular 09/2023/TT-BXD dated October 16, 2023, of the Ministry of Construction, promulgating Amendment 1:2023 QCVN 06:2022/BXD National Technical Regulation on fire safety for houses and structures; legal regulations on fire prevention and fighting for single-family homes combined with production and business; study and guide citizens to apply National Standard TCVN 13967:2024 Single-family homes - General design requirements.

- Direct functional agencies to strengthen inspection and checking, promptly detect and strictly handle organizations and individuals violating regulations on construction planning, construction order, fire prevention and fighting according to legal regulations.

Criteria for fire incident classification in Vietnam from January 15, 2025

- Level I fire incident is an incident without human loss and falls under one of the following cases: Property loss under 100,000,000 VND or the burned area of forests, fields, burns under 0.5 hectares;

- Level II fire incident falls under one of the following cases: Causes injury or health damage to a person with a total body damage rate below 61%; property damage valued from 100,000,000 VND to less than 3,000,000,000 VND or the burned area of forests, fields from 0.5 hectares to less than 5 hectares;

- Level III fire incident falls under one of the following cases: Causes 1 to 2 human deaths; causes injury or health damage to 1 person with a body damage rate of 61% or more or to 2 or more people with a total body damage rate from 61% to 200%; causes property damage valued from 3,000,000,000 VND to less than 10,000,000,000 VND or the burned area of forests, fields from 5 hectares to less than 10 hectares;

- Level IV fire incident falls under one of the following cases: Causes 3 to 4 human deaths; causes injury or health damage to 3 or more people with a total body damage rate of 201% or more; causes property damage valued from 10,000,000,000 VND to less than 50,000,000,000 VND or the burned area of forests, fields from 10 hectares to less than 20 hectares;

- Level V fire incident falls under one of the following cases: Causes 5 or more human deaths; causes property damage valued from 50,000,000,000 VND or more or the burned area of forests, fields from 20 hectares or more.

(Clause 5, Article 29 Circular 88/2024/TT-BCA)

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