Circular No. 17/2013/TT-BGTVT on management and maintenance of inland waterway engineering works

CIRCULAR

Provisions on management and maintenance of waterway engineering works

(hereinafter referred to collectively as traffic accidents).

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Pursuant to the Law on Inland Waterway Transport No. 23/2004/QH11;1On Juney 15, 2004;

Pursuant to the Law on Construction dated NovemberJune 2024;26, 2003;

CamendPursuant to Decree No. 164No. 21/2012/NĐ-CP ngày 21 tháng 3 năm 2012 của Chính phủ về quản lý cảng biển và luồng hàng hải;of the Government stipulating functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Home Affairsu t, amended and supplemented by Decree No. 109/2025/NĐ-CP and Decree No. 193/2025/NĐ-CP The Ministry of Transport;ngDepartment of Road and Waterway Infrastructure and Director of the Vietnam Inland Waterway Administration;

Pursuant to the Government Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP dated December 6, 2010 on maintenance of construction works;CONSTRUCTB. LEVELS OF APPROVAL/RECORDING OF REPORTS ON OIL AND GAS RESOURCES AND RESERVES

Pursuant to the Government Decree No. 15/2013/NĐ-CP dated March 6,June 2024;02 năm 201312013 on management and quality control of construction works;of the Government stipulating functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Home AffairsPursuant to the Government Decree No. 12/2009/NĐ-CP dated February 12,.

2009 on management of investment in construction works;June 2024;The Minister of Transport issues this Circular on management and maintenance of inland waterway engineering works;"b) In addition to the lists of public services issued according to the provisions of Clause 2, Article 4 of this Decree, specialized agencies under provincial People's Committees shall report to the provincial People's Committee for decision-making on amending, supplementing, or issuing the list of public services funded by the state budget within their jurisdiction and consistent with the local budget capacity within the approved budget by the Provincial People's Assembly, and send it to the Ministry of Finance and relevant ministries and sectors for supervision during implementation."Circular No. 249/2025/NĐ-CP stipulates provisions on management and maintenance of inland waterway engineering works.

This Circular guides on the functions, duties, powers, organizational structure, operational regulations, and relationships between Management Boards and heads of public service units and superior management agencies; standards and conditions for appointment and removal of members of Management Boards, including Chairpersons of Management Boards in public service units.in1. This Circular stipulates provisions on management and maintenance of inland waterway engineering works.of the Government stipulating functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Home Affairs2. This Circular applies to organizations and individuals related to the management and maintenance of inland waterway engineering works within the territory of Vietnam (excluding inland waterway engineering works performing security and defense tasks).

1. The inland waterway administration agency is the agency implementing specialized state management functions for inland waterway transport, including the specialized agencies under the Ministry of Transport, which is the Vietnam Inland Waterway Administration, and the specialized agencies under provincial People's Committees, which are the Departments of Transport. l2. The maintenance units of inland waterway engineering works are organizations and individuals directly responsible for maintaining inland waterway engineering works.commission 3. Inland waterway engineering works include: navigation channels; inland waterway ports and wharfs; berths, revetments, dams; signaling and traffic signals, and other auxiliary works.,

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation and Applicability

4. The maintenance process of inland waterway engineering works is the regulation on the sequence, content, and guidance for carrying out maintenance work on inland waterway engineering works.

5. Maintenance of engineering works is a set of tasks aimed at ensuring and maintaining normal operation and safety of the works throughout their exploitation and use period. Maintenance of inland waterway engineering works includes regular maintenance, periodic repair, and emergency repair.

Article 2. Interpretation of Terms

In this Circular, the following terms are understood as follows:

6. Regular maintenance of inland waterway engineering works involves ongoing and minor repairs to ensure normal and safe operation of the works throughout their exploitation period.

7. Periodic repair includes medium repair and major repair.

a) Medium repair involves repairing damages and addressing signs of deterioration in parts or structures of the works that affect operational quality and cause unsafe conditions for inland waterway transport.

b) Major repair involves comprehensive work to restore the initial quality of the works when multiple parts suffer damage or deterioration.

