Circular No. 81/2015/TT-BGTVT on the management and maintenance of railway construction projects

CIRCULAR

Regulations on management and maintenance of railway works

________________________

Pursuant to the Railway Law No. 35/2005/QH11 dated June 14, 2005;

Pursuant to the Construction Law No. 50/2014/QH13 dated June 18, 2014;

Pursuant to Decree No. 107/2012/NĐ-CP dated December 20, 2012 of the Government stipulating the functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Transport;

WHEREAS, Decree No. 46/2015/NĐ-CP dated May 12, 2015 of the Government on quality management and maintenance of construction works;

Pursuant to Decree No. 14/2015/NĐ-CP dated February 13, 2015, issued by the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain provisions of the Railway Law;

Based on Decree No. 59/2015/NĐ-CP dated June 18, 2015 of the Government on project management for construction investment;

At the proposal of the Director of the Infrastructure Department and the Director of the Vietnam Railway Administration,

The Minister of Transport issues this Circular to regulate the management and maintenance of railway works.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1Scope of Application

1. This Circular stipulates the management of railway infrastructure; the organization and implementation of maintenance of national railway works and dedicated railway works.

2. The management and maintenance of urban railway works shall be carried out in accordance with the regulations of the provincial People's Committee.

Article 2. Applicability

This Circular applies to organizations and individuals involved in the management of railway infrastructure and the maintenance of national railway works and dedicated railway works.

Article 3. Explanation of Terms

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

1. Railway works are construction projects serving railway transportation, including: roads, bridges, culverts, tunnels, retaining walls, stations, drainage systems, communication and signaling systems, power supply systems, and other auxiliary facilities of railways.

2. Railway infrastructure includes railway works, the protected area of railway works, and the traffic safety zone of railway works.

3. The maintenance procedure for railway works is documentation specifying the sequence, content, and guidance for performing maintenance tasks on railway works.

4. Maintenance of railway works involves a set of activities aimed at ensuring and maintaining normal operation and safety of the works according to design specifications during their exploitation and use.

5. Inspection of railway works is the act of examining visually or using specialized equipment to assess the current condition of the works to identify damage or signs of damage for timely remediation.

6. Monitoring of railway works is the activity of observing, measuring, and recording changes in geometry, deformation, displacement, and other technical parameters of the works and surrounding environment over time.

7. Quality inspection of railway works is the activity of checking and evaluating the quality or cause of damage, value, service life, and other technical parameters of parts of the works or railway works through monitoring, testing combined with calculation and analysis.

8. Maintenance of railway works is the activity of monitoring, caring for, and repairing minor damages to the works and installed equipment, conducted regularly and periodically to maintain the works in a normal operational and usage state and limit the occurrence of works damage.

9. Repair of railway works is the process of rectifying damage to the works discovered during exploitation and use to ensure normal operation and safety of the works. Railway works repair includes periodic repair and emergency repair:

a) Periodic repair of railway works is the repair of damage or replacement of damaged parts of the works or installed equipment carried out periodically according to the maintenance procedures and approved maintenance plans;

b) Emergency repair of railway works is the repair carried out when parts of the works or the works suffer damage due to sudden impacts such as wind, typhoons, floods, earthquakes, collisions, fires, and other sudden impacts, or when parts of the works or the works show signs of deterioration affecting the safe use, operation, and exploitation of the works.

10. Railway works maintenance units are organizations and individuals assigned tasks or contracted to perform one or more maintenance tasks on railway works.

Article 4. Requirements for railway infrastructure management workintention railway infrastructure structure and maintenance of railway works

1. Railway works when put into operation must be managed and maintained in accordance with the provisions of the Railway Law, Decree No. 14/2015/NĐ-CP dated February 13, 2015 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of certain articles of the Railway Law (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 14/2015/NĐ-CP), Decree No. 46/2015/NĐ-CP dated May 12, 2015 of the Government on quality management and maintenance of construction works (hereinafter referred to as Decree No. 46/2015/NĐ-CP), relevant legal documents, and the provisions of this Circular.

