DECIDES:

Article 1.- To promulgate together with this Decision the Regulation on Quality Control of Construction Works, which shall replace :

- The Regulation on elaboration, expertise and approval of construction work designs, issued together with Decision No. 497/BXD-GD of September 18, 1996 of the Minister of Construction and Decision No.541/1997/QD-BXD of November 22, 1997 amending and supplementing Decision No. 497/BXD-GD;

- The Regulation on quality control of construction works, issued together with Decision No. 498/BXD-GD of September 18, 1997 of the Minister of Construction;

- The Regulation on warranty of construction and installation works, issued together with Decision No. 499/BXD-GD of September 18, 1996 of the Minister of Construction and Decision No. 540/1997/QD-BXD of November 22, 1997 amending and supplementing Decision No. 499/BXD-GD.

Article 2.- This Decision takes effect 15 days after its signing and applies to all construction works nationwide.

Article 3.- The ministers, the heads of ministerial-level agencies, the heads of agencies attached to the Government, the presidents of the provinces and centrally-run cities, the central bodies of mass organizations, the managing boards of the State corporations, and concerned organizations shall have to implement this Decision.

Minister of Construction
NGUYEN MANH KIEM

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1.- Objects and scope of regulation

This document prescribes the contents of quality control in the survey, designing, construction and installation, pre-acceptance test and handover of works, construction and installation warranty, maintenance of works under projects on new construction, renovation, repair and upgrading regardless of capital sources, ownership forms regarding consulting units, contractors, investors and concerned State management bodies.

Article 2.- Interpretation of terms

In this Regulation, the following terms shall be construed as follows:

1. Construction work quality means the general requirements on the safety, durability, beautiful view and economic efficiency of works in conformity with the construction standards, technical eriteria, economic contracts and current legislation of the State.

2. Quality control of construction works means the combined activities of agencies with general management functions through such measures as the elaboration of quality plans, the inspection of quality, the assurance of quality and the raising of quality of products.

3. Assurance of the quality of construction works means the entire planned and systematic activities to be carried out in all the three stages: investment preparation, investment execution and completion of construction and putting the projects into exploitation and use.

4. Elaboration of plans for construction work quality means the setting of quality objectives of the projects, measures and tempo of organization of quality control implementation.

5. Preliminary design means the documents demonstrated in the exposition and drawings the planning, architecture, structure and technologies, concretizing elements stated in the principal contents of the feasibility study reports. The approved preliminary design shall serve as basis for elaboration, expertise and approval of technical designs or the technical-construction designs.

6. Technical design (deployment design) means documents demonstrated in the exposition and drawings which are developed on the basis of preliminary designs stated in the approved feasibility study reports. The technical design dossiers must ensure the conditions for elaboration of total cost estimate, bidding dossiers as well as elaboration of construction drawings.

7. Construction drawing design (detailed design) means the documents demonstrated in the drawings made on the basis of the approved technical designs if designing is made according the order of preliminary design - technical design - construction drawing design. The construction drawing design dossiers must demonstrate the architectural details, structural details, technical systems: electrical engineering, water drainage and supply, power supply, gas supply... so that the construction and installation contractors may construct them.

8. Technical-construction design means the documents demonstrated in the exposition and drawings made on the basis of preliminary designs stated in the approved feasibility study reports so that the construction and installation contractors may construct them if the designing is made according to the order of preliminary design technical-construction design.

9. Design expertise means the work performed by agencies competent to examine the legal status of designing organizations and individuals, the legality of designing dossiers, to check the harmony between the contents of the designing dossiers and the approved contents in the investment decisions, the rationality of designing solutions and the total cost estimates, which shall serve as basis for the competent levels to approve the technical designs and the total cost estimates.

10. Copyright supervision means the work performed by the designing units at the construction sites in order to inspect and protect the copyrights of designers, explain or handle matters arising at the sites, which have not been anticipated by designers in order to ensure designing quality.

11. Construction supervision means the regular and constant activities carried out at the construction sites by investors to control the volume and quality of the construction and installation work performed by contractors according to economic contracts and designs approved by authorities competent to decide the investment, and to the current construction standards and technical criteria of the branch and the State.

12. Inspection of construction and installation quality means activities carried out by construction consulting units using technical means to examine, test and quantify one or several properties of products or construction works and compare the results with the designing requirements and the current technical criteria.

13. Expertise of construction quality means activities carried out by State management agencies regarding the construction work quality, based on the technical criteria, legal documents and quality inspection results to evaluate and conclude on the quality of products, construction works.

14. Complete construction drawing means the drawings made by the construction and installation contractors on the basis of results of measurement and examination of the construction and installation work already performed on the sites and confirmed by the investors or their lawful representatives. Where the construction satisfies the requirements of the construction drawing designs and the applied technical criteria, the construction drawing shall be the complete construction drawing.

15. Construction and installation warranty means the law-prescribed compulsory guarantee given by the construction and installation contractors within a certain period of time for the quality of the products which have already been completed and put into use. The construction contractors are obliged to repair damage they cause during the warranty duration.