8. Emergency repair involves repairing inland waterway engineering works due to sudden impacts such as typhoons, floods, earthquakes, collisions, fires, or other sudden impacts leading to damages requiring timely repair to ensure continuous safe transportation.

1. After completion of new construction, upgrading, renovation, and periodic repair of inland waterway engineering works, they must be inspected, handed over, managed, and maintained. The time for management and maintenance starts from the date when the project owner and operator sign the handover inspection record and put the works into operation.

2. Maintenance of inland waterway engineering works must be carried out according to the maintenance process and technical standards, specifications, and maintenance quotas published by authorized bodies.

3. Inland waterway engineering works must have a maintenance process including: navigation channels; inland waterway ports and wharfs; berths, revetments, dams; signaling and traffic signals. The establishment, review, approval, and adjustment of the maintenance process for inland waterway engineering works shall be in accordance with Articles 4, 5, and 6 of this Circular.

4. For works already in operation without a maintenance process, maintenance shall be conducted in accordance with Article 16 of this Circular.

5. Maintenance work for inland waterway engineering works must fully comply with safety and environmental protection requirements as prescribed.

1. After completion of new construction, upgrading, renovation, and repair of inland waterway engineering works and acceptance and handover for management and maintenance, the period of management and maintenance starts from the date of acceptance and handover for exploitation and use of the works.

MAINTENANCE PROCESS FOR INLAND WATERWAY ENGINEERING WORKS

2. Maintenance of inland waterway works must be carried out in accordance with the maintenance procedures and technical standards, technical specifications, and maintenance norms published by the competent authority.

3. Inland waterway works must have maintenance procedures including: navigation channels for vessels; inland waterway ports and wharfs; ship berths, revetments, dams; signaling and traffic signals. The establishment, review, approval, and adjustment of the maintenance procedures for inland waterway works shall be conducted in accordance with Articles 4, 5, and 6 of this Circular.

4. Works that have been put into operation and use but do not yet have maintenance procedures shall implement maintenance in accordance with Article 16 of this Circular.

5. Maintenance work for inland waterway works must fully comply with safety requirements and environmental protection regulations as prescribed.

Chapter II

MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES FOR INLAND WATERWAY WORKS

Article 4. Establishing Maintenance Procedures for Inland Waterway Engineering Projects

1. Responsibilities for Establishing Maintenance Procedures for Inland Waterway Engineering Projects

a) For construction projects involving new technology or materials, or projects transferring new technology, the consulting contractor must establish maintenance procedures during design and hand them over to the project sponsor and inland waterway engineering management authority. The cost of establishing these procedures shall be included in the total investment budget of the project.

b) Contractors supplying equipment to be installed in the project have the responsibility to establish and hand over maintenance procedures for the supplied equipment before installation to the inland waterway engineering management authority.

c) For existing projects without established maintenance procedures:

- The Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration is responsible for leading and coordinating with relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals to establish and approve national inland waterway engineering maintenance procedures.

- The Department of Transport is responsible for leading and coordinating with relevant agencies, organizations, and individuals to establish and approve maintenance procedures for local inland waterway engineering projects.

- If there are technical standards or similar maintenance procedures that can be applied, the inland waterway management authority shall report to the Ministry of Transport or the provincial People's Committee for consideration and decision on their application without the need to develop separate maintenance procedures.

The costs for establishing maintenance procedures shall be included in the annual maintenance project funding plan.

2. Basis for Establishing Maintenance Procedures for Inland Waterway Engineering Projects

a) Technical standards applicable to inland waterway engineering projects;

b) Similar maintenance procedures, if available;

c) Manufacturer's instructions for equipment;

d) Natural conditions at the construction site of the inland waterway engineering project;

e) Experience in managing and using the project and installed equipment;

f) Regulations of competent state authorities.

