Vietnam: Supplementing 03 cases where project owners can apply the system of construction norms

Provisions on construction norms, prices and price index are amended in Clause 51 Article 1 of the Law on amendments to Construction Law 2020 of Vietnam as follows:

The application or reference to the system of construction norms prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article adopted by ministers of specialized construction work-managing ministries or chairperson of provincial-level people’s committees is provided for as follows:

a) For projects using public investment funds, project owners shall determine and manage construction investment costs according to regulations on cost management and by applying the promulgated construction norms;

b) For projects using non-public investment state funds and PPP projects, project owners shall determine and manage construction investment costs according to regulations on cost management and by referring to promulgated construction norms;

c) For projects using other funds, project owners shall determine and manage construction investment costs by referring to the promulgated construction norms.

In comparison with previous regulation, Clause 3 Article 136 of the Construction Law 2014 of Vietnam only stipulates briefly: The system of construction norms and prices prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article shall be publicized by competent state agencies and used or referred to by project owners for determining and managing construction investment costs.

It can be seen that this provision has been specified in more detail and transparency in the Law on amendments to Construction Law 2020 when specifically noting that the "competent state agencies" announcing the construction norms system are the ministers of specialized construction work-managing ministries or chairperson of provincial-level people’s committees. Concurrently, this Law also additionally stipulates the rights of project owners in the 03 mentioned above cases.

View more details at the Law on amendments to Construction Law 2020, effective from January 01, 2021.

Phuong Thanh

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