16. Construction maintenance means the law-prescribed compulsory guarantee of quality, which aims to maintain the bearing capability, beautiful view, the use or operation of parts, construction items and/or works which have operated and which, according to the time cycles stipulated by the designing units and the manufacturers, need to be repaired, replaced, functionally rehabilitated, ensuring their longevity and operation safety. The works- using managers shall have the responsibility and obligation to maintain works according to the regulations of the designing units stated in the technical design explanation and the maintenance process stipulated by the manufacturers and approved by the competent authorities.

17. The ministries involved in specialized construction include:

- The Ministry of Construction;

- The Ministry of Communications and Transport;

- The Ministry of Industry;

- The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development;

- The General Department of Post and Telecommunications;

- The Ministry of Defense.

18. The specialized technique managing ministries mean the ministries, the ministerial-level agencies with functions of State management over specialized techniques such as fire and explosion prevention and fight; environmental safety; labor safety; industrial safety, dyke safety; traffic safety; post and telecommunications; security; national defense...

Article 3.- Assignment of responsibility for State control of construction work quality

1. The Ministry of Construction:

a) To exercise the unified State control of construction work quality nationwide, having the responsibility to:

- Promulgate legal documents on quality control, agree to let ministries involved in specialized construction and ministries managing specialized techniques promulgate regulations on quality control of specialized construction works;

- Guide and inspect the implementation of legal documents on quality control of construction works. Inspect the assurance of construction work quality by investors and construction and installation contractors. To propose the handling of violations of construction work quality. To directly inspect the construction quality when so requested by the Prime Minister.

b) Expertise construction work incidents as assigned.

c) Sum up and report to the Prime Minister the construction project quality biannually and annually as prescribed.

The Department of State Expertise of Construction Work Quality under the Ministry of Construction shall assist the Minister of Construction to fulfil the above responsibility. Where the Prime Minister decides to set up the State Council for Pre- Acceptance Test of Construction Work Quality with regard to important works of State level, the Department of State Expertise of Construction Work Quality shall act as the standing body of the Council.

2. The People�s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities (called the provincial People�s Committees for short):

a) The provincial/municipal Construction Services being the agencies under the provincial People�s Committees exercise the unified State control of the quality of construction works in their respective provinces and cities, having the responsibility to:

- Guide and inspect the implementation in their localities of the legal documents on quality control of construction works.

- Organize regular or irregular inspections of the assurance of construction quality by investors as well as construction and installation contractors and directly inspect the quality of construction work in the localities, particularly works of Group B and C projects managed by the local administration. Biannually report to the Ministry of Construction on construction work quality so that the Ministry of Construction shall sum up the situation and report it to the Prime Minister.

b) The provincial/municipal Services which are involved in specialized construction and assigned the task of quality control of specialized construction works shall have to coordinate with the provincial/municipal Construction Services in supervising and inspecting the quality of specialized construction works and biannually send reports on the quality of specialized construction works to the provincial/municipal Construction Services for sum-up reports to the Ministry of Construction.

c) The provincial People�s Committees shall base themselves on the district People�s Committees� capabilities of investment and construction management to assign the responsibility of State quality control of works under the projects with investment decided by the district or commune People�s Committees.

d) The provincial/municipal Services and the district/ ward or commune People�s Committees assigned by the provincial People�s Committees to act as investors shall have to bear the responsibility for the construction quality control in their capacity as the investors according to the contents of this Regulation.

3. The ministries involved in specialized construction:

a) To promulgate regulations on quality control of specialized construction works in furtherance of this Regulation after consulting with the Ministry of Construction.

b) To guide and inspect the implementation of legal documents on quality control of specialized construction works under their respective management nationwide.

c) To organize regular or irregular inspections of the assurance of quality of specialized construction works by investors and construction and installation contractors, and directly inspect the quality of specialized construction works. To propose the handling of violations of the quality of specialized construction projects. Particularly for specialized construction projects of Group A, the coordination with the Ministry of Construction is required for the performance of the above work.

d) To biannually send reports on the specialized construction quality to the Ministry of Construction so that the latter shall sum up the situation and report it to the Prime Minister.

4. Ministries managing specialized techniques:

a) To promulgate legal documents on the quality control of the specialized techniques in construction works after consulting the Ministry of Construction.

b) To guide and inspect the implementation of legal documents on quality control of specialized techniques.

c) To join the State management agencies in charge of construction work quality (as assigned) in inspecting the quality of such specialized techniques as fire and explosion prevention and fight; environmental safety; labor safety, industrial safety; dyke safety, traffic safety... for each type of work with such requirements.

