Circular No. 40/2009/TT-BXD on the application of foreign construction standards in construction activities in Vietnam

CIRCULAR

Regulations on the application of foreign construction standards

in construction activities in Vietnam

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

Pursuant to the Law on Construction number 50/2014/QH13 amended and supplemented by Law number 03/2016/QH14, Law number 35/2018/QH14, Law number 40/2019/QH14 and Law number 62/2020/QH14;

Pursuant to Decree No. 17/2008/NĐ-CP dated February 4, 2008 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Construction;

Pursuant to Decree No. 209/2004/NĐ-CP dated December 16, 2004 of the Government on Quality Management of Construction Projects;

Pursuant to Decree No. 127/2007/NĐ-CP dated August 1, 2007 of the Government detailing the implementation of certain provisions of the Law on Technical Standards and Regulations;

Pursuant to Decree No. 12/2009/NĐ-CP dated February 12, 2009 of the Government on Project Management for Investment in Construction Works,

The Ministry of Construction hereby stipulates the application of foreign construction standards in construction activities in Vietnam as follows:

PART I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope of Regulation

These Circulars regulate the application of construction standards from countries around the world, international organizations, regional standardization organizations (hereinafter referred to collectively as foreign standards) in construction activities in Vietnam.

Article 2. Applicability

Organizations and individuals within and outside Vietnam must comply with the provisions of these Circulars when applying foreign standards to construction activities in Vietnam.

Article 3. Principles for Applying Foreign Construction Standards

1. Foreign construction standards shall be applied voluntarily in construction activities.

2. Ensure the consistency and feasibility of the system of standards applied throughout the entire process of surveying, design, production and manufacturing, construction, and acceptance of construction works.

3. Must be consistent with the requirements of national technical regulations in the field of construction and other related fields as prescribed by law. In cases where there are no national technical regulations, foreign construction standards must be consistent with the requirements set forth in mandatory national standards prescribed by ministries and sectors.

Article 4. State Management of the Application of Foreign Construction Standards

The Ministry of Construction shall uniformly manage the application of foreign standards in construction activities. Ministries managing specialized construction projects shall be responsible for coordinating with the Ministry of Construction to manage the application of foreign standards for specialized construction projects.

Chapter II

CONDITIONS AND AUTHORITY TO APPROVE THE APPLICATION OF FOREIGN CONSTRUCTION STANDARDS

Article 5. Conditions for Applying Foreign Construction Standards

Foreign construction standards selected and applied in construction activities in Vietnam must meet the following conditions:

1. Comply with the principles stated in Article 3;

2. Must be construction standards of countries, international organizations, and regional standardization organizations;

3. Must be reviewed, selected, and approved by the investor before preparing the basic design dossier in the investment project.

Article 6. Authority to Approve the Application of Foreign Construction Standards

The investor reviews, decides, and bears responsibility for the application of foreign standards for construction activities under their management.

Article 7. Review and Approval of Foreign Construction Standards

1. The investor organizes the review and decides on the application of foreign construction standards according to the authority stated in Article 6 of this Circular. If lacking the necessary expertise, the investor may hire consultants to review the dossiers of foreign construction standards before reviewing and approving them in writing. The cost of hiring consultants to review foreign standard dossiers shall be included in the project budget based on the estimated costs of implementing the work.

2. The dossier of foreign construction standards proposed for application includes:

a) List of codes and names of foreign construction standards;

b) Full text of foreign construction standards. Where necessary, the investor may organize the translation of the relevant content of foreign standards into Vietnamese for the project.

c) Explanatory note: analysis of the compliance of the standards with the conditions stated in Article 5 of this Circular and the necessity of applying foreign standards.

3. For technical guidelines or guidance documents issued by foreign organizations that have not yet been established as standards, in addition to the dossiers specified in Clause 2 of this Article, a technical-scientific solution report is required. The content of the report must include key information such as the name of the technical-scientific solution, research and experimental results, construction projects that have applied technical guidelines or guidance documents, and intellectual property rights over the technical-scientific solutions.

4. Content of reviewing foreign standard dossiers: list of dossiers as stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article; compliance with the requirements set forth in Clauses 2 and 3 of Article 3 of this Circular; assessment of the ability to meet economic-technical conditions of the project when applying foreign standards.

Chapter III

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 8. Management of the Application of Foreign Standards

The investor is responsible for sending to the Ministry of Construction or the specialized construction project management ministry the list of foreign construction standards that have been approved for application in the project for unified management.

Article 9. Inspection and Supervision of the Application of Foreign Standards

The inspection and supervision work on the application of foreign standards for construction activities shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law. The contents of inspection and supervision include compliance with the provisions of this Circular; compliance with the contents of foreign construction standards that have been approved for application. When violations of the provisions of this Circular are discovered, the inspection and supervision agency is responsible for temporarily suspending the application of foreign standards and requiring the project owner to take corrective measures.

Article 10. Transitional Provisions

For projects that have been approved by the Ministry of Construction or the specialized construction project management ministry to apply foreign construction standards before the effective date of this Circular, they shall continue to be implemented according to the relevant documents. For new projects and supplementary projects, the application of foreign construction standards shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of this Circular.

Article 11. Implementation Provisions

1. This Circular takes effect from February 1, 2010.

2. This Circular replaces Decision No. 09/2005/QD-BXD dated April 7, 2005 of the Ministry of Construction promulgating the Regulation on the Application of Foreign Construction Standards in Construction Activities in Vietnam and Decision No. 35/2006/QD-BXD dated November 22, 2006 of the Ministry of Construction supplementing certain contents of the Regulation on the Application of Foreign Construction Standards in Construction Activities in Vietnam issued together with Decision No. 09/2005/QD-BXD dated April 7, 2005 of the Ministry of Construction./.