CIRCULAR

GUIDING A NUMBER OF CONTENTS ABOUT MAINTAINING CIVIL CONSTRUCTIONS, BUILDING MATERIAL INDUSTRY CONSTRUCTIONS, URBAN TECHNICAL INFRASTRUCTURAL CONSTRUCTIONS

Pursuant to the Law on Construction No. 16/2003/QH11 of November 26, 2003;

Pursuant to the Law on Housing No. 56/2005/QH11 of November 29, 2005;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 17/2008/NĐ-CP of February 04, 2008 on defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Construction;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP of December 06, 2010 on maintaining constructions (hereinafter referred to as the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP);

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 71/2010/NĐ-CP of June 23, 2010 on detailing and guiding the implementation of the Law on Housing (hereinafter referred to as the Decree No. 71/2010/NĐ-CP),

The Ministry of Construction guides a number of contents about maintaining civil constructions, building material industry constructions and urban technical infrastructural constructions as follows:

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1. This Circular guides the Article 26 of the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP on persons in charge of maintenance; constructions, construction part subject to compulsory measurement during the utilization; considering and making decisions on continuing to use constructions of which the designed life expectancy has expired; handling constructions with deteriorated quality and unsafe to be used; handling problems during the utilization and inspecting the construction maintenance.

This Circular is applicable to organizations, individuals related to the management and utilization of civil constructions (except for historical, cultural relics), building material industry constructions and urban technical infrastructural constructions within the Vietnam’s territory.

2. The maintenance of other kinds of constructions shall be guided by the line management ministries under Clause 1 Article 26 of the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP.

Article 2. Persons in charge of maintenance

1. Maintenance of constructions with one owner:

a) The State-owned constructions shall be maintained by the organizations, individuals assigned to manage and utilize that construction by the State;

b) For other constructions, their owners are in charge of maintenance.

The investors of urban technical infrastructural constructions are responsible to maintain the constructions until they are handed over to the State;

c) For BOT constructions (Build – Operate – Transfer), the legal representatives of the project management enterprises are responsible to maintain the construction during the operation specified in the project contract. When the operation term expires, the organization that acquire the construction transfer from the investor is responsible to keep maintaining the constructions.

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a) For housing, the owners are responsible to maintain the private part and reach an agreement to contribute to the public part as prescribed in Article 48 and Article 51 of the Decree No. 71/2010/NĐ-CP;

b) For other constructions (except housing), the owners are responsible to maintain their private part and the public part of the construction. The assignment of responsibilities for maintenance of public part must be agreed in writing or in the sale contract, lease contract by the owners or the authorized persons.

3. The owners or the authorized persons prescribed in Point b Clause 1 Article 5 of the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP must reach the agreement on the responsibilities for construction maintenance when authorizing other organizations, individuals to utilize the construction.

4. For constructions with unidentifiable owners, the persons that utilize the constructions are responsible to maintain it.

Article 3. Constructions, construction parts subject to compulsory measurement during the utilization and operation

1. During the utilization of the constructions prescribed in Annex 1 of this Circular and the constructions with signs of subsidence, cracks, tilt and other unusual signs that may cause the construction to collapse, the measurement are compulsory.

The construction part subject to compulsory measurement are the primary bearing structure system of the construction that may lead to collapse if broken (e.g. The spatial roof frame, the primary bearing framework, the stadium stand, the chimney, the silo…).

2. The measurement location, measurement figures and limits of these figures (e.g. the tilt, subsidence, cracks, sag…); the time of measurement, the quantity of measurement cycles and other necessary contents shall be stipulated by the contractor that designs and build the constructions.

3. General requirements for construction measurement during the utilization and operation:

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b) The measurement plan must specify the measurement methods, measurement equipment, the layout and structure of the marks, the implementation organization, the figure processing methods and other necessary contents;

c) The measurement contractor must produce and send to the person in charge of maintenance the measurement results of which the measurement figures must be compared with the limit values specified by the contractor that designs and build the construction, and the relevant standards.

In case the measurement figures reach the limit values prescribed in Clause 2 this Article or having other unusual signs, the person in charge of maintenance must organize the construction safety assessment, utilization and operation safety assessment as well as take prompt handling measures.

d) The organizations, individuals that carry out measurement must be capable of construction operation similarly to the organizations, individuals that carry out construction survey or construction quality appraisal.

Article 4. Considering and making decisions on continuing to use constructions of which the designed life expectancy has expired

1. Constructions with expired designed life expectancy are constructions that have been operated and utilized longer than its designed life expectancy. The designed life expectancy of a constructions is calculated as stated in the design document.

In case the design document is lost of does not specify the life expectancy, the life expectancy shall be calculated under the relevant technical regulations and standards, or under the calculated life expectancy of a construction of the same kind.

2. When the designed life expectancy of a construction expires, the person in charge of construction maintenance must carry out the following jobs:

a) Organizing the inspection, appraisal and assessment of the construction condition;

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c) Actively making decisions on continuing to use constructions in class III and class IV without causing calamities upon their malfunctions as prescribed by law provisions on construction quality control.

d) Actively sending reports to competent State agencies prescribed in Clause 6 this Article on the contents prescribed in Clause 3 this Article regarding constructions in class II or above and constructions that may cause calamities upon malfunctions as prescribed by law provisions on construction quality control.

3. The contents of reports made by the person in charge of maintenance:

a) The construction quality assessment results;

b) The proposal on handling the construction with one of the following options: Continue to use the construction or convert its functions and repair it if necessary; restricting the use of part of the construction; restricting the use of the construction or stop using the entire construction.

