THE MINISTER OF CONSTRUCTION

DECIDES:

Article 1.- To issue together with this Decision the "Regulation on the granting of construction designing practice certificates".

Article 2.- This Decision shall take effect as of January 1, 2001 and apply nationwide.

Article 3.- The ministries, the ministerial-level agencies, the agencies attached to the Government, the central agencies of mass organizations, the People�s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities and the concerned organizations shall have to organize the implementation of this Decision.

Minister of Construction
NGUYEN MANH KIEM

Article 1.- A number of principles

1. Construction designing practice certificates shall be valid for determining the professional qualifications and experiences of individuals in the field of construction designing, managing the construction design quality and constitute a condition for business registration of the construction designing service according to law provisions.

2. The construction designing practice certificate grantees may perform the jobs: acting as leading construction designers or managers of designing blueprints; using the certificates for business registration and provision of construction designing services according to law provisions; signing and taking principal responsibility for the quality of construction design dossiers; independently practicing the construction designing job according to law provisions.

Persons who have been trained and professionally qualified but not yet granted the construction designing practice certificates may only participate in the designing under the management and direction by persons who have already been granted the construction designing practice certificates and shall not be allowed to sign construction design dossiers in the capacity of the leading construction designers or managers of the designing blueprints.

3. The construction designing practice certificates shall serve as a legal basis for the persons competent to evaluate and approve designs to consider and approve construction designs.

Article 2.- Scope and objects of regulation:

1. This Regulation prescribes the subjects, conditions, procedures, and competence to manage and grant construction designing practice certificates.

2. Construction designing practice certificates shall be granted to individuals being Vietnamese citizens, overseas Vietnamese and foreigners permanently residing in Vietnam, who wish to be granted the construction designing practice certificates and meet all the conditions and professional criteria specified in Articles 4 and 5 of this Regulation.

3. Construction designs in this Regulation include:

a/ Designing forms:

- Design of the whole construction grounds;

- Architectural design;

- Exterior and interior designs;

- Structural design;

- Mechanic-electric design;

- Water supply and drainage design;

- Heating system design;

- Ventilation and conditioning design;

- Information and communications design;

- Fire prevention and fight design;

- Other designs.

b/ Designing of different kinds of construction:

- Civil works (dwelling houses and public facilities);

- Technical infrastructures of urban centers; industrial parks, export-processing zones and high-tech parks;

- Industrial works (workshops, support structures, warehouses; dependent technical structures);

- Power works (power plants, power transmission lines, transformer stations);

- Traffic works (road, railway, bridges, tunnels, port, waterway, airports);

- Irrigation works (dams, tunnels, culverts, canals, river bank protection works);

- Agricultural works (husbandry farms, agricultural farms, agricultural warehouses, farm produce-processing stations);

- Forestry works;

- Aquaculture works;

- Information and telecommunications works (receiving-transmitting stations, cable networks; antenna masts);

- Mine construction works;

- Oil and gas works (oil and gas exploration and exploitation, oil and gas exploitation and refining, oil and gas transport, petrol depots);

- Water supply-drainage works;

- Solid waste treatment works;

- Other works.

Article 3.- Contents and effect of construction designing practice certificates

1. The contents of construction designing practice certificates shall be made according to uniform form prescribed and issued nationwide by the Ministry of Construction.

2. A construction designing practice certificate shall be effective for 5 years, may be extended for another 5 years each time when the certificate holder so requests and meets all the conditions and professional criteria specified in Articles 4 and 5 of this Regulation.

3. The construction designing practice certificate holders may practice the construction designing profession nationwide and according to law provisions.

Chapter II

CONDITIONS AND PROFESSIONAL CRITERIA FOR BEING GRANTED CONSTRUCTION DESIGNING PRACTICE CERTIFICATES

Article 4.- Conditions for being granted certificates

1. For Vietnamese citizens, they must have civic rights, full capacity for civil acts and people�s identity cards; for foreigners and overseas Vietnamese, they must have passports and permits for residence in Vietnam according to law provisions.

2. Submitting valid dossiers as prescribed in Article 9 of this Regulation.

3. Paying fees as prescribed.

Article 5.- Professional criteria for being granted certificates

1. Professional qualifications:

- Holding university (or postgraduate) diplomas granted by Vietnamese or foreign universities, academies, or competent bodies of the Vietnamese State or foreign countries.

- The content of registration for granting of construction designing practice certificates must be compatible with the trained profession or specialty and personal construction designing capability.

2. Professional experiences:

Having at least three years of directly practicing construction designing (with at least one year of working in Vietnam) and having participated in designing at least 3 works according to the registered content, being knowledgeable about and strictly observing the law provisions on construction related construction designing.

Chapter III

ORGANIZATION AND MANAGEMENT OF THE CERTIFICATE GRANTING AND THE CONSTRUCTION DESIGNING PRACTICE

Article 6.- Organization and management of the certificate granting and the construction designing practice

1. The Ministry of Construction, with its function of State management over construction, shall exercise the uniform management over the certificate granting as well as the construction designing practice nationwide; prescribe the contents and issue the uniform form of construction designing certificates; organize and direct the training and fostering in the construction designing practice management profession and skills; supervise and inspect the certificate granting according to this Regulation.