3. Content of Maintenance Procedures for Inland Waterway Engineering Projects

a) Specifications for technical parameters, technologies, and handling monitoring results when the project requires monitoring;

b) Objectives, methods, and frequency of inspections;

c) Determination of timing, subjects, and contents for periodic inspections;

d) Timing and guidelines for periodic replacement of equipment installed in the project;

e) Methods for repairing damages to the project, handling cases of deterioration, and ensuring safety and environmental protection during maintenance;

f) Other guidelines related to the maintenance of inland waterway engineering projects.

4. Inland waterway engineering projects must establish separate maintenance procedures according to Clause 3, Article 3 of this Circular.

Article 5. Review and Approval of Maintenance Procedures for Inland Waterway Engineering Projects

1. For projects specified in Point a, Clause 1, Article 4 of this Circular, the inland waterway management authority is responsible for receiving maintenance procedures designed by the construction contractors and equipment suppliers; organizing reviews and submitting them to the Ministry of Transport or the provincial People's Committee for approval before the project is accepted for use.

2. The Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration and the Department of Transport may hire consultants to review part or all of the maintenance procedures established by the contractors for the basis of review and approval.

3. The Ministry of Transport approves national maintenance procedures for inland waterway engineering projects organized by the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration.

4. The provincial People's Committee approves local maintenance procedures for inland waterway engineering projects organized by the Department of Transport.

Article 6. Adjustment of Maintenance Procedures for Inland Waterway Works

1. During the implementation of maintenance, the inland waterway management agency has the right to adjust the maintenance procedures when discovering unreasonable factors that may affect the quality of operation and use of the works and shall be responsible for its decisions.

The inland waterway management agency shall establish or hire design contractors, equipment supply contractors to establish revised maintenance procedures for works and submit them to the competent authority specified in Article 5 of this Circular for approval.

Contractors establishing maintenance procedures must be responsible for the quality of their work and have the obligation to amend, supplement, or change unreasonable contents in the maintenance procedures if caused by their own errors and have the right to refuse requests to adjust maintenance procedures that do not comply with regulations of the inland waterway management agency.

2. In cases where technical standards for maintenance are used to implement maintenance, when these standards are amended or replaced, the inland waterway management agency shall be responsible for managing the implementation of maintenance according to the amended contents.

Article 7. Documents for Maintenance of Inland Waterway Works

1. Documents serving maintenance include: maintenance procedures for works, completion drawings, equipment history records, and other files as stipulated in Article 8 of this Circular and other necessary documents for work maintenance.

2. Design contractors and equipment supply contractors shall be responsible for handing over documents for work maintenance and equipment to the owner or authorized person before handing over the works for use and operation.

Chapter III

Procedure for implementation of maintenance of engineering works

Article 8. Content of Management Work for Inland Waterway Works

1. Management of Inland Waterway Works Records

a) New construction, upgrading, renovation, regular repair, and emergency repair of inland waterway works upon completion and commissioning must hand over completion records established in accordance with current regulations to the inland waterway management agency for record management. Completion records must be stored and managed throughout the design life; the use and operation of records must be in accordance with their intended purpose.

b) Inland waterway works management records include:

- For navigation channels, they include documents extracted from completion records such as longitudinal profile diagrams, cross-section diagrams, geological cross-sections, signal layout diagrams, traffic organization plans, and system marker records;

- For harbor mooring structures, revetments, and traffic dams during regular repairs, management records must be established and separate inspection plans developed;

- For signals, logbooks about signals, regular maintenance records, and regular repair records;

- For channel dredging and obstacle clearance works, they include documents extracted from completion records such as diagrams, longitudinal sections, cross-sections, geological data, disposal locations for silt, sand, and obstacles, marker system records, and traffic organization records.

- For channel investigation and survey works, they include documents extracted from completion records such as diagrams, longitudinal sections, cross-sections, and marker system records.

- For port and inland waterway wharf works, they include documents extracted from completion records.

2. Establishment of Management Records for Inland Waterway Safety Zones

a) Management records for inland waterway safety zones include affected works, violation timeframes and processes, and boundary marker records;

b) For dedicated inland waterways, separate records must be established to track and update related areas.

