Circular No. 04/2019/TT-BXD amending and supplementing certain contents of Circular No. 26/2016/TT-BXD dated October 26, 2016, issued by the Minister of Construction detailing certain aspects regarding construction quality management and maintenance of construction works.

CIRCULAR

Amending and supplementing certain contents of Circular No. 26/2016/TT-BXD dated October 26, 2016, Article 1. Amending and supplementing some articles of Circular No. 21/2023/TT-BTTTT dated December 31, 2023 of the Ministry of Information and Communications on functions and technical features of the Administrative Procedure Handling Information System at the ministerial and provincial levels (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 21/2023/TT-BTTTT) as follows: Ministry of Construction detailing certain contents regarding quality management and maintenance of construction works

                               _________________________

Pursuant to the Law on Construction promulgated on June 18, 2014;

Pursuant to Decree No. 46/2015/NĐ-CP dated May 12, 2015 of the Government on qquality management and maintenance of construction works (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 46/2015/NĐ-CP); number of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Construction

On the basis of Government Decree No. 81/2017/NĐ-CP dated July 17, year 2017 The Minister of Construction issues this Circular;

At the proposal of the Director of the National Construction Quality Supervision Agency;

amending and supplementing certain contents of Circular No. 26/2016/TT-BXD dated October2016 of the 10 year quality management and maintenance of construction Article 1. Amending and supplementing some articles of Circular No. 21/2023/TT-BTTTT dated December 31, 2023 of the Ministry of Information and Communications on functions and technical features of the Administrative Procedure Handling Information System at the ministerial and provincial levels (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 21/2023/TT-BTTTT) as follows: Ministry of Construction detailing certain contents regarding works thiết lập.

Article 1. Amending and supplementing certain articles of Circular No. 26/2016/TT-BXD dated October 26, 2016, issued by the Minister of Construction detailing certain contents regarding quality management and maintenance of construction works (hereinafter referred to as Circular No. 26/2016/TT-BXD)

1. Amending Clause 4, supplementing Clauses 5 and 6 of Article 6 as follows:

a) Amend Clause 4 as follows:

"4. Organizations and individuals performing construction work supervision must prepare reports on construction work supervision activities to be submitted to the project owner and bear responsibility for the accuracy, honesty, and objectivity of the contents in these reports. Reports shall be prepared in the following cases:

a) Periodic reports or reports according to construction phases. The project owner shall specify the preparation of periodic reports or reports according to construction phases and the time for preparing such reports. The main content of the report is specified in Model No. 04 of Appendix V of this Circular;

b) Reports when organizing phase acceptance, completion acceptance of contracts, sub-projects, and construction projects. The content of the report is specified in Model No. 05 of Appendix V of this Circular."

b) Supplementing Clauses 5 and 6 as follows:

"5. Responsibilities and authorities of the chief supervisor

a) Organizing and managing all aspects of construction work supervision activities in accordance with the provisions of Clause 1, Article 26 of Decree No. 46/2015/NĐ-CP, consistent with the contents of the contract, the scope of work assigned by the project owner, the quality management system, and relevant laws;
b) Assigning tasks, specifying responsibilities, and supervising the implementation of construction work supervision activities by supervisors;

c) Performing supervision and signing acceptance certificates for works within the scope of the professional practice certificate issued, if directly supervising construction work. Checking and reviewing completion drawings prepared by the construction contractor against actual construction conditions as prescribed;

d) Participating in acceptance and signing completion acceptance certificates for construction phases (if applicable), contracts, sub-projects, and construction projects. Refusing acceptance when the quality of sub-projects or construction projects does not meet design requirements, technical standards, and applicable standards; notifying the project owner in writing of the reasons for refusal;

đ) Bearing responsibility before the construction work supervision organization and the law for the work performed. Refusing to perform supervision in writing when construction work does not comply with urban planning, construction permits for projects requiring permits, construction designs, construction contracts between the project owner and contractors, and relevant laws;

e) Cooperating with related parties to resolve issues and problems arising during construction;

g) Not approving opinions and results of supervisors that do not comply with construction permits for projects requiring permits, construction designs, technical standards, applicable standards, technical instructions, construction methods, and safety measures approved, construction contracts between the project owner and contractors, and relevant laws;

h) Proposing to the project owner in writing to suspend construction when discovering parts of projects, sub-projects, or construction projects showing signs of non-compliance with safety requirements, potentially causing partial or total collapse;

i) Advising the project owner on organizing monitoring, testing, and inspection of sub-projects and construction projects when necessary and related matters concerning design changes during construction (if applicable).

