Regulations on modification of contract in bidding in Vietnam

Regulations on signing of contract with successful bidder in Vietnam

Pursuant to Article 67 of the Law on Bidding 2023, the signing of contract between the employer and the successful bidder shall be subject to the following provisions:

- Only a single contract will be signed for executing a package. A contract may be prepared applying one or some types of contract prescribed in Article 64 of the Law on Bidding 2023. A centralized procurement package or a package which is divided into smaller parts may be executed under several contracts. Each contract shall cover one or some parts of the package. If different types of contract are employed, the type of contract for each task must be specified;

- Contents of the contract signed by and between the parties must be conformable with contents of the bidding documents, RFP, bids or proposals, contract negotiation results (if any), decision on approval of contractor selection result. The contract should clearly indicate the scope of tasks to be undertaken by specialist subcontractors (if any) and maximum value of tasks to be subcontracted. The maximum value of tasks to be subcontracted shall not include the value of tasks to be undertaken by specialist subcontractors;

- In case of a consortium bidder, the contract agreement must bear signatures and seals (if any) of all members of the consortium. In case of centralized procurement with use of framework agreement, all members of the consortium shall directly append their signatures and seals (if any) to the contract agreement with the entity in need of goods or services or a member of the consortium shall be authorized to do so under terms and conditions of the consortium agreement;

Regulations on modification of contract in bidding in Vietnam (Internet image)

Regulations on modification of contract in bidding in Vietnam

Pursuant to Article 70 of the Law on Bidding 2023, regulations on modification of contract in bidding in Vietnam are as follows:

(1) A contract may be modified:

- in cases agreed upon by the parties and specified in the signed contract in conformity with regulations of law;

- when circumstances for executing the contract fundamentally change as prescribed by the Civil Code; or

- at the request of a competent authority that affects the execution of contract with no fault of the employer’s fault.

(2) The following contents of the contract may be modified, including: quantities, execution schedule, prices, additional purchase option, and other contents as agreed upon by the parties in the signed contract, except the case specified in Clause (5). Quantities, execution schedule and prices may only be modified during the package execution duration specified in the signed contract, except cases where the additional purchase option is applied.

(3) During the contract execution, the parties are allowed to modify the intended completion dates of tasks specified in the contract in the following circumstances:

- A force majeure event or unexpected situation arises and hinders the contractor from executing the contract without fault or negligence of any party to the contract;

- There are changes in the project, scope of tasks, scope of supply, primary construction solutions, designs or supply methods due to objective reasons resulting in changes in the contract execution schedule;

- One or both parties to the contract propose initiatives for executing the contract which require changes in the contract execution schedule with the aim of generating considerable interests to the employer;

- The contract execution schedule is affected due to the employer's failure to provide the site as agreed upon in the contract or suspension of the contract through no fault of the contractor;

- The performance of tasks is suspended at the request of a competent authority due to the fault of neither of the employer and the contractor.

(4) Any modification to the contract resulting in changes in the contract execution schedule or an increase in the approved package price (including contingencies) shall require an approval from the competent person. However, any increase in price shall not make the contract price exceed the total investment or total funding in the procurement cost estimate. In case a project or procurement cost estimate comprises multiple packages, any increase in price shall not make the sum of contract prices exceed the total investment or total funding in the procurement cost estimate.

(5) In case of changes in the contract price, quantities and other contents as agreed upon in the contract, the signing of contract appendices shall not be required if the following conditions are met:

- Any change shall not make the contract price exceed the package price specified in the contractor selection plan; if the package cost estimate is approved after the approval of the contractor selection plan, total funding in the package cost estimate shall not be exceeded;

- Any change shall not lengthen the package execution duration specified in the contract;

- Methods, formula, items and other contents necessary for making such changes are available in the contract.

Mai Thanh Loi

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