3. Organization of Management and Protection of Inland Waterway Works.

4. Monitoring damage to inland waterway works; organizing regular inspections to promptly identify damages and violations concerning the protection of inland waterway works, and handling them within their authority or requesting local People's Committees to handle them according to regulations.

5. Regular monthly, quarterly, and annual technical condition checks; emergency inspections after each flood, typhoon, or other unusual impacts.

6. Conducting counts and drawing traffic volume charts; monitoring and drawing water level charts.

7. Establishing accident tracking forms, determining initial causes of accidents, and losses due to accidents. Cooperating with public security agencies and local authorities to resolve traffic accidents within their authority.

8. Organizing traffic flow, preventing collisions; establishing records of obstacle positions, monitoring results of obstacles that have been addressed.

9. Ensuring traffic operations; monitoring weather, hydrological conditions, typhoons, floods, and engineering incidents, handling and reporting according to regulations.

10. Regular and urgent reports as prescribed.

11. Updating relevant data on inland waterway works and inland waterway safety zones as prescribed.

Article 9. Contents of inland waterway engineering maintenance work

1. Inland waterway engineering maintenance work includes: Regular maintenance, periodic repair, and emergency repair.

2. Regular maintenance includes the following tasks:

a) Investigating, surveying, and monitoring the actual condition of inland waterway engineering works;

b) Installing and adjusting inland waterway navigation signals on shore and underwater;

c) Dredging to ensure technical standards for ship and boat channels according to the announced technical level of inland waterways;

d) Minor repairs to navigation signals, signals, equipment, facilities, and service works on operational inland waterway routes.

3. Periodic repair of inland waterway engineering works includes:

a) Channel dredging, clearance of obstacles in channels and protection zones;

b) Major repairs to navigation signals, signals, dike systems, harbor basins, flow regulation structures, hydrological stations, control houses, equipment, vessels, and inland waterway ports serving inland waterway management;

c) Periodic replacement and supplementation of navigation signals and signals.

4. Emergency repair of inland waterway engineering works includes repairing damage caused by natural disasters such as typhoons and floods or other abnormal incidents.

Organizations and individuals directly implementing inland waterway engineering maintenance work must proactively develop plans, promptly address consequences of natural disaster-induced incidents, and report quickly to higher-level inland waterway management authorities for support.

Article 10. Application of Standards, Regulations, and Economic-Technical Norms for Management and Maintenance of Inland Waterways

1. For regular maintenance of inland waterway engineering works:

a) Apply technical standards, norms issued by competent state agencies;

b) For project components without established norms, apply corresponding norms from other sectors or localities approved by competent authorities.

2. For periodic and emergency repairs of inland waterway engineering works, apply technical standards, norms prescribed for basic construction projects and current national regulations relevant thereto.

3. Inland waterway management agencies shall inspect, monitor, and evaluate the application of technical standards and economic-technical norms by maintenance units within their jurisdiction.

Article 11. Responsibilities for Management and Maintenance of Inland Waterway Engineering Works

1. The Vietnam Inland Waterway Administration implements national management of inland waterway engineering works, while provincial transportation departments manage local inland waterway engineering works in accordance with the provisions set out in Article 8 of this Circular.

2. Organizations and individuals assigned to maintain inland waterway engineering works in accordance with the provisions set out in Article 9 of this Circular must also:

a) Implement inland waterway engineering maintenance work in compliance with requirements stipulated in Article 3 of this Circular;

b) Timely detect, prevent, and handle violations concerning inland waterway engineering works;

c) Bear legal responsibility for the deterioration of inland waterway engineering works due to non-compliance with maintenance regulations.

3. Special-purpose inland waterway engineering works are managed and maintained by organizations and individuals in accordance with national technical standards and regulations.

4. When renovating or upgrading inland waterways, the project sponsor is responsible for directing construction units to implement measures ensuring traffic safety and environmental protection as prescribed.

Article 12. Establishment, Approval, and Implementation of Maintenance Plans for Inland Waterway Engineering Projects Managed by the Ministry of Transport

1. The Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration shall aggregate, establish plans, and prepare annual and five-year medium-term maintenance cost estimates for inland waterway engineering projects to be submitted to the Ministry of Transport for approval.

