On August 8, 2022, the Government issued Decree No. 52/2022/ND-CP (“Decree 52”), replacing Decree No. 81/2017/ND-CP (“Decree 81”) providing functions, duties, authorities and organizational structure of the Ministry of Construction.
Accordingly, the content of functions and authorities of the Ministry of Construction (“MOC”) has adjusted significantly. In this Legal Update, we would like to focus on some notable changes as follows:
In the field of planning:
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Decree 52 |
Decree 81 |
Assessment |
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Provide a mechanism allowing the MOC to not only assess but also approve construction planning tasks and projects under the approval authority of the Prime Minister[1]. |
Only restrict the authority scope within formulating, appraising and submitting to the Prime Minister for approval[2]. |
Expand the authority scope of the MOC. |
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The MOC shall preside over the formulation and assessment of the construction planning components in the national master plannings, regional planning and other plannings as prescribed; organize the formulation, assessment and submission to the Prime Minister for the approval of the national urban and rural system plannings, the urban general plannings, the urban underground space plannings, and the general plannings on construction of functional areas as assigned by the Prime Minister. |
Organize the formulation and submission to the Prime Minister for approval of inter-provincial region construction plannings, special functional zones having national significance, regions along highways and/or inter-provincial economic corridors; general planning of new urban centers with the planning scope spanning to the administrative boundaries of at least two provinces or central-run cities; general planning for new urban areas with a estimated population size equivalent to that of urban centers of grade III or higher and other plannings assigned by the Prime Minister. |
Plannings under the MOC’s authority has been more comprehensive and oriented towards specialization in the field of construction and management scope of urban areas. |
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Build and manage the database system on construction and architecture planning associated with the database on land nationwide.
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Build and manage the database system on construction and architecture planning nationwide.
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The system integration will render the management more effective. |
In investment and construction activities:
Decree 52 amended and supplemented a number of functions of the Ministry of Construction, such as:
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Decree 52 |
Decree 81 |
Assessment |
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Manage the bidding in construction activities as regulated[3]. |
Guide the contractor selection and the performance evaluation of contractors as regulated[4]. |
The MOC is curently the agency being in charge of managing the bidding, instead of just guiding the implementation as before. |
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Guide and inspect the implementation of the provisions of law on contracts in construction activities, on public-private partnership (PPP) contracts as regulated[5]. |
Guide and inspect the implementation of the provisions of law on contracts in construction activities; guide the adjustment method of construction contract prices; and Publicize the construction contract form[6]. |
Supplement PPP project contract object to the management scope of the MOC, beside other construction contracts. |
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Guide and inspect the maintenance of construction works, assess the construction safety during the exploitation and use; announce and guide the settlement of expired works as prescribed by law. |
Guide and inspect the maintenance of construction works; assess the quality, load-bearing safety and operation safety of construction works during exploitation and use; guide the settlement of expired works needed to be reused as prescribed. |
The MOC has the function of announcing expired works. This is in line with the current goal of publicity and transparency of information on the real estate market of the State. |
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Formulate and manage the publicity of the list of individuals and organizations being able to be granted construction practice certificates and capacity certificates as regulated; build and manage the database system on construction norms, construction prices and construction price index as prescribed. |
Build up the database, update and publish information on the capacity of organizations and individuals practicing construction activities (including foreign organizations engaged in construction activities in Vietnam) as prescribed. |
This is consistent with the current goal of publicity and transparency of information on the real estate market of the State. |
In the field of technical infrastructure: Decree 52 spplemented management subjects in the field of technical infrastructure for MOC, specifically:
- Drainage and wastewater treatment in industrial parks (along with urban wastewater and concentrated rural residential areas – previously stipulated in Decree 81);
- Management of construction of technical infrastructure for collection, storage and treatment of solid waste in general (previously, Decree 81 limited the scope of management of the MOC for solid waste in urban areas and concentrated rural residential areas);
Particularly for the water supply sector, the MOC will be the unit being in charge of guiding and inspecting clean water business activities and ensuring safe water supply nationwide (Decree 81 only stipulated that the MOC was the agency guiding the management and operation of the water supply system and guiding methods of clean water consumption valuation and the clean water price bracket).
In the field of housing: Decree 52 supplemented the functions and authorities of the MOC as follows:
- Formulate mechanisms, policies and solutions for social housing development and housing support for each group of subjects entitled to social housing support policies as prescribed;
- Instruct regulations on conditions and criteria for selecting investors of social housing construction investment projects, on design standards and minimum conditions for the construction of separate social housing of households and individual;
- Build and manage the national housing information system and database under the Ministry’s management, connect and share with the national land database in as regulated.
In addition, under Decree 52, the organizational structure of the MOC has also been changed
According to Decree 81, previously, the MOC had a total of 25 affiliated agencies and units. However, Decree 52 has removed 06 affiliated agencies and units, namely: Department of Enterprise Management; Agency for Southern Affairs; Construction Economics Institute; Construction Science and Technology Institute; National Architecture Institute and National Institute for Urban and Rural Planning.
In which, the Agency for Southern Affairs shall particularly be merged into the Ministry’s Office, but shall still continue to perform the tasks until the Minister of Construction issues a decision defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry’s Office.
This Decree took effect on August 8, 2022.
[1] Article 2.5(a) of Decree 52.
[2] Article 2.5(a)(b)(c) of Decree 52.
[3] Article 2.6(đ) Decree 52.
[4] Article 2.6(e) Decree 81.
[5] Article 2.6(g) Decree 52.
[6] Article 2.6(h) Decree 81.
Comment: