Is a construction permit required for building houses in rural areas of Vietnam?

Is a construction permit required for building houses in rural areas of Vietnam? (Internet image)

Regarding this matter, LawNet would like to answer as follows: 

According to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 89 of the Construction Law 2014 of Vietnam, "Before starting construction of works, project owners shall obtain construction permits granted by competent state agencies in accordance with this Law, except the cases prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article.”

In particular, construction permit means a legal document granted by a competent state agency to a project owner for construction, repair, renovation or relocation of a work. Construction permits include: New construction permit; Repair and renovation permit; Relocation permit.

With the above regulations, before starting construction of any project, people and investors must have a construction permit issued by a competent state agency, except in cases where the project is exempt from a construction permit. To be specific:

- Works involving state secrets, works constructed under emergency orders and works located in the territories of two or more provincial-level administrative units;

- Works of construction investment projects in which investment is decided by the Prime Minister, ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies or chairpersons of People’s Committees at different levels;

- Makeshift construction works to serve the construction of main works;

- Works constructed in lines outside urban areas which conform to construction master plans approved by competent state agencies or in lines of which the direction has been approved by competent state agencies;

- Construction works of projects on industrial parks, export processing zones or hi- tech parks with detailed 1:500-scale plans already approved by competent state agencies and construction designs already appraised in accordance with this Law;

- Houses of urban development projects or housing development projects with under 7 stories and a total floor area of under 500 m2 and detailed 1:500-scale plans already approved by competent state agencies;

- Works undergoing repair, renovation or installation of interior equipment which does not alter their force-bearing structure and utilities and affect the environment and safety of these works;

- Works undergoing repair and renovation to alter their external architecture not facing roads in urban centers subject to architecture management requirements;

- Technical infrastructure works in rural areas for which only construction investment economic-technical reports are required and in areas without approved detailed construction plans on rural residential points;

- Construction works in rural areas without approved urban development plans and detailed construction plans; separate houses in rural areas, except separate houses built in conservation zones or historical and cultural relic zones;

- Project owners of works exempted from construction permit prescribed at Points b, d, dd and i of this Clause shall send written notices of the time of construction commencement enclosed with construction design dossiers to local construction management agencies for monitoring and filing.

Thus, according to the Construction Law 2014, in this case, Mr. Son building an 8-storey house still falls under the category of "projects exempt from construction permits", so Mr. Son does not have to carry out the procedures for applying for a construction permit.

However, according to the provisions of Clause 30, Article 1 of the Law on amendments to Construction Law 2020 of Vietnam:

30. Article 89 is amended as follows:

“Article 89. General provisions on grant of construction permits

2. Cases in which construction permit is exempted:

...

h) 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;

i) 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;

Thus, from January 1, 2021, when building detached houses in rural areas with 07 stories or more in Vietnam, a construction permit are required.

Thu Ba

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