2. The maintenance plan for inland waterway engineering projects must be based on the aggregation and review of data, reports, and proposals from grassroots units, accurately reflecting actual requirements and current conditions of the projects, and aligning with maintenance procedures according to regular maintenance tasks and periodic repairs.

3. The process of establishing the maintenance plan for inland waterway engineering projects must fully specify: the name of the project and its components; the executing unit, volume, and costs; time frame; implementation method, and priority level. For projects and components under high priority, explanations must be provided. The format for preparing the maintenance plan is specified in Appendix 1 of this Circular.

4. The contents of the annual and five-year medium-term maintenance plans (or according to planning periods) include:

a) For regular maintenance work:

- Based on the time when the inland waterway engineering project was put into use and its actual operation, efforts must be strengthened to perform regular maintenance to prevent and promptly address minor damages to structural parts and equipment of the project to enhance service quality, prevent further damage and accidents, and ensure the lifespan of the project.

- The budget estimate must be determined in accordance with the maintenance tasks of the inland waterway engineering project. Unit prices and estimates are based on current standards. In cases where standards are not available or are unsuitable, the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration shall follow Point b, Clause 1, Article 10 of this Circular.

b) For periodic repair work:

- Based on prescribed deadlines and the results of evaluations and inspections of the current condition of the inland waterway engineering project (if applicable), solutions for repairs (or replacements) must be proposed to restore the initial quality of the project and ensure normal and safe operation;

- Implementation procedures must comply with regulations on investment management and construction of projects and other relevant provisions;

- Investment construction cost management must adhere to current regulations.

c) For emergency repair work on inland waterway engineering projects:

- Annual maintenance plan: Aggregate projects and components of inland waterway engineering projects that have been urgently repaired and restored, along with approved funding;

- Five-year medium-term maintenance plan (or according to planning periods): reserve up to 5% of the maximum budget.

d) For inland waterway engineering projects that have exceeded their usage period and cannot meet usage requirements, the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration shall report to the Ministry of Transport for consideration and decision to establish investment projects for upgrading and renovation from basic construction funds, without using maintenance funds.

5. Procedures for approving annual maintenance plans for inland waterway engineering projects

a) The Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration shall aggregate, establish plans, and prepare maintenance cost estimates for inland waterway engineering projects to be submitted to the Ministry of Transport before June 15 each year;

b) The Ministry of Transport shall review and approve the maintenance plans and cost estimates for inland waterway engineering projects before July 15; aggregate the maintenance plans and cost estimates into the annual state budget revenue and expenditure estimates of the Ministry of Transport, and submit them to the Ministry of Finance before August 30 each year;

c) Based on the Decision allocating the state budget revenue and expenditure estimates issued by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Transport shall notify the state budget revenue and expenditure estimates to the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration, including the portion allocated for maintaining inland waterway engineering projects;

d) The Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration shall organize a review of the list of urgent projects, components, and volumes, take responsibility for establishing maintenance plans and cost estimates for inland waterway engineering projects, and submit them to the Ministry of Transport within 15 days from the date of receipt of the notification as stipulated in point c of this clause;

đ) The Ministry of Transport shall review and approve the maintenance plans and cost estimates for inland waterway engineering projects, and allocate the state budget revenue and expenditure estimates to the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration.

6. Procedures for approving medium-term five-year maintenance plans (or according to planning periods) for inland waterway engineering projects:

a) The Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration shall aggregate, establish plans, and forecast maintenance cost estimates for inland waterway engineering projects to be submitted to the Ministry of Transport before June 15 of the following year;

b) The Ministry of Transport shall approve the maintenance plans, cost estimates, and arrangements for funding sources and organization of implementation, adjustment, modification, and supplementation of annual maintenance plans to suit actual conditions.

