Merchandise building materials in circulation on the market are mostly composed of goods with big volume and cumbersome for transport, storing and trade, some of them prone to cause dust and filth and are easily inflammable thus affecting the environment and social order and management.

In order to limit to the minimum their damaging effects on the environment, hygiene and landscape as well as social safety and also to ensure the quality of products for consumers in the trading of merchandise building materials,

Pursuant to Decree No. 11/1999/ND-CP of March 3, 1999 on the goods banned from circulation and commercial service, and on goods and commercial services subject to limited or conditional business, after consulting and reaching agreement with the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of Construction provides the following guidance for implementation of the said Decree concerning the merchandise building materials subject to conditional business:

I. SCOPE OF APPLICATION

1. Traders trading in merchandise building materials subject to conditional business, irrespective of economic sectors whether they are Vietnamese or foreign goods, must have business licenses and the equipment and places of business conforming with the conditions stipulated in this Circular.

2. The places of business of building materials include reception stations, warehouses and storing yards, rooms for the display, transaction and trading of building materials.

3. List of the merchandise building materials subject to conditional business:

a/ Cement of different kinds,

b/ Construction lime of different kinds,

c/ Building bricks, ashlars and roofing tiles, asbestos roofing sheets, metal roofing sheets, iron frameworks, steel tubes of various kinds, stone, sand, pebble, prefabricated concrete, construction glass,

d/ Construction timber of various kinds, mangrove, pile, bamboo, neohouzeaua, roofing leaves, plastic roofing sheets, plastic tubes, plaited bamboo sheets, oiled paper.

e/ Construction additives of various kinds, construction paint of various kinds.

II. BUSINESS CONDITIONS FOR BUILDING MATERIALS SUBJECT TO CONDITIONAL BUSINESS

The building materials subject to conditional business shall comply with the regulations of the Trade Law and the documents guiding its implementation. They must also satisfy the general conditions stipulated in Article 6 of Decree No. 11/1999/ND-CP of March 3, 1999 in List 3 concerning Points a, b and e and detailed as follows:

1. General conditions:

a/ The dealer must be a trader with a business license as prescribed by current law.

b/ He/she must have a material and technical establishment meeting the norms issued by competent State agencies.

c/ The place of business must:

+ Comply with the requirements in planning the network of places of business in the locality.

+ Meet the requirements in environmental protection, landscape and prevention and fight against fires and explosion.

+ Ensure public order and traffic safety: not encroaching upon the boundary of traffic safety, not encroaching upon street pavement and roadbed.

+ Must put up a signboard with the name of the shop and the name of the enterprise or the name of the trader.

2. Concrete conditions for each group of merchandise building materials subject to conditional business:

a/ For cement:

- Cement is a building material prone to cause dust and deterioration of quality in the process of maintenance: the place of cement business must not be located along the roads passing through population and urban centers.

- Retail sales of cement (under one bag of 50kg) must be provided with instruments of accurate measurement and weighing, and with packing for customers.

- The shop or warehouse for cement must be closed and dry so that the quality of cement is not affected by rain and humidity.

- The price of each kind of cement must be put up publicly for customers at the place of business for cement.

b/ For construction lime:

- Construction lime is a material which is prone to cause dust in lump form and provokes high heat when meeting water thus liable to cause fatal burns. In liquid form it is dangerous to the skin, dirties the neighboring roads and constructions. The place of construction lime business must not be located in populous areas or near schools, hospitals or markets. Quick lime lumps must be stored in closed stores or put in anti-humidity packing, on high places to guard against sudden water logging, lime must be slaked and stored in covered concrete drums or basins or enclosed pits at a place not frequently visited and must necessarily have a signboard warning against lime pits.

- Construction lime dealers can only sell lime and load it into transport means or pack it in packing assured against littering and muck-up during transportation and can transport the lime only at given hours in the day as bidden by the local administration.

c/ With regard to the group of cumbersome building materials, including: construction bricks, ashlars and roofing tile of various kinds, asbestos cement roofing sheets, iron roofing sheets, steel tubes, stone, sand, pebbles, prefabricated concrete and construction glass. These materials are usually sold in big volumes, cumbersome and prone to cause dust and obstacle to traffic during loading and transportation.

The place of business of these materials must not be located in streets of the central quarters and must have sufficient ports and yards for the coming and going of transport means. The place of their stockpiling must be neat and orderly and free from knockovers and breaks that may cause accidents to passersby.

Dealers in these materials can only sell and load them on transport means which are secured from dust rousing and littering, must not be oversized and overweighted compared with the prescriptions of traffic safety, and must obey the prescriptions of the local administration about the hours permitted for their transportation.

d/ With regard to cumbersome materials which are inflammable or smelly, including: Construction timber, mangrove, pile, bamboo, neohouzeaua, palm leaves, plastic roofing sheets, plastic tubes, plaited bamboo walls, oiled paper.

The places of business of these materials are subject to the same conditions as for the groups of materials mentioned in Point c. In addition, their storing places must be far from places easy to catch fire, and measures and regulations must be taken to prevent and combat fire effectively.

e/ With regard to additives and paints:

This group of building materials are usually found in liquid or powder form and are prone to cause dust and environmental pollution during their trading. The storing and transportation of these materials must be done with the use of packing for the materials in powder form or drums, boxes and closed cisterns for those in liquid form. There must be safe instruments of measurement during the trading. They must not be put at places near water sources, drinking water wells or ponds and lakes or in places of high temperature susceptible to inflame the solvents of additives and paints.

III. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

1. The People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall ratify the planning of the places in the network for the conditional business of building materials in the locality proposed by the Building Service and the Trade Service which shall widely publicize them after the planning is approved.

2. Traders who are already issued with certificates of qualification for trading in building materials under Circular No. 19/BXD-VLXD of July 1st, 1995, are allowed to continue their trade but must ensure fulfillment of the conditions prescribed in this Circular.

3. The agency competent in issuing business licenses shall coordinate with the Building Service and the Trade Service to issue business licenses to those traders who meet the conditions of business stipulated in Clause II of this Circular.

4. The Building Service shall coordinate with the Trade Service and the related branches in the locality to organize periodical or unnotified inspections at all places of conditional business for building materials in the locality regarding the observance of the stipulations in this Circular and shall report the results of the inspections to the People’s Committees of the provinces and cities and the Ministry of Construction.

5. Organizations and individuals that violate the stipulations in this Circular shall, depending on the seriousness of the violation and its consequences, be subjected to discipline, administrative sanctions or material compensations or be examined for penal liability according to prescriptions of law.

6. This Circular replaces Circular No. 19/BXD-VLXD of July 1st, 1995 and takes implementation effect 15 days after its promulgation.

Minister of Construction
NGUYEN MANH KIEM