2. Maintenance of railway works must be carried out according to the annual maintenance plan and the railway work maintenance procedures approved by the competent authority; the implementation of maintenance shall be organized in accordance with Chapter II of this Circular.

3. The maintenance of railway works must ensure safety for people, property, and works; ensure safe and smooth traffic; prevent fires and explosions, and protect the environment.

Article 5. Contents of railway infrastructure management work reason railway infrastructure structure

1. Management of assets belonging to the railway infrastructure system.

2. Financial management for railway infrastructure management and maintenance of railway works.

3. Management of the establishment, issuance, publication, and implementation of technical standards and regulations; quotas, unit prices, product prices, and public service fees of railways.

4. Management of the establishment, review, approval, assignment of plans, determination of implementation methods, and organization of management of railway infrastructure structure and maintenance of railway infrastructure.

5. Management of planning, reviewing, approving plans, funding, and organizing implementation of flood, storm, disaster prevention, mitigation, and accident response activities.

6. Management and protection of railway infrastructure.

7. Establish files to monitor potential or frequently occurring railway accidents at locations; files to monitor the number of railway accidents and determine the initial cause of each accident.

8. Update railway infrastructure management files into the database system for monitoring and management. The components and contents of the file are regulated in Appendix 1 of this Circular.

9. Inspection, supervision, handling complaints and denunciations, and dealing with violations of laws related to railway infrastructure management and maintenance of railway works as prescribed.

10. Regular and urgent reports as prescribed.

Article 6. Contents of railway works maintenance work

Railway works maintenance includes one, several, or all of the following tasks: inspection, monitoring, quality testing, maintenance, and repair of railway works but does not include activities that change the function or scale of the works.

Article 7. Tresponsibilities of the subjects related in implementing railway infrastructure management work and maintenance of railway works

1. State management agencies have the responsibility to inspect, supervise, handle complaints and denunciations, and deal with violations of laws in the implementation of railway infrastructure management and maintenance of railway works.

2. Enterprises managing, operating, and trading railway infrastructure are responsible for managing railway infrastructure and maintaining national railway works invested by the State; they are liable under the law for incidents or deterioration of works due to non-compliance with maintenance regulations.

3. Organizations or individuals receiving limited-term transfer rights to operate and trade national railway infrastructure invested by the State are responsible for managing railway infrastructure and maintaining railway works in accordance with contracts with state management agencies; they are liable under the law for incidents or deterioration of works due to non-compliance with maintenance regulations.

4. For dedicated railways or railways invested by other owners, the owner or authorized person is responsible for managing railway infrastructure and maintaining railway works they invest; they are liable under the law for incidents or deterioration of works due to non-compliance with maintenance regulations.

Chapter II

IMPLEMENTATION OF RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE MAINTENANCE

Article 8Establishment, price framework for power generation and adjustment of the annual internal audit plan, audit decision maintenance of railway works

1. Establishing plans for maintenance of national railway works invested by the State:

a) Annually, based on the technical condition of railway works, transportation needs on each operational railway line, maintenance procedures, economic-technical norms, current state regulations, enterprises managing, operating, and trading railway infrastructure shall review, compile, and establish plans for maintenance of railway works within their jurisdiction including tasks such as regular maintenance, periodic repairs, quality testing, monitoring, emergency repairs, and other tasks (if any) according to the form specified in Appendix 2 of this Circular;

b) The maintenance plan for railway works shall be established in two copies, accompanied by a summary table of the technical status of railway works (according to the form specified in Appendix 3 of this Circular), one copy sent to the Ministry of Transport before June 15 each year, and one copy sent to the Vietnam Railway Administration; simultaneously, enterprises managing, operating, and trading railway infrastructure shall prepare budget estimates for revenue and expenditure from public funds and send them to the Ministry of Transport;

c) The content of the annual maintenance plan for railway works includes: maintenance plans, repair plans for each line (section) and other tasks (if any). The maintenance plan for railway works must include the following information: name of the work, item of the work; executing unit, volume, budget estimate; time of execution; method of execution and priority level.