7. Implementation of approved maintenance plans for inland waterway engineering projects:

a) The annual maintenance plan for inland waterway engineering projects approved by the Ministry of Transport serves as the basis for the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration and the managing and operating units of inland waterway engineering projects to implement. The Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration shall approve the maintenance cost estimates for inland waterway engineering projects in accordance with current regulations;

b) Adjustments and supplements to the maintenance plans for inland waterway engineering projects shall be carried out according to the following principles:

- For projects and components that pose a risk of accidents or have experienced dangerous incidents, or projects that have lost safety and require urgent treatment or partial adjustments to components, the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration shall review, approve, implement, and report to the Ministry of Transport.

- Projects, project components, implementation costs arising outside the approved plan shall be submitted by the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration to the Ministry of Transport for approval before implementation.

8. Inspection of the implementation of the inland waterway infrastructure maintenance plan that has been approved:

a) The Ministry of Transport shall organize the development and issuance of annual and ad hoc inspection plans and implement them;

b) The Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration shall manage and inspect the implementation of the approved plans by units, and regularly and ad hoc report on the results of the implementation of the maintenance plan to the Ministry of Transport (quarterly reports must be submitted before the 22nd day of the last month of each quarter; annual reports must be submitted before January 15th of the following year);

c) The report content must fully state the name of the project, project components; volume and cost; completion time; adjustments and changes from the assigned plan; evaluation of results; proposals and recommendations during the implementation process. The report format is specified in Appendix 2 of this Circular.

Article 13. Establishment, Approval, and Implementation of the Inland Waterway Infrastructure Maintenance Plan Managed by Ministries, Sectors, Localities, and Other Organizations and Individuals

1. The owner of the inland waterway infrastructure or the person authorized to establish, approve, and implement the regular, medium-term, and long-term maintenance plan of the inland waterway infrastructure according to Article 10 of Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP, the provisions of this Circular, and related laws.

2. When approving the inland waterway infrastructure maintenance plan according to the provisions of Clause 1 of this Article, the owner of the inland waterway infrastructure or the authorized person shall submit to the Ministry of Transport the approval document and the maintenance plan for consolidation and overall management.

Article 14. Inspection of Inland Waterway Infrastructure Maintenance and Repair

1. The inland waterway administration agency shall conduct inspections of maintenance and repair of inland waterway infrastructure itself if it has the necessary capacity, or it may hire an organization with the necessary capacity to perform these tasks.

2. Inspections can be conducted regularly or periodically through visual observation, continuous monitoring data, or specialized inspection equipment when necessary to assess the current condition, promptly identify signs of deterioration, and damages to the infrastructure and installed equipment, serving as a basis for maintenance and repair work.

3. Inspection results of maintenance and repair of infrastructure must be recorded and documented for management and tracking.

Article 15. Mandatory Monitoring of Inland Waterway Infrastructure Components During Implementation

1. During operation and use, projects listed in Appendix 3 of this Circular and projects showing signs of subsidence, cracking, tilting, or other abnormal conditions that could cause collapse must be monitored.

The components of inland waterway infrastructure that need to be monitored are the main load-bearing structures of the project, which, if damaged, could lead to the collapse of the project.

2. The content of project monitoring includes the location of monitoring, monitoring parameters (deformation, tilt, subsidence, cracking, sagging...); monitoring time; number of measurement cycles, and other necessary contents established by the contractor and approved by the competent state authority.

3. Requirements for monitoring work of inland waterway infrastructure during operation and use:

a) Monitoring must be carried out according to the monitoring plan established by the contractor and approved by the person responsible for maintaining the project;

b) The monitoring plan must specify the measurement methods, measuring devices, layout diagrams and construction of markers, organizational implementation, data processing methods, and other necessary contents;

c) The contractor must record and report to the person responsible for maintaining the project about the monitoring results, including monitoring data that must be compared with the limit values set by the design contractor and relevant standards;

If the monitoring data reaches the limit value specified in Clause 2 of this Article or shows other abnormal signs, the person responsible for maintaining the project must organize a safety assessment of the project and its operation, and take timely measures;

d) Organizations and individuals conducting monitoring must have the necessary conditions and capacity for construction activities equivalent to those required for organizations and individuals conducting surveying or quality testing of construction projects.