5. Ministries and branches allocated capital for management of investment in project construction (called ministries with projects for short):

- To have to organize the quality control of works through specialized agencies of the ministries or qualified project administration and management bodies as prescribed by law;

- The specialized agencies of the ministries shall coordinate with and create conditions for the State management bodies in charge of the construction quality to carry out the inspection of the quality of works; directly supervise, inspect, detect and handle violations regarding the construction quality; inspect the investors and construction/installation contractors in ensuring the quality of construction works managed by the ministries and at the same time notify such to the concerned provincial/municipal Construction Services for coordination;

- The ministries with projects shall biannually send reports on quality of construction works to the Ministry of Construction so that the latter sums up the situation and report it to the Prime Minister.

Article 4.- The investors� and contractors� responsibilities for construction quality

The surveying, designing, constructing/installing organizations shall themselves have to take responsibilities for the quality and results of the work in the process of project construction, warranty and maintenance. The State encourages the application of scientific methods of management after the quality control model based on standards ISO-9000.

1. The investors� responsibility for quality control of construction works:

a) To comply with the provisions in Article 46, clause 1 of the Regulation on Investment and Construction Management, issued together with the Government�s Decree No. 52/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999, and the provisions in Articles 7, 8, 9, 14, 17 and 19 of this Regulation.

b) Where the investors hire consultants to supervise the construction, the supervision consulting units shall have to comply with the contents in Articles 14 and 17 of this Regulation and take responsibility for the quality of the work stated in the construction contracts.

c) To biannually send reports on construction quality to the State management agencies in charge of the construction quality (as assigned in Article 3 of this Regulation).

2. Responsibilities of surveying and designing units for product quality:

The surveying and designing units shall have to comply with the provisions in Article 46, clause 2 of the Investment and Construction Management Regulation issued together with the Government�s Decree No. 52/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999 and at the same time bear responsibility before the investors and law for the product quality as contracted.

3. Responsibility of the construction contractors for the construction work quality:

To comply with the provisions in Article 46, clause 3 of the Investment and Construction Management Regulation issued together with the Government�s Decree No. 52/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999 and the contents in Article 16 of this Regulation. The construction contractors shall have to bear responsibility before law for the safety of the adjacent works as well as works being under construction.

Chapter II

SURVEY, DESIGN, EXPERTISE AND APPROVAL OF TECHNICAL DESIGNS, TOTAL COST ESTIMATES

Article 5.- Construction servey in service of designing

1. The construction survey shall have to comply with the designing requirements. The surveying techniques plan must conform to each designing stage (preliminary design, technical design or technical-construction design), the project characteristics (reflected in the construction survey technical tasks) and suit the natural conditions of the projected sites of construction. The construction survey dossiers confirmed as correct at the project construction locations shall reflect truthfully the real status of the existing construction grounds, natural terrains, project geology and the meteorological, hydrological and environmental conditions; conform to the construction standards, technical criteria and survey process. The construction survey results must be evaluated and pre-acceptance tested by the investors.

2. The construction surveying units shall have to coordinate with the investors in settling matters arising in the construction surveying process in order to ensure the quality of the construction survey dossiers, the accuracy and reliability of data for the designing work.

Article 6.- Project construction designing

1. The designing units shall have to take responsibility for the quality of designing products. The designing products must conform to the current construction standards and technical criteria of the State and branches, the designing tasks and the designing contracts. The designing products must be in line with the contents according to the designing order, with explanation and instruction on construction techniques for important bearing parts of the construction work in case of complicated construction, with explanation on the use and maintenance of works, with clear inscription of specifications, types, properties and necessary requirements of the materials and equipment used for the construction works.

2. Each designing product (design blueprint) must have the design sponsorer; big design blueprints (groups A and B) must have managers; the design blueprint sponsorers or managers shall have to take personal responsibility for the quality and accuracy of the design blueprints, set-forth technical solutions and design anticipation. The contents of preliminary design, technical design, construction drawing design and technical-construction design of products shall comply with Appendix 1 of this Regulation (not attached herewith).

3. The designing units must have the designing product quality control systems to evaluate the quality of designing products. The designing products must be tested before acceptance by investors with records being made thereon.

4. The designing units must conduct the copyright supervision during the process of construction and installation, completion, pre-acceptance test of construction works before they are put into exploitation and use; coordinate with investors in handling arising matters and supplement as well as adjust the designs and cost estimates during the process of construction. The specific contents of the copyright supervision shall comply with Article 18 of this Regulation.

5. For specialized construction designs, they must also comply with the regulations on contents of specialized construction designing stages.

6. The designing units may subcontract part of the designing work which is not the principal contents of the contracts signed with the investors but still have to bear responsibility before the investors and law for the part of work performed by the designing subcontractors.

Article 7.- Pre-acceptance test of designing products

1. The pre-acceptance test of designing products shall be carried out on the principle that the designing units shall themselves have to inspect and take full responsibility for the quality of the designing products, strictly comply with the requirements on designing product quality stated in the designing contracts. The pre-acceptance test shall be carried out on the basis of:

a) The designing contract.

b) The designing dossiers with a sufficient number stated in Appendix 1 of this Regulation (not attached herewith).

c) The records on pre-acceptance test of various designing stages between the investor and the designing consultancy unit.