2. Approving plans for maintenance of national railway works invested by the State:

a) Within ten working days from the date of receiving complete files, the Vietnam Railway Administration shall be responsible for reviewing and preparing a report to submit to the Ministry of Transport.

b) Based on the maintenance plan for railway works submitted by enterprises managing, operating, and trading railway infrastructure, and the audit report of the Vietnam Railway Administration, the Ministry of Transport shall review, compile the maintenance plan and budget estimate for railway works into the annual revenue and expenditure budget of the Ministry of Transport, and send it to the Ministry of Finance before July 20 each year;

c) After receiving the notification from the Ministry of Finance regarding the annual budget revenue and expenditure plan, the Ministry of Transport allocates funds to the Enterprise managing, operating, and conducting business on railway infrastructure. The Enterprise managing, operating, and conducting business on railway infrastructure reviews and adjusts the maintenance cost plan for railway works in accordance with the allocated funding sources; prepares and submits the relevant documentation to related units for review and assessment in accordance with point b, Clause 1, Article of this provision. For periodic repairs of railway works and equipment, they shall only be included in the construction implementation plan after approval by the competent authority in accordance with regulations, except in cases where permission is granted by the Minister of Transport, in which case such implementation shall proceed.

d) The Ministry of Transport reviews and approves the annual maintenance cost plan for railway works after receiving all necessary documentation for the maintenance plan, the review report, and comments from related agencies and units (if applicable).

3. The national railway maintenance plan funded by the State shall be adjusted and supplemented during its implementation to suit actual conditions. The Ministry of Transport decides on the adjustment of the maintenance plan before December 1st each year.

4. Organizations and individuals that have acquired the right to operate and conduct business on national railway infrastructure funded by the State through a limited-term transfer shall independently establish, approve, and adjust the maintenance plan for the transferred railway works.

5. The establishment, approval, and adjustment of the maintenance plan for specialized railways and railways funded by other owners shall be carried out in accordance with the regulations of the owner or the authorized person.

Article 9Implementation of Railway Infrastructure Maintenance Plan

1. For national railways funded by the State, based on the approved annual maintenance plan for railway works, the Enterprise managing, operating, and conducting business on railway infrastructure shall organize and implement according to regulations.

2. For maintenance work on railway infrastructure and equipment funded by the State budget, it shall be carried out as follows:

a) For maintenance work, based on the approved maintenance plan, the Enterprise managing, operating, and conducting business on railway infrastructure shall develop pricing plans for products and public services, submit them to the Ministry of Transport for approval or authorize the Vietnam Railway Corporation to approve;

b) For repairs of works and equipment costing less than 500 million VND, the Enterprise managing, operating, and conducting business on railway infrastructure shall make decisions independently in accordance with point a, Clause 4, Article 39 of Decree No. 46/2015/NĐ-CP of the Government;

c) For repairs of railway works and equipment costing 500 million VND or more, the Enterprise managing, operating, and conducting business on railway infrastructure shall organize the preparation of economic and technical reports or investment construction projects, submit them to the Vietnam Railway Corporation for review and approval in accordance with laws on investment in construction works;

d) In cases of emergency repairs of works or parts of works damaged by typhoons, floods, earthquakes, collisions, explosions, or other natural disasters not included in the approved maintenance plan, the Ministry of Transport shall authorize the Vietnam Railway Corporation to decide on approval; report the results of implementation to the Ministry of Transport.

3. Based on the approval decision for project components as stipulated in Clause 2 of this Article, the Enterprise managing, operating, and conducting business on railway infrastructure shall organize the implementation of maintenance for railway works.

4. The Ministry of Transport and the Vietnam Railway Corporation shall organize inspections and supervision of the implementation of the maintenance plan for national railways funded by the State in accordance with regulations.

