Notable regulations on carrying out the maintenance of construction works in Vietnam

Notable regulations on carrying out the maintenance of construction works in Vietnam (Internet image) 

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

1. Notable regulations on carrying out the maintenance of construction works in Vietnam

Notable regulations on carrying out the maintenance of construction works in Vietnam according to Article 33 of Decree 06/2021/ND-CP are as follows:

- The owner or the manager or the user of the construction work has the autonomy in conducting the inspection, servicing and repair of the construction work according to the approved work maintenance procedures if they meet eligibility conditions, or may hire another qualified organization to render the maintenance work.

- Carrying out the regular, periodic and irregular inspection to promptly detect signs of degradation or damage to the construction work, and equipment installed in the construction work as a basis for the servicing of the construction project.

- Construction servicing is performed according to the approved annual maintenance plan and construction maintenance procedures. 

- Repair of construction works, including:

+ Periodic repair of construction works involves the repair of any defect or replacement of damaged constituents or equipment installed in these works which is carried out in a periodic manner as prescribed in the maintenance procedures;

+ The ad-hoc repair of a construction work is made when a part or the whole of the construction work is damaged due to unexpected events, such as wind, storm, flood, earthquake, collision, fire and others, or when a part or the whole of the construction work is likely degraded to the extent of adverse effects on safety for use, operation and exploitation of this work. 

- The quality inspection shall be carried out to assist in the construction maintenance of a construction work when:

+ The periodic maintenance is carried out according to the approved construction maintenance procedures;

+ It is discovered that a part or the whole of the construction work is damaged or likely causes danger or unsafety for the operation and use of the construction work;

+ There is a request for assessment of the current quality of the construction work assisting in the formulation of the maintenance procedures for construction works that have already been put into use without the maintenance procedures;

+ Needing a basis to decide the extension of the work's useful life with respect to construction works whose design life has expired or to renovate or upgrade the construction work;

+ Receiving the requests from competent regulatory authorities.

- The construction observation shall be carried out to assist in the construction maintenance of a construction work in the following cases:

+ Any incident involving construction projects of national importance or others may result in catastrophic consequences;

+ The construction work is likely collapsed due to subsidence, tilt and other abnormalities;

+ At the request of the investor, the owner or the manager or the user of the construction work.

The Ministry of Construction and the Ministry managing specialized construction works shall provide for the list of the works that must be observed during the process of operating and using these works.

- In cases where the work has many owners, in addition to the responsibility for the maintenance of the part of the work under their own ownership, the owner shall be responsible for the maintenance of the part of the work under common ownership in accordance with relevant laws.

- As for the construction work that has not been delivered to the owner or the manager or the user of the construction work, the investor shall be responsible for making the construction maintenance plan and carrying out the maintenance of the construction work according to the provisions of this Article and Article 31 of Decree 06/2021/ND-CP.

2. Regulations on management of construction maintenance quality in Vietnam

Regulations on management of construction maintenance quality  according to Article 34 of Decree 06/2021/ND-CP are as follows:

- The regular, periodic and ad-hoc inspection shall be carried out visually or via regular observation data (if any) or by dedicated test equipment by the owner, the manager or the user of the construction project where necessary.

- The construction servicing is performed step by step according to the construction maintenance procedures.   Results of construction maintenance must be recorded and documented; the owner or the manager or the user of the construction work shall be responsible for certifying the completion of maintenance work and taking control of maintenance activities in the construction maintenance documentation.

- The owner or the manager or the user of the construction work shall undertake the supervision and testing of the repair work; preparation, management and archival of construction repair documents in accordance with the law on construction management and other relevant laws.

- The repair work must be warranted for not less than 6 months with respect to grade II or lower-grade construction works and not less than 12 months with respect to grade I or higher-grade construction works. Warranty coverage must not be less than 5% of contract value.

- The owner or the manager or the user of the construction work may enter into an agreement with the repair contractor on warranty rights and responsibilities, warranty period, warranty coverage for the repair work during the construction maintenance period.

- In case where the construction work requires observation or quality inspection, the owner or the manager or the user of the construction work must hire a qualified organization to perform these tasks. Where necessity, the owner or the manager or the user of the construction work can hire an independent organization to assess the review reports on inspection and observation results.

- Documentation requirements of the construction maintenance work:

+ Documents serving the maintenance work include those on construction maintenance procedures, as-built drawing, record of equipment installed in the construction work and other records, documents necessary for the construction maintenance work;

+ The investor shall be responsible for handing over the construction maintenance documents to the owner or the manager or the user of the construction work before delivery of the construction work for operation and use.

- Construction maintenance documentation, including:

+ Those documents serving construction maintenance purposes as stated in clause 7 of Article 34 of Decree 06/2021/ND-CP;

+ Maintenance plan;

+ Regular and periodic inspection results;

+ Construction servicing or repair results;

+ Construction observation results and construction quality inspection (if any);

+ Results of assessment of load bearing and operational safety of the construction work during the period of operation and use thereof (if any);

+ Other relevant documents.

- In case of construction projects under PPP agreements

+ The contracting authority shall be responsible for inspecting PPP project enterprises’ construction maintenance activities according to the provisions of Decree 06/2021/ND-CP;

+ PPP project enterprises shall be responsible for the transfer of technologies, handing over maintenance documents and construction maintenance documents to contracting authorities before transfer of construction projects according to regulations of project agreements.

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