2. The completion of the pre-acceptance test of designing products must be recorded in minutes clearly stating the designing errors and requesting the design blueprint manager to correct them and at the same time concluding on the conditions for use of designs. The record on pre-acceptance test of designing products shall serve as basis for making final settlement and payment to the designing unit. The designing dossiers delivered for transfer to the investor must comply with the regulations on systems of designing documents and drawings according to the current standards.

Article 8.- Dossiers submitted for evaluation and approval of technical designs and total cost estimates or technical-construction designs and total cost estimates

The dossiers on technical designs and total cost estimates submitted by investors to competent bodies for approval and at the same time to the bodies which evaluate the technical designs and total cost estimates shall include:

1. The written request for design evaluation and approval;

2. The copy of the decision approving the investment project;

3. The survey dossier; the designing dossier as stated in Appendix 1 of this Regulation (not attached herewith);

4. The record on the pre-acceptance test of the survey and designing products;

5. Documents approving the designs issued by the competent State management bodies in charge of environmental safety, fire and explosion prevention and fight, dyke safety and relevant requirements.

Article 9.- Requirements on the quality of design dossiers submitted for evaluation and approval

1. The design must be in line with the preliminary design, technical criteria and construction grade, already approved by persons competent to decide the investment in the feasibility study report or the investment report.

2. The design contents made according to various steps must comply with the current construction standards and technical criteria. Where foreign technical criteria are applied, the Ministry of Construction�s approval is required before the feasibility study report is made.

3. The total construction cost estimate is made on the basis of norms, unit prices, current regimes and policies related to construction investment expenditures, and must not exceed the total investment amount inscribed in the investment decision.

Article 10.- Evaluation of technical designs and total cost estimates.

1. Evaluation contents:

a) The compatibility of the technical design with the contents already approved in the investment decision regarding the size, technology, capacity, economic and technical norms, planning, architecture, construction standards, technical criteria to be applied. More concretely:

- Checking the compliance with the approved contents regarding the construction scale, technology, designed capacity, construction grade and economic-technical norms in the feasibility study report;

- Checking the compliance with the preliminary design in the approved feasibility study report regarding the planning, architecture (particularly the construction boundary, the construction height and construction density);

- Checking the compatibility of the technical design with the construction standards, designing criteria already approved for use in the investment decision.

b) Techniques on environmental protection, fire and explosion prevention and fight, labor safety, dyke safety and traffic safety.

c) The rationality of technical design solutions: ground, foundation, structure, technical system (water supply, water drainage, electro-mechanical network...) on the basis of evaluation of the working principles, characteristics and major technical parameters to ensure the normal, rational and feasible operation of designing objects.

d) The legal status of designing units and/or individuals.

e) Checking the properness of the application of norms, unit prices, regimes and policies of the State relating to expenditures calculated in the total cost estimate.

f) The compatibility between the construction and installation volume calculated from the technical design and the construction and installation volume calculated in the total cost estimate.

g) Determining the value of the total cost estimate including equipment for comparison with the total investment level already approved.

2. The technical designs and estimates for construction items may be evaluated according to bidding packages already allocated in the project investment decision.

3. Upon the completion of evaluation, the evaluating bodies shall have to make written reports on the evaluation of technical designs and total cost estimates to be submitted to the competent persons for approval according to the evaluation contents mentioned above, pointing to the errors of the designs and making conclusion on the use of the designs.

4. For construction works under the production and/or business investment projects of individuals and economic organizations outside the State enterprises, the construction permit-granting agencies shall evaluate the designs according to the contents mentioned in Clause 1 (a, b, c and d) of this Article.

Article 11.- Technical design- and total cost estimate-evaluating bodies

For constructions belonging to investment projects using State budget capital, the State investment credit capital, State-guaranteed credit capital, development investment capital of State enterprises, capital mobilized by State enterprises themselves and commercial credit capital not guaranteed by the State: The Ministry of Construction shall, together with the ministries managing specialized techniques, assume the prime responsibility in organizing the expertise of technical designs and total cost estimates. Based on the nature and scale of construction works, the Ministry of Construction shall, together with the ministries involved in specialized construction, jointly organize the expertise of technical designs and total cost estimates.

a) For construction works belonging to projects using the State budget capital:

The ministries, ministerial- level agencies, agencies attached to the Government, the financial management bodies of the Party Central Committees, the central bodies of political organizations, socio-political organizations (determined in the State Budget Law) and the provincial People�s Committees assign their respective agencies having the construction management function to expertise the technical designs and the total cost estimates of construction works under their management.

b) For construction works belonging to projects using State-guaranteed credit capital, State development investment credit capital:

- The ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, the agencies attached to the Government, the provincial People�s Committees and the Managing Boards of the State corporations directly managed by the Prime Minister shall assign their respective agencies having the construction management function to evaluate the technical designs and the total cost estimates of the construction works.