2. The Construction Services of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall grant the construction designing practice certificates to individuals residing in the localities and manage the construction designing practice in the localities according to this Regulation.

Article 7.- Tasks and powers of the bodies granting certificates and managing the construction designing practice

1. Tasks:

a/ To organize the reception of dossiers, within 5 working days after receiving dossiers, if deeming them necessary to be amended and/or supplemented, to request the applicants to make amendments and/or supplements; to guide individuals and organizations to observe this Regulation and the relevant law provisions.

b/ To issue construction designing practice certificates within 15 working days after receiving complete dossiers, in case of refusal, to notify the reasons and return dossiers to the applicants.

c/ To settle complaints about the granting of construction designing practice certificates according to their competence.

d/ To supervise the construction designing practice in the localities;

f/ To report once every six months to the Ministry of Construction on the certificate granting and the construction designing practice in the localities.

2. Powers:

a/ To check dossiers and ensure that all conditions and professional criteria are met before granting certificates.

b/ To refuse to grant certificates to applicants who fail to meet all conditions and professional criteria specified in Articles 4 and 5 of this Regulation.

c/ To supervise the construction designing practice of the certificate holders according to the contents of the issued certificates.

d/ To withdraw the certificates from violators according to the provisions of this Regulation.

e/ To request the competent bodies to handle violations according to law provisions.

Article 8.- Powers and responsibilities of the construction designing practice certificate holders

1. Powers:

a/ To use the construction designing practice certificates for business registration and provision of construction designing services according to law provisions.

b/ To practice the construction designing according to the provisions of this Regulation and the relevant law provisions.

c/ To request extension of or supplements to the contents of their certificates when they meet all the prescribed conditions and criteria.

d/ To request the certificate-granting bodies and concerned organizations to comply with the regulations; lodge complaints and/or denunciations or initiate lawsuits against individuals and organizations that act in contravention of this Regulation.

2. Responsibilities:

a/ To practice the construction designing according to the contents of their certificates.

b/ To abide by the construction legislation on construction designing.

c/ To take responsibility for the quality of the designing products made or managed by themselves; to comply with the occupational insurance regime according to law provisions.

d/ Not to lease out or lend their certificates to other persons to practice the construction designing, not to modify the contents of the already granted certificates.

e/ To produce their certificates and submit to the supervision and inspection of the construction designing activities at the request of the competent bodies prescribed in this Regulation.

Article 9.- Dossiers of application for construction designing practice certificate shall be composed of:

1. An application for construction designing practice certificate, made according to the set form and enclosed with 03 3x4 cm color photos taken in the latest year.

2. Notarized copies of the professional diplomas and certificates or notarized translations of diplomas and certificates issued by foreign authorities.

3. A description of the professional activity process.

4. Written certifications by the following organizations or individuals (not required for dossiers filed by postgraduate degree holders):

a/ A professional organization compatible with the applicant�s profession;

b/ A professional association compatible with the profession of the applicant who is one of its members.

c/ An individual who holds a construction designing certificate and is engaged in a similar profession or an individual who is engaged in a similar profession and holds a educational degree higher that that of the applicant.

Such written certifications shall be made according to the set form.

Article 10.- Procedures for the granting of construction designing certificates

1. The applicants shall submit to the certificate-issuing bodies one dossier set (as prescribed in Article 9 of this Regulation).

2. A construction designing certificate shall be made in two originals, one of which shall be handed over to the applicant and the other filed at the certificate-granting body.

3. Persons granted the certificates shall pay a fee at the certificate-granting bodies according to regulations.

Chapter IV

SUPERVISION, INSPECTION AND HANDLING OF VIOLATIONS

1. The construction designing practice certificate-granting bodies shall have to supervise the construction designing practice in the localities; if detecting any violations, they shall make records thereof and handle them according to their competence or propose to the competent bodies to handle them according to law.

2. The Ministry of Construction shall supervise and inspect the implementation of this Regulation nationwide, solve problems, study and make amendments and supplements to this Regulation when necessary.

Article 12.- Handling of violations

1. The bodies that issue the construction designing practice certificates and manage the construction designing practice shall be entitled to withdraw such certificates and notify the concerned agencies thereof if the construction designing practitioners commit one of the following violations:

- Practicing the construction designing at variance with the contents of their certificates;

- Violating this Regulation;

- Violating the construction legislation on construction designing.

2. If the persons competent to grant construction designing practice certificates or the persons competent to evaluate and approve construction designs violate the provisions of this Regulation or the relevant law provisions, they shall, depending on the seriousness of their violations, be disciplined, administratively sanctioned, subject to material compensation, or examined for penal liability according to law provisions.

Chapter V

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 13.- Implementation provisions

1. This Regulation shall take effect as from January 1, 2001 and apply nationwide.

2. The certificates of blueprint-manager architects granted under the "Regulation on the architects� practice" (issued together with Decision No. 91/BXD-DT of April 16, 1993 of the Minister of Construction) shall be as valid as the construction designing practice certificates prescribed in this Regulation with regard to the designing of total construction grounds, the designing of the works� architecture and the designing of the works� interior and exterior decorations.

Minister of Construction
NGUYEN MANH KIEM