Article 16. Management of Quality of Maintenance Work for Waterway Engineering Projects

1. The inland waterway management agency must organize supervision of monitoring work (if applicable), quality inspection, construction, acceptance of repair works for engineering projects, establish and manage, retain maintenance records for engineering projects in accordance with laws on the management of waterway engineering project quality and other relevant laws.

2. Maintenance records for inland waterway engineering projects include:

a) Documents serving maintenance activities as stipulated in Clause 1, Article 7 of this Circular;

b) Maintenance plan;

c) Monitoring results (if applicable);

d) Quality testing results;

đ) Regular and periodic inspection results;

e) Maintenance and repair results of the project;

g) Other related documents.

3. Repair work for inland waterway engineering projects must be covered by warranty according to current regulations.

Article 17. Implementation of Maintenance for Inland Waterway Engineering Projects in Use but Without Maintenance Procedures

For projects without maintenance procedures, the inland waterway management agency or the owner shall implement maintenance for the project in the following sequence:

1. Survey, inspect, and evaluate the current condition of the project.

2. Repair any damages to the project (if applicable).

3. Implement maintenance for the project as prescribed in Chapter III of this Circular.

4. Establish a maintenance procedure for the project as stipulated in Article 4 of this Circular.

Article 18. Provisions Regarding the Use of Inland Waterway Engineering Projects at the End of Their Design Life

1. When a project reaches its design life, the maintenance unit for inland waterway engineering projects must carry out the following tasks:

a) Organize inspections, tests, and evaluations of the current quality of the work.

b) Repair the project if there are damages to ensure functionality and safe use before considering and deciding on continued use of the project;

c) Independently decide on continued use of the project but not cause disasters when accidents occur, in accordance with laws on the management of construction project quality;

d) Report to the inland waterway management agency the results of inspections, quality assessments, and repairs of the project (if applicable) to consider and approve continued use of the project at the end of its design life, or projects that may cause disasters due to accidents, in accordance with laws on the management of construction project quality.

2. Content of reports on inspection, quality assessment, and repair results of the project, and proposals for handling inland waterway projects at the end of their design life:

a) Project quality assessment results;

b) Proposals for handling the project according to one of the following options:

- Continue using the project or convert its usage function, repair the project if necessary;

- Limit partial use of the project;

- Restrict use of the project;

- Cease complete use of the project.

c) Other related contents.

Article 19. Procedure for Approval of Continued Use of Inland Waterway Engineering Projects at the End of Their Design Life

1. The maintenance unit for inland waterway engineering projects directly submits or sends via postal service one set of documents to the inland waterway management agency for consideration and handling of projects at the end of their design life. The documents include:

a) A request form as prescribed in Appendix 4 of this Circular;

b) Report on the results of inspection, testing, and evaluation of the quality of the project, and the results of repairing the project;

c) Minutes or documents reflecting the results of inspection, testing, and evaluation of the current condition of the project;

d) Results of repairing the project if there is damage to ensure functionality and safety before considering and deciding to continue using the project;

e) Construction and maintenance records of the inland waterway project.

2. The inland waterway management agency receives, checks the documents, and handles them as follows:

a) In cases where documents are submitted directly, if the documents are complete, issue a receipt for the documents and schedule a return of results within the prescribed time limit; if the documents are incomplete according to regulations, return them immediately and guide the maintenance unit for inland waterway projects to complete the documents.

b) In cases where documents are received through the postal system, if the documents are incomplete according to regulations, within five (05) working days from the date of receiving the documents, the inland waterway management agency issues a document requesting supplementation and completion of the documents.

c) Within thirty (30) working days from the date of receiving complete and valid documents, the inland waterway management agency must issue a document approving continued use of inland waterway engineering projects at the end of their design life; in cases where approval is not granted, issue a document clearly stating the reasons and send it to the maintenance unit for inland waterway projects through the postal system or deliver it directly at the agency's office.