- The Managing Boards of State corporations managed by the ministries, branches and localities shall organize by themselves the evaluation of technical designs and total cost estimates of construction works belonging to investment projects of Group C falling under the investment deciding competence of the Managing Boards of State corporations.

c) For construction works belonging to projects using development investment capital of State enterprises, capital mobilized by enterprises themselves and commercial credit capital not guaranteed by the State of the ministries, ministerial-level agencies, agencies attached to the Government, the provincial People�s Committees, the Managing Boards of the State corporations and of the State enterprises, the persons competent to decide the investment in the projects shall organize by themselves the evaluation of technical designs and total cost estimates of the construction works.

d) For construction works belonging to production and business investment projects of individuals and economic organizations not under the State enterprises: The investors shall organize by themselves the evaluation of technical designs; the construction permit-granting agencies shall examine the contents of Clause 4, Article 10 of this Regulation before granting the permits for the construction of projects.

- The presidents of the provincial People�s Committees shall assign the provincial Construction Services to evaluation the technical designs and total cost estimates. Based on the nature of the projects, the provincial People�s Committee presidents shall assigned the provincial Services involved in the specialized construction to expertise the technical designs and total cost estimates.

- The specialized agencies of the district People�s Committees shall organize the expertise of technical designs and total cost estimates for works belonging to projects with investment therein decided by the district/commune People�s Committees as assigned by the provincial People�s Councils.

4. Besides using the expertise fees according to Clause 5, Article 37 of the Investment and Construction Management Regulation issued together with Decree No. 52/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999 of the Government, when necessary, the agencies expertising the technical designs and total cost estimates shall reach agreement with the authorities approving the technical designs and total cost estimates on hiring experts and/or specialized consultancy organizations to join the expertise (the designing consultancy organizations are not allowed to participate in the expertise of their products).

Article 12.- Approving technical designs and total cost estimates

For construction works belonging to investment projects using the State budget capital, the State investment credit capital, the State-guaranteed credit capital, the development investment capital of State enterprises, capital mobilized by enterprises themselves and commercial credit capital not guaranteed by the State: The ministers, the head of the ministerial-level agencies and agencies attached to the Government, the Managing Boards of the State Corporations directly managed by the Prime Minister and the presidents of the provincial People�s Committees shall approve the technical designs and total cost estimates of works belonging to investment projects under their respective management.

a) For construction works belonging to projects using the State budget capital:

The ministers, the heads of the ministerial- level agencies and agencies attached to the Government, the financial management bodies of the Party Central Committee, the central bodies of political organizations, socio-political organizations (determined in the State Budget Law) and the presidents of the provincial People�s Committees shall approve the technical designs and total cost estimates of construction works under their respective management.

b) For construction works belonging to projects using the State-guaranteed credit capital and/or the State development investment credit capital:

- The ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies and agencies attached to the Government, the presidents of the provincial People�s Committees and the Managing Boards of the State Corporations directly managed by the Prime Minister shall approve the technical designs and total cost estimates of construction works under their respective management.

- The Managing Boards of the State Corporations managed by the ministries, branches and localities shall approve the technical designs and total cost estimates of works belonging to the investment projects of Group C under their management.

c) For projects funded and constructed by State enterprises of the ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, the agencies attached to the Government, the provincial People�s Committees, the Managing Boards of the State Corporations with their own development investment capital, self-mobilized capital and commercial credit capital not guaranteed by the State, the persons competent to decide the project investment shall approve the technical designs and total cost estimates of the projects.

d) For construction works belonging to production and business investment projects of individuals and economic organizations not belonging to State enterprises, the investors shall themselves sign the approval of the technical designs and total cost estimates.

- The presidents of the provincial People�s Committees shall approve the technical designs and total cost estimates of Group B and C projects;

- The directors of the provincial/municipal Construction Services and directors of provincial/municipal Services involved in specialized construction shall approve the technical designs and total cost estimates of Group C projects under the authorization of the presidents of the provincial People�s Committees.

- The presidents of the district People�s Committees shall approve the technical designs and total cost estimates of projects with investment therein decided by the district/commune People�s Committees as assigned by the provincial People�s Committees.

4. The contents of the decision approving technical designs and total cost estimate or technical-construction designs and total cost estimates shall comply with Article 38, Clauses 1 and 2, of the Investment and Construction Management Regulation promulgated together with Decree No. 52/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999 of the Government.

Article 13.- Responsibility of the agencies expertising or approving technical designs and total cost estimates

Agencies competent to expertise or approve the technical designs and total cost estimates shall be held responsible before law for the contents of expertise or approval prescribed in Articles 37 and 38 of the Investment and Construction Management Regulation promulgated together with Decree No. 52/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999 of the Government.

Chapter III

CONSTRUCTION SUPERVISION AND PRE-ACCEPTANCE TEST OF CONSTRUCTION WORKS

Article 14.- The requirements of the construction supervision work

1. The construction supervision work must be carried out regularly, constantly and systematically throughout the process of project construction and installation in order to prevent any technical errors, ensuring the pre-acceptance test of the volume and quality of the construction and installation completed by the constractors in accordance with the approved designs, the applied technical criteria, the labor safety regulations and the construction and installation constracts.

