2.1. Construction works mean the products of construction and installation technology which are affixed to land and formulated from construction materials through the use of construction equipment and labor force. A construction work may be one or several items in a synchronous and complete technological chain.

2.2. Work maintenance mean the law-prescribed compulsory activity conducted by the works� owners or use managers, aiming to ensure that the works� parts or items continue functioning as determined.

2.3. Work maintenance process means the order of necessary jobs to be done in order to restore the quality of a work�s parts or items so that the work can continue functioning as required.

2.4. Work maintenance means necessary jobs to be done in the maintenance process for the completion of the work maintenance.

2.5. Evaluation of the extent of work deterioration means the evaluation of the present quality status of the work as compared to the initial design, taking into account the consequences of impacts during the course of work operation, exploitation and use, including:

2.5.1. Impacts of natural factors;

2.5.2. Impacts of activities during the course of work operation, exploitation and use;

2.5.3. Impacts of the arising factors or risks not anticipated by the designing units.

2.6. Work overhaul means the job done when many parts of the work are damaged or deteriorated, aiming to restore the initial quality of the work.

2.7. Medium repair of work means the job done when several parts of the work are damaged or deteriorated, aiming to restore the initial quality of such parts of the work.

2.8. Minor repair of work means the job done when several details of the work�s parts are damaged or deteriorated, aiming to restore the initial quality of such details.

2.9. Work renovation means the inspection and treatment conducted regularly in order to prevent damage to each detail or part of the work.

3. Stipulations on construction work maintenance grades:

3.1. The maintenance of construction works is classified into 4 grades as follows:

3.1.1. Renovation;

3.1.2. Minor repair;

3.1.3. Medium repair;

3.1.4. Overhaul.

3.2. Contents for each grade of maintenance of specialized construction works with special requirements shall be stipulated by the ministries involved in specialized construction.

3.3. The time for calculating the first cycle of the work maintenance is stipulated as follows:

3.3.1. For the works mentioned at Item 1.2, Section 1, Part 1 of this Circular, it is the time the pre-acceptance test is finished and the work is put into operation, exploitation or use.

3.3.2. For the works mentioned at Item 1.3, Section 1, Part 1 of this Circular, it is the time the evaluation of extent of the work deterioration is completed and the maintenance process is elaborated.

4. Responsibility to organize the maintenance of construction works:

4.1. Basing themselves on Items 1.2 and 1.3, Section 1, Part 1 of this Circular, the works� owners or use managers shall have to organize the work maintenance according to the following steps:

4.1.1. Preparing for the work maintenance.

4.1.2. Deploying the work maintenance.

4.1.3. Terminating the maintenance.

4.2. The works� owners or use managers shall make plans and organize the maintenance of works at the grades of renovation and minor repair.

4.3. The work maintenance at the medium repair and overhaul grades shall be conducted according to contracts signed between the works� owners or use managers and the legal persons having adequate capability and experience therefor.

5. Capital sources for the maintenance of construction works:

5.1. For the works which belong to units benefiting from the State budget or which are managed and used by enterprises, economic or socio-political organizations: The funding for the maintenance shall comply with the stipulations of the Finance Ministry.

5.2. For the works managed and used by private households, depending on the maintenance extents, funding must be self-financed for the maintenance of works.

5.3. Capital sources used for the work maintenance at the medium repair and overhaul grades shall be determined according to the projects, and the management and use of capital shall comply with the Regulation on Investment and Construction Management, issued together with the Government�s Decree No. 52/1999/ND-CP of July 8, 1999 and Decree No. 12/2000/ND-CP of May 5, 2000.

5.4. Annually, the works� owners or use managers must examine and evaluate the present status of the use of works for the elaboration of plans for renovation and minor repair.

Part 2

CONTENTS OF THE MAINTENANCE OF CONSTRUCTION WORKS

1. Contents of the maintenance of construction works are specified according to each specialized branch, but must satisfy the following principal requirements:

1.1. The maintenance of construction works aims to maintain their technical, aesthetic and unility specifications during the course of operation, exploitation and use, suitable to the work grade and use expiry already determined.