6. Responsibilities and authorities of supervisors

a) Performing construction work supervision according to the assignment of the chief supervisor, consistent with the scope of the professional practice certificate issued. Bearing responsibility before the chief supervisor and the law for the work performed;

b) Supervising construction work according to construction permits for projects requiring permits, construction designs, technical standards, applicable standards, technical instructions, construction methods, and safety measures approved;

c) Directly participating in and signing acceptance certificates for construction work; checking and reviewing completion drawings prepared by the construction contractor against actual construction conditions for construction work directly supervised;

d) Refusing to implement requests contrary to construction contracts signed between the project owner and contractors and relevant laws;

đ) Reporting promptly to the chief supervisor about discrepancies and violations compared to construction permits for projects requiring permits, construction designs, technical standards, applicable standards, construction methods, technical instructions, and safety measures approved, construction contracts between the project owner and contractors, and relevant laws. Proposing and recommending refusal to accept construction work to the chief supervisor in writing;

e) Proposing to the chief supervisor in writing to suspend construction when discovering parts of projects, sub-projects, or construction projects showing signs of non-compliance with safety requirements, potentially causing partial or total collapse and promptly notifying the project owner to handle the situation;

g) Propose and recommend to the construction supervision director on organizing monitoring, testing, and inspection of construction project components and buildings when necessary, and related contents concerning design changes during the construction process (if applicable).

2. Amend and supplement Point b, Point c Clause 2, and add Clause 3 of Article 9 as follows:

a) Amend and supplement Point b, Point c Clause 2 as follows:

"b) The legal representative of the construction supervision contractor, the construction supervision director; c) The legal representative and chief supervisor of the main construction contractors or general contractors in cases where a general contracting contract is applied; in cases where the contractor is a consortium, there must be a full representation of the legal representatives and chief supervisors of each member of the consortium;"

b) Supplement Clause 3 as follows:

"3. In cases where multiple main contractors participate in the construction of a construction project component or building, the Project Owner may organize acceptance inspections and prepare completion acceptance certificates for each main contractor involved in the construction."

3. Amend and supplement Clause 3, and add Point d Clause 1, Clause 3a of Article 13 as follows:

a) To amend and supplement Clause 3 as follows:

"3. The Project Owner shall organize conditional acceptance inspections and put into use construction project components and buildings when some finishing works need to be completed according to the provisions of Clause 3 and Point b Clause 4 of Article 31 of Decree No. 46/2015/NĐ-CP. The Project Owner shall continue to organize construction and acceptance inspections for the remaining works according to the approved design; the construction process must ensure safety and not affect the normal operation of the accepted construction project components and buildings."

b) Add Point d Clause 1 as follows:

"d) The specialized agency on construction shall organize inspections according to the contents stipulated in Points a, b, and c of Clause 3a of this Article."

c) Add Clause 3a after Clause 3 as follows:

"3a. The specialized agency on construction as prescribed in Clause 2 of Article 32 of Decree No. 46/2015/NĐ-CP shall organize inspections as follows:

a) Inspect actual construction activities against the construction permit for projects requiring such permits, construction designs, technical standards, applicable standards, construction methods, technical instructions, and safety measures that have been approved;

b) Inspect compliance with regulations on labor safety management during construction;

c) Inspect compliance with regulations on construction quality management by the Project Owner and related contractors during surveying, designing, and constructing the project;

d) Inspect conditions for completing acceptance inspections of construction project components and buildings."

4. Amend Clause 2 of Circular No. 26/2016/TT-BXD as follows:

"2. Inspection costs for construction project acceptance work are part of other expenses and are estimated within the total investment cost of the construction project.

The budget for these costs as stipulated in Clause 1 of this Article shall be prepared based on the characteristics and nature of the project; location of the construction site; time, number of staff and experts (if any) participating in the inspection of acceptance work, and the volume of work to be carried out. For projects funded by state capital, the costs specified in Point c Clause 1 of this Article shall not exceed 20% of the construction supervision consulting costs. The preparation, review, and approval of the budget for inspection costs for construction project acceptance work shall be conducted in accordance with Clause 5 of Article 32 of Decree No. 46/2015/NĐ-CP."

5. Add Article 15a and Article 15b after Article 15 of Circular No. 26/2016/TT-BXD as follows:

"Article 15a. Management of On-Site Testing Activities During Construction

1. The Project Owner shall be responsible for checking the capacity conditions, approving laboratories and on-site testing stations proposed by contractors to ensure compliance with legal regulations and sufficient capabilities to conduct specialized construction tests to manage project quality before organizing construction.