2. The supervising organizations and the supervisors must be professionally qualified for the job.

Article 15.- Supervisory work during the construction process

The investors (or the construction supervising units hired by the investors), designing units and construction contractors must have the specialized sections to maintain the inspection activities throughout the construction process from the time the construction starts till the project is completed, pre-acceptance tested and handed over with tasks assigned to each type of supervisory work under this Regulation.

Article 16.- Quality self-inspection by construction contractors

1. Requirements on quality self-inspection: To comply with the designing requirements and commitments made in the construction contracts. To strictly adhere to the pre-acceptance test procedures defined in this Regulation as well as the Regulation on quality control of specialized construction works.

2. The construction contractors shall have to fully report on the process and plans for self-inspection of the quality of products to the investors so that the latter inspect and supervise the implementation thereof.

3. The construction contractors shall only request the investors to organize the pre-acceptance test of the completed construction and installation work after their specialized quality inspection sections have already conducted the inspection and given the certification.

Article 17.- Construction supervision by investors

1. Requirements on the construction supervision: To strictly comply with the project designing regulations already approved by competent levels, with the technical criteria as well as quality commitments under the construction contracts.

2. Construction supervision responsibilities are prescribed according to various construction stages as follows:

a) The construction preparation stage: To examine materials at the sites, not permitting the use of materials incompatible with the prescribed criteria, quality and specifications at the project; to examine equipment, not permitting the use of equipment incompatible with the technologies and not yet expertised. In case of necessity, the samples of materials, structures and construction products must be taken for test of their nature.

b) The construction and installation stage:

- To regularly monitor and supervise the construction and equipment installation. To inspect the quality control system and quality plans of the construction contractors in order to ensure that the construction and installation are carried out in strict accordance with the approved designing dossiers. To inspect the construction methods and tempo as well as labor safety measures proposed by the construction contractors.

- To check and acknowledge the work volume, quality and tempo.

- To make reports on construction quality and tempo in service of regular briefings by the investors;

- To coordinate with relevant parties in settling problems arising in the construction.

- To conduct the pre-acceptance test of construction and installation works.

- For construction sections, items or works which, during the process of construction and installation, show signs of quality degeneration and sinkability beyond the design anticipation or current regulations on construction technical criteria, before they are tested and accepted, there must be a written evaluation of the adverse impacts on the projects due to the sinkage by the designing units, the competent specialized agency.

c) Construction completion stage:

- The investors� supervising organizations shall have to inspect and gather all legal dossiers and documents on quality control and make the list of dossiers and documents on project construction completion.

- After inspection, the investors shall organize the general pre-acceptance test of all construction items which have been completed with quality up to the approved design requirements and to the criteria on project pre-acceptance test and make the record on the general pre-acceptance test.

The record on pre-acceptance test of completed construction items or work shall serve as legal basis for the investors to carry out the procedures for handing over and putting the construction work into exploitation and use, and as basis for the final settlement of the construction work.

Article 18.- Copyright supervision by the designing units

1. Bases for supervision:

a) The designing dossiers already approved by the competent authorities;

b) The overall construction tempo and the investor�s notice on copyright supervision timetable agreed upon by the parties;

c) The overall construction method and explanation, detailed construction methods for construction items of special importance.

2. The supervision contents:

a) Explaining the project design documents to investors and construction contractors for management and construction in strict accordance with the designing requirements;

b) Monitoring and coordinating in settlement of problems and/or changes of designing inventions in the construction process;

c) Inspecting and joining in the pre-acceptance test of transitional stages of construction, structures of important construction items;

d) Regularly supervising the construction of sections and items with designs made according to modern technologies.

e) Joining in the pre-acceptance test of each stage of construction and installation in the process of construction.

3. The supervision regime: non-regular.

Article 19.- Organization of pre-acceptance test

1. The pre-acceptance test of construction works must be carried out in separate drives immediately after the completion of the hidden work volume, bearing structures, construction sections or items and the whole construction works and at the same time ensure that the value of the completed work volume shall be pre-acceptance tested according to the payment periods of the signed contracts.

2. The pre-acceptance test of parts and whole of the construction works shall be organized by the investors with the participation of consulting, designing, constructing and installing units as well as the equipment suppliers (if any). The quality-expertising bodies (the State quality control bodies according to assignment) shall participate in inspecting the pre-acceptance test by the investors. The records on pre-acceptance test of the construction and installation, the completion of the construction and installation stage, the general pre-acceptance test-run of equipment, and the pre-acceptance test of construction items or works shall be made according to appendices 5, 6, 7 and 8 of this Regulation.

The record on the general pre-acceptance test and hand-over of the construction works shall serve as the legal document for the investor to put the works into exploitation and use and for the final settlement of investment capital.