4. The competent State agencies prescribed in Clause 6 this Article are responsible send written response to the proposal from the person in charge of maintenance about the way to handle the constructions with expired designed life expectancy. In case the competent State agencies refuse the proposal from the person in charge of maintenance, the reasons must be specified.

5. The old apartment buildings with expired designed life expectancy shall be handled as prescribed by law provisions on renovating old apartment buildings.

6. The State agencies competent to consider and decisions on continuing to use constructions with expired designed life expectancy include:

a) The Ministry of Construction for constructions in special class and class I;

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7. The persons in charge of maintenance shall send 02 dossiers under the contents prescribed in Clause 3 this Article to competent State agencies prescribed in Clause 6 this Article directly or by post for the consideration and handling of constructions with expired designed life expectancy.

The time limit for considering is 30 working days as from receiving the valid dossiers regarding constructions in special class and class I, and 20 working days regarding the others.

Article 5. Constructions, construction parts unsafe to be used

1. Constructions, construction parts unsafe to be used are dangerous constructions, construction parts with high risk of collapse manifesting in cracks, sag, tilt towards the limited values specified by the relevant technical regulations and standards.

2. When discovering that the construction is not safe to be used, the person in charge of maintenance are responsible to implement Clause 1 Article 18 of the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP.

3. The competent State agencies prescribed in Point b Clause 1 Article 18 of the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP must implement Clause 3 Article 18 of the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP regarding constructions unsafe to be used.

4. In case the construction may collapse in no time, the person in charge of maintenance must urgently evacuate the people from such construction and from the impacted adjacent constructions, report the case to the commune-level People’s Committee or the district-level People’s Committee for supporting the safety measures.

When being informed of the strong possibility the construction collapse, the Commune-level People’s Committees or district-level People’s Committee must implement the safety measures such as terminating the use of construction, evacuating people and property, blocking the construction and other necessary measures.

5. The owners, users of adjacent constructions are responsible to implement the safety measures as prescribed in Clause 4 this Article when being requested.

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7. The old and dangerous apartment buildings shall be handled as prescribed by law provisions on renovating old apartment buildings.

8. The malfunctions occurring during the utilization and operation shall be handled as prescribed by law provisions on construction quality control.

Article 6. Inspecting the construction maintenance

The State management agencies of construction must inspect the construction maintenance under the following contents:

1. Inspecting the establishment and approval of the construction maintenance process as prescribed in the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP.

2. Inspecting the observance of the provisions on construction maintenance of their owners or the authorized persons under the inspection regulations prescribed in Clause 2 Article 17 of the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP.

3. Inspecting the construction maintenance report by their owners or the authorized persons as prescribed in Clause 1 Article 17 of the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP.

4. Inspecting the implementation of Article 4 of this Circular when the designed life expectancy of the construction expires.

5. The measurement of constructions, construction parts subject to compulsory measurement prescribed in Article 3 of this Circular.

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1. This Circular takes effect on August 01, 2012.

2. The Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Governmental agencies, the Presidents of People’s Committees of central-affiliated cities and provinces and relevant organizations and individuals are responsible to implement this Circular.

3. During the course of implementation, the organizations and individuals are recommended to report any difficulty to the Ministry of Construction for consideration and resolution.

THE MINISTER




Trinh Dinh Dung

ANNEX 1

(Promulgated together with the Circular No. 02/2012/TT-BXD of June 12, 2012 by the Ministry of Construction)

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No.

Kind of construction

Class

I

Civil constructions

1

Housing

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Apartment building

Class I

2

Public constructions

2.1

School

Class I

2.2

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Class I

2.3

Indoor or outdoor stadium

Special class, Class I

2.4

Convention center, theatre, cultural house, club, cinema, circus

Special class, Class I

2.5

Museum, library, exhibition center, display center

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2.6

Shopping mall, supermarket

Special class, Class I

2.7

Television, radio, telecommunication antenna tower

Special class, Class I

2.8

Post office, communication installation, control tower

Special class

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Train station, airport terminal, ferry terminal, railway station, bus terminal,

Special class, Class I

2.10

Versatile house, hotel, dorm, guest-house

Special class, Class I

2.11

State administrative building

Special class, Class I

2.12

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Class I

II

Urban technical infrastructural constructions

1

Reservoir

Class I

2

Water tower

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3

Underground garage

Class I

4

Technical tunnel

Class I

5

Metro

All Class

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Overhead urban tram

All Class

7

Urban bridge

Class I

8

Urban tunnel

Class I

III

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1

Silo, tank

Capacity > 2,500 m3

2

Factory chimney, preheater

Height > 75 m

3

Warehouse, workshop

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ANNEX 2

(Promulgated together with the Circular No. 02/2012/TT-BXD of June 12, 2012 by the Ministry of Construction)

SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIET NAM
Independence - Freedom - Happiness
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LETTER OF PROPOSAL

On handling the construction with expired designed life expectancy

To :.....................................................

1. Name of organization, individual in charge of maintenance:

- Representative:..................................... Position:................................

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2. Name of construction:

- Location:.......................................................................................................

3. Kind of construction: .................................. Class:......................

4. Name of construction quality assessment organization:

- Address:.................................. Telephone: .................................

5. Proposal:

..........................................................................................................................

(Under the contents prescribed in Point b Clause 3 Article 4 of the Circular No. 02/2012/TT-BXD).

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......... Date: …………………….

The proposer

(Sign with full name)

Enclosed document:

- The construction condition assessment report.