2. Contractors shall be responsible for preparing a testing plan as stipulated in Clause 3 of this Article and submitting it to the Project Owner for approval before organizing construction.

a) 3. Contents of the testing plan include:Tests to be conducted; frequency and quantity of tests for each type of test according to the construction design, technical standards, applicable standards, technical instructions, and construction workload;

b) Specific regulations on sample collection, maintenance, testing procedures, sample storage, and handling of test results;

c) Regulations on responsibilities of contractors and supervisory units of the Project Owner.

4. During the construction process, the supervisory unit of the Project Owner shall be responsible for periodically inspecting the activities of on-site laboratories and testing stations, specifically as follows:

a) Laboratory inspection includes: reviewing the qualification records of laboratory technicians directly conducting tests, inspecting the testing procedures, and verifying the calibration of testing equipment according to regulations;

b) On-site testing station inspection shall be conducted in accordance with Circular No. 06/2017/TT-BXD dated April 25, 2017, issued by the Minister of Construction regarding guidance on specialized construction testing activities.

5. Testing contractors shall carry out testing activities strictly according to the approved testing plan. In case of any changes or adjustments, the contractor shall prepare an adjusted testing plan and submit it to the Project Owner for approval before implementation.

Article 15b. Monitoring of construction works and parts thereof during the construction process

1. Construction work monitoring during the construction process shall be carried out in the following cases:

a) In accordance with the provisions of the design, technical instructions, and construction methods that have been approved;

b) When the construction work exhibits abnormal signs (for example: subsidence, sliding, settlement, tilting, cracking, etc.) requiring monitoring to serve the assessment and determination of causes for measures to address or prevent accidents during the construction process.

2. The construction contractor shall be responsible for implementing the monitoring tasks according to Clause 1 of this Article and the provisions of the construction contract. The project owner may select an independent contractor from the construction contractor to perform certain monitoring tasks during the construction process.

3. For state-funded projects, if the project owner has selected an independent monitoring contractor to perform certain monitoring tasks during the construction process, the construction contractor will not carry out these tasks and will use the results of the independent monitoring as agreed with the project owner.

4. The main contents of the monitoring plan include: scope, frequency, timing of monitoring; human resources, equipment, and instruments for monitoring; benchmarks used for monitoring; procedures for conducting monitoring; regulations on the content of reports and evaluation of monitoring results.

5. Responsibilities of the construction contractor and independent contractors performing construction monitoring (hereinafter referred to as the monitoring contractor):

a) Prepare the monitoring plan and submit it to the project owner for approval;

b) Organize the implementation of monitoring according to the approved plan; prepare reports and evaluate monitoring results.

6. Responsibilities of the project owner:

a) Approve the monitoring plan prepared by the monitoring contractor as the basis for organizing its implementation. The project owner may request the supervising consultant contractor or the design contractor to review the monitoring plan or hire a consulting unit to review the monitoring plan of the contractor when necessary before approving it;

b) Supervise and evaluate the monitoring results of the contractor. Specify situations and require the design contractor to assess and provide comments on the monitoring results during the construction process;

c) Require the construction contractor to use the monitoring results during the construction process in accordance with the provisions of the design, technical instructions, and construction methods that have been approved.

7. Responsibilities of the design contractor:

a) Review and check the monitoring plan prepared by the contractor when requested by the project owner, ensuring compliance with the monitoring requirements specified in the design documents, technical instructions, and construction methods;

b) Evaluate the monitoring results for the monitoring requirements specified in the design documents, technical instructions, and other monitoring contents during the construction process when requested by the project owner.

8. During the implementation of monitoring and evaluation of monitoring results, if data indicates a risk of accident or factors affecting the quality of the construction process, the monitoring contractor must immediately report in writing to the project owner to take timely measures.

6. Amend and supplement Point b Clause 2 Article 18 as follows:

"b) In the case of inspection as required by the specialized agencies on construction and the competent state management agencies on construction stipulated in Point d Clause 2 Article 29, Point d Clause 5 Article 40 Decree No. 46/2015/NĐ-CP (collectively referred to as the requesting agency), the project owner, owner, or manager/user of the construction work selects the inspection organization according to Point a Clause 2 of this Article and obtains the approval of the requesting agency."

Article 2. Effective Date

7. Replace Appendix V of Circular No. 26/2016/TT-BXD with Appendix I of this Circular.

2. In the course of implementation, if there are difficulties, organizations and individuals shall send their opinions to the Ministry of Construction for consideration and resolution./.