For construction sections, items or works which require fire and explosion prevention and fight or which, when being put into exploitation and use, will adversely affect the environment and safety, there must be the written approval of the above requirements by the State bodies managing such specialized techniques when they are pre-acceptance tested and put into use.

3. For construction works which are important or require complicated techniques and technologies, the Prime Minister shall decide to set up the State Council for Pre-Acceptance Test at the proposal of the Construction Minister or ministers of the ministries having projects in order to inspect and examine the pre-acceptance tests by the investors.

a) Responsibility and powers of the State Council for Pre-Acceptance Test shall be defined in the Prime Minister�s decision to set up the Council.

b) The State Council for Pre-Acceptance Test of the construction work shall coordinate with the immediate superior of the investor in elaborating and promulgating the Council�s working regulations.

c) The president of the State Council for Pre-Acceptance Test of the construction work shall base him-/herself on the characteristics and utility of the construction work to set up the specialized sub-committee acting as consultant to the Council.

d) The investor shall set up the grassroots Council for Pre-Acceptance Test, which shall act as consultant to the investor in the pre-acceptance test and assist the State Council for Pre-Acceptance Test in organizing the pre-acceptance test according to regulations.

e) The grassroots Council for Pre-Acceptance Test must not permit the hand over and the putting of construction works into operation and use when the State Council for Pre-Acceptance Test have not yet considered the conclusion nor made the record on the State-level pre-acceptance test. The grassroots Council for Pre-Acceptance Test shall have to pre-acceptance test the completed construction and installation work volume, the construction stage transition, the completed construction items and works so that the investor officially propose the State Council for Pre-Acceptance Test to inspect and organize the pre-acceptance test.

f) The fund for operation of the State Council for Pre-Acceptance Test (including the grassroots Council for Pre-Acceptance Test) shall be included in the total cost estimate of the construction work.

Article 20.- In cases where foreign contractors participate in consultancy, expertise, supervision and quality registration

1. They must be held responsible before laws of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and to the commitments in the contracts for the quality of the results they have provided, and at the same time be subject to the inspection by the State management agencies regarding the specialized technical fields.

Such results shall serve as basis for the investor to make consideration and evaluation in service of the pre-acceptance test of construction works according to this Regulation.

2. The State management bodies in charge of specialized technical fields shall have to monitor and control the process of implementation by foreign contractors; when necessary, they may inspect the results of work performed by the foreign contractors.

Chapter IV

CONSTRUCTION AND INSTALLATION WARRANTY AND CONSTRUCTION WORK MAINTENANCE

Article 21.- Project construction and installation warranty

1. The project construction and installation warranty means the law-prescribed compulsory quality guaranty by the contractors for the minimum project warranty duration stipulated in Article 54 of the Investment and Construction Management Regulation promulgated together with Decree No. 52/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999 of the Government. The contractor shall have to repair the damage caused by him/her/it during the warranty period.

2. The contractor shall not be responsible for the construction and installation warranty in the following cases:

a) Damage caused to the construction works during the warranty period not by the contractor�s faults;

b) During the construction and installation warranty duration, the construction sections, items and/or works are forced by competent State bodies to be dismantled due to the investor�s violation of construction legislation, even when there have been technical errors in construction.

Article 22.- Construction maintenance

1. The construction project maintenance means the law-prescribed compulsory quality guaranty aimed to maintain the bearing capability, beautiful looking, utility and operation of construction sections, items or works which have been put into operation according to a time cycle stipulated by the designing unit and the manufacturer, and which should be repaired, replaced, restored in order to ensure their longevity and operational safety.

The construction work using managers have the responsibility and obligations to maintain the works according to the designing unit�s regulations inscribed in the technical explanation and the manufacturer�s maintenance process approved by the competent authorities.

2. Construction maintenance duration:

a) For civil and industrial works: The maintenance duration shall be calculated from the date of pre-acceptance testing and putting the work into use till the expiry of the use duration as prescribed for grades of construction works.

Where a construction works surpass its use duration, there must be documents of the consulting unit and construction works-expertising unit, assessing its present status, which shall serve as basis for the higher management bodies to consider and decide it.

b) For specialized construction works: They must also comply with the regulations of the ministries involved in the specialized construction regarding the construction maintenance duration.

3. Grades of maintenance:

a) There are four grades of maintenance as follows:

- Maintenance

- Minor repair

- Medium repair

- Big repair.

b) For the grades of maintenance and minor repair, the work-using manager shall have to draw up plans for annual maintenance.

c) For the grades of medium repair and overhauls related to the safety in the operation, exploitation and use of the construction work, the work-using manager shall, depending on the work load, have to make the investment report or investment project according to the Investment and Construction Management Regulation promulgated together with Decree No. 52/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999 of the Government.

4. Construction maintenance responsibility:

a) For construction works assigned by the State for management of their use, the construction work using managers shall have to:

- Comply with the technical instructions for the maintenance process of the designing units when they are put into operation and use.