Article 20. Handling of inland waterway works and parts thereof that do not ensure safety for exploitation and use

1. Inland waterway works and parts thereof that do not ensure safety for exploitation and use are those that are severely damaged, have seriously deteriorated, and pose a risk of collapse, as indicated by signs such as cracks, sagging, subsidence, and tilting beyond the permissible limits set forth in the maintenance procedures for the works or in relevant technical standards and regulations.

2. When discovering that inland waterway works do not ensure safety for exploitation and use, the maintenance unit shall be responsible for performing the following tasks:

a) Inspecting the work or certifying the quality of the work;

b) Deciding to implement safety measures such as: limiting the use of the work, ceasing the use of the work, moving people and property (if necessary) to ensure safety and immediately reporting to the competent state management agency as follows:

- The Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration for national inland waterway works and works where incidents may cause disasters as prescribed by laws on construction project quality management.

- The Department of Transport for local inland waterway works.

c) Repairing damages that could affect the safe use and operation of the work according to the provisions of the law on emergency construction projects.

3. When discovering or receiving information about signs of deterioration in the quality of inland waterway works that do not ensure safety for exploitation and use, the inland waterway management agency shall be responsible for:

a) Organizing inspections, notifications, requiring, and guiding the owner or authorized person to organize surveys, quality certifications, hazard assessments, and implementing repairs or demolishing parts of the work or the entire work (if necessary);

b) Deciding to apply the safety measures stipulated in point b Clause 2 of this Article when the owner or authorized person does not perform the tasks specified in point a of this Clause;

c) Handling the responsibility of the owner or authorized person according to the provisions of the law when the owner or authorized person does not comply with the requirements of the state management agency as specified in points a and b of this Clause.

4. In cases where inland waterway works may collapse immediately, the person responsible for maintenance must urgently evacuate all people from this work and adjacent works affected, report to the inland waterway management agency to obtain support for implementing safety measures.

Upon receiving a report about a situation where works may collapse immediately, the inland waterway management agency must promptly organize the implementation of safety measures, including stopping the use of the work, sealing off the work and other necessary measures as prescribed.

5. Owners and users of adjacent works must be responsible for implementing safety measures as stipulated in Clause 3 of this Article when required.

6. In cases where incidents occur during the exploitation and use of works, incident resolution shall be carried out according to the provisions of the law on construction project quality management.

Article 21. Reporting and Inspection of the Implementation of Maintenance of Waterway Engineering Projects

1. Reporting on the implementation of work maintenance

a) The Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration must report on the implementation of the maintenance plan and the safety of national inland waterway engineering projects in accordance with Clause 8 of Article 12 of this Circular;

b) The Department of Transport must report to the People's Committee of the province on the implementation of the maintenance plan and the safety of local inland waterway engineering projects;

c) By no later than December 31 each year, the Department of Transport, the owner, or the authorized person (for dedicated inland waterways) must annually report to the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration and the Ministry of Transport on the implementation of the maintenance of inland waterway engineering projects; the safety of inland waterway engineering projects when incidents occur that may cause disasters, in accordance with the laws on construction project quality management. The reporting form is specified in Appendix 2 of this Circular.

2. Inspection of the Implementation of Maintenance of Engineering Projects

a) The Ministry of Transport shall inspect the implementation of the maintenance of national inland waterway engineering projects.

b) The provincial People's Committee shall inspect the implementation of the maintenance of local inland waterway engineering projects.

c) The Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration, the Department of Transport, the owner, or the authorized person shall inspect the implementation of maintenance in accordance with Articles 14, 19, and 20 of this Circular; other contents related to the implementation of maintenance of inland waterway engineering projects under this Circular and in accordance with the laws.

Reciprocal needsoenergy IV

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 22. Effectiveness

This Circular takes effect from October 1, 2013.

Article 23. Implementation Organization

The Director of the Office of the Ministry, the Inspector General of the Ministry, the Heads of the Departments under the Ministry, the Director of the Vietnam Inland Waterways Administration, the Directors of the Departments of Transport of the provinces and centrally-administered cities, the Heads of agencies, organizations, and individuals concerned are responsible for implementing this Circular.