1.2. Contents required for the maintenance of construction works:

1.2.1. Contents of the maintenance of construction works cover:

a/ Organization of investigation, survey and evaluation of works� present status;

b/ Determination of the damage extents of works� details and parts;

c/ Determination of maintenance grades;

d/ Elaborating process for each grade of work maintenance and corresponding investment level;

e/ Financial sources for the implementation of work maintenance.

The maintenance contents must clearly state details and parts to be maintained; conditions and criteria for use, mode of organization, and plan on implementation tempo; measures to ensure safety for equipment and people in the course of work maintenance.

The work maintenance contents shall not cover such jobs as regular cleaning inside and outside the works; repair, addition or upgrading of works beyond the initial functions without the permission of competent authority(ies).

1.2.2. Determination of safety extents for works. The present quality status is evaluated and determined according to 5 grades of quality deterioration as follows:

a/ Good: The work�s quality ensures its operation, exploitation and use; the work has not deteriorated yet, its initial quality status has been maintained.

b/ Satisfactory: The work�s quality ensures its operation, exploitation and use, but there appear signs of minor damage in several details or parts of the work.

c/ Unsatisfactory: The work�s quality has deteriorated, damage is seen in several parts of the work.

d/ Old and ruined: The work�s quality has severely deteriorated, the work�s parts have been simultaneously damaged.

e/ Unusable: The work�s quality has been extremely severely deteriorated and it must be demolished.

1.2.3. The elaboration of process for each grade of maintenance of construction works must clarify the following requirements:

a/ Functions and standards for operation of construction works;

b/ Reasons for which the construction works fail to satisfy their functions and standards for operation, exploitation or use as required;

c/ Remedial measures (selection of maintenance grades and corresponding maintenance contents);

d/ Requirements on periodical survey regime and measures to prevent incidents or quality deterioration.

2. The ministries having specialized construction works shall have to draw up methods of determining the quality extent for each kind of specialized work and technical standards for the maintenance of specialized works, which shall serve as legal basis for the maintenance of specialized works.

Part 3

DOCUMENTS USED FOR THE MAINTENANCE OF CONSTRUCTION WORKS

Documents serving as basis for the maintenance of construction works include:

1. Work design dossiers already approved by competent authority(ies) according to the contents in Appendix No. 1 of the Regulation on Construction Work Quality Management, issued together with the Construction Minister�s Decision No. 17/2000/QD-BXD of August 2, 2000 or according to the stipulations of the ministries involved in specialized construction, for specialized construction works with special requirements;

2. Dossiers and documents on the completion of construction works; technical standards already used for design and manufacturing, and for the production of materials, supplies and equipment of the works;

3. Diary on the process of operation or use of works;

4. The approved processes, including: work maintenance process undertaken by the construction work-designing units, technical process for the operation and maintenance of the technological chain by the technology-designing units, and equipment operation and maintenance process of the manufacturers;

5. The reports on evaluation of the present quality status of the works for which the maintenance process has not been elaborated yet;

6. Maintenance plans and tempo and measures to ensure safety for people, equipment and environment during the course of operation, exploitation, use and maintenance of works;

7. The contracts signed between the works� owners or use managers and the consulting units that elaborate the maintenance process and the contractors that conduct the maintenance of works.

Part 4

PRE-ACCEPTANCE TEST AND WARRANT OF THE MAINTENANCE OF CONSTRUCTION WORKS

1. The works� owners or use managers must organize the pre-acceptance test of the maintenance work according to the contents of the contracts already signed with the maintenance-conducting units.

2. The warrant of the maintenance of construction works is stipulated as follows:

2.1. The work maintenance-conducting units must warrant the maintenance conducted by themselves for a period of 3 months for the grades of renovation and minor repair. For the grades of medium repair and overhaul, the warrant shall comply with Article 54 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 Decree No. 12/2000/ND-CP of May 5, 2000.

2.2. The time for commencing the warrant of the maintenance shall be counted from the date the pre-acceptance test record on the completed maintenance is signed.

Part 5

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

1. This Circular takes effect 15 days after its signing.

2. The ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, the People�s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities, the central bodies of mass organizations, the State corporations and the concerned organizations and individuals shall have to implement this Circular.

3. Any problems arising in the course of implementation should be reported in writing to the Construction Ministry for study and settlement.

Minister of Construction
NGUYEN MANH KIEM