- Take responsibility before law for the quality degeneration, the failure to maintain the bearing capability of structures, construction sections, items and/or works and the unsafe operation due to non-implementation of the construction maintenance as prescribed.

b) In cases where the project is used through a leasing contract, the lessee shall have to bear responsibility before law for the failure to implement the maintenance of the construction work as prescribed.

Chapter V

CONSTRUCTION INCIDENTS

Article 23.- The order for handling the construction incidents

1. When incidents occur to any construction works of various sources of investment capital, under different forms of ownership, which are being built, have been completed or being in use, they shall be handled according to the following order:

a) Promptly rescuing the victims (if any);

b) Taking timely preventive measures to avoid dangers which may continue to happen;

c) Protecting the scene of incident;

d) Immediately reporting such to competent bodies for settlement.

2. Within 24 hours after the incident occurs, the construction contractor, user or investor (depending on the situation of project construction or use) shall have to report to the State management bodies on the quality of the construction works (as assigned in Article 3 of this Regulation) and other responsible agencies, organizations and individuals for investi-gation and handling of the incident.

3. Making dossiers on construction incident:

a) When a construction incident occurs, the construction contractor, user or investor shall base on the extent of damage caused by the incident to make the dossier on the incident or make the report thereon. In case of making the incident dossier, a construction consultancy unit (with legal person status, with construction activity registration) may be hired for the job.

b) Jobs to be done when making dossiers on construction incidents:

- Making record on the inspection of the incident scene;

- Measuring, drawing (even filming or photographing) the present situation of the incident, paying attention to important bearing sections, structural details, cracks, breaks, sinkage, slide and other details necessary for study; testing of samples to determine the quality of materials, structures of construction works hit by the incidents in order to analyze and determine the cause of the incidents;

- Obtaining other documents on the construction work such as design changes and/or supplements; disparities between the construction and design; overload phenomena or use of works not in accordance with design, process of operation, use and maintenance;

- Describing the development of the incident and analyzing and determining the cause of the incident.

c) Cleaning and clearing the incident scene:

- After getting adequate dossiers in service of the study, analysis and determination of the cause of construction incident, the incident- settling agency shall permit the construction contractor, user or investor to clean and clear the incident scene.

- In case of rescuing victims, dykes, dams, bridges, sluices or preventing further incident, which require quick dismantlement or clearance of the incident scene, before the dismantlment or clearance, the contractor, the user or the investor shall also have to photograph, film, gather information and record as much as possible according to the requirements defined in this Article.

d) Overcoming the incident:

-The repair or reconstruction of works hit by the incident must ensure that the incident causes already determined in the incident - handling record must be completely overcome.

- The expenses for overcoming the incident shall be paid by the unit or individual that has caused the incident.

- Where the incident is caused due to force majeure reasons, the investor shall pay the expenses for overcoming the incident or the insurer shall bear the cost (for insured construction works).

- Where the incident causes serious consequences (human death or great loss to the State property), the persons at fault may be examined for penal liability according to law.

Article 24.- Assignment of responsibility for investigation and handling of incidents and reception of construction incident notices

1. For construction works belonging to Group A investment projects: The Ministry of Construction shall assume the prime responsibility for the settlement with the participation of the provincial Construction Service where the construction works is located, the branch-managing ministry or the ministry with specialized construction (if they are specialized construction works) and other relevant functional State management bodies.

2. For construction works belonging to Group B and C investment projects: The provincial Construction Service shall assume the prime responsibility for the settlement, with the participation of the branch-managing Service or the Service with specialized construction (if they are specialized construction works) and other relevant functional State management bodies in the locality.

3. For people�s dwelling houses constructions: The functional construction management agency (the construction bureau) of the district People�s Committee shall assume the prime responsibility for the settlement. In case of necessity, the agency in charge of the settlement of incident my invite representatives of the provincial Construction Service, experts and technicians for consultancy.

Chapter VI

INSPECTION AND HANDLING OF VIOLATIONS IN QUALITY CONTROL OF CONSTRUCTION WORKS

Article 25.- The inspection of quality of construction works

The quality inspection of construction works by State management bodies and the direct management agencies of the investors aims to ensure the quality of construction works, promptly work out measures to prevent, overcome and eliminate acts of violation regarding the quality of construction works. The inspection must be carried out regularly or irregularly throughout the process of constructing and using the construction works.

Article 26.- Handling of violations regarding the quality control of construction works

The handling of violations in the quality control of construction works shall comply with Article 68 of the Investment and Construction Management Regulation promulgated together with the Government�s Decree No. 52/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999, the provisions of this Regulations and current legal documents.

Chapter VII

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 27.- This Regulation takes effect 15 days after its signing. All other regulations contrary to this Regulation shall be annulled.

Article 28.- The ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the heads of agencies attached to the Government, the central bodies of mass organizations, the managing boards of the State corporations shall have to organize the implementation of this Regulation.

Minister of Construction
NGUYEN MANH KIEM