5. Organizations and individuals that have acquired the right to operate and conduct business on national railway infrastructure funded by the State through a limited-term transfer shall independently implement the maintenance plan for the transferred railway works.

6. For specialized railways and railways funded by other owners, the owner or the authorized person shall organize the implementation of the maintenance plan for the railway works they have invested in.

Article 10Inspection, maintenance, repair, and safety evaluation of railway worksitself railway works within the assigned route and area.

1. Railway maintenance units shall carry out inspection, maintenance, and repair of railway works in accordance with the maintenance contracts and approved maintenance procedures.

2. The inspection, maintenance, and repair of railway works shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Clauses 2, 3, and Clause 4, Article 40 of Decree No. 46/2015/NĐ-CP of the Government and the provisions of this Circular.

3. Safety evaluation of railway works during operation and use includes load-bearing safety and operational safety, carried out in accordance with the provisions of Clauses 1, 2, and Clause 3, Article 43 of Decree No. 46/2015/NĐ-CP of the Government.

4. Cases of quality inspection of railway works shall be carried out in accordance with the provisions of Clause 5, Article 40 of Decree No. 46/2015/NĐ-CP of the Government. Preparation and submission for approval of the outline and budget for quality inspection of railway works shall be carried out as follows:

a) For national railways funded by the State: based on the approved maintenance plan, the Enterprise managing, operating, and conducting business on railway infrastructure shall organize the preparation of the outline and budget; submit it to the Vietnam Railway Corporation for review and approval;

b) Organizations and individuals that have acquired the right to operate and conduct business on national railway infrastructure funded by the State through a limited-term transfer shall organize the preparation of the outline and submit it to the Vietnam Railway Corporation for review and approval; self-approve the budget and organize implementation;

c) For specialized railways and railways funded by other owners, implementation shall be carried out in accordance with the Construction Law and guiding documents.

Article 11. Monitoring railway works for maintenance work

1. Monitoring of railway works for maintenance purposes must be conducted for:

a) Special grade and grade 1 bridges, tunnels, and stations;

b) Railway works showing signs of subsidence, tilting, cracking, and other abnormal conditions that could cause collapse;

c) Other railway works as required by the competent state management agency, the owner, or the authorized person, or upon request by the manager or user of the works.

2. Parts of railway works that need to be monitored are the main load-bearing structures of the works, which, if damaged, could lead to collapse.

3. The content of railway construction monitoring includes: monitoring location, monitoring parameters (deformation, tilt, settlement, crack, sag, etc.), monitoring time, number of measurement cycles, and other necessary contents. The monitoring plan must specify the measurement method, measuring equipment, layout diagram and structure of markers; organization to implement monitoring; data processing methods and other necessary contents.

4. Implement monitoring for national railway projects funded by the State:

a) Railway infrastructure management, operation, and business enterprises, based on approved maintenance plans, organize the preparation of monitoring outlines and budgets; submit them to the Vietnam Railway Administration for review and approval; implement and prepare reports on monitoring results, including monitoring data that must be compared with permissible values specified in relevant technical standards and regulations; propose recommendations and warnings to the project owners if monitoring data exceeds permissible values or show abnormal signs to take timely measures; conduct safety assessments of the projects according to current regulations;

b) Organizations or individuals receiving limited-term rights to operate and manage national railway infrastructure funded by the State shall organize the preparation of outlines, submit them to the Vietnam Railway Administration for review and approval; self-approve budgets, implement and prepare reports in accordance with point a of this clause.

5. For dedicated railways and those invested in by other owners, implementation shall be carried out in accordance with the Construction Law and related guiding documents.

6. Monitoring units must have the necessary conditions and capabilities for operation, and experience in handling construction accidents as stipulated by law.

Article 12. Quality Management of Railway Construction Maintenance Workngmaintenance work of railway construction projects

1. Railway infrastructure management, operation, and business enterprises, organizations or individuals receiving limited-term rights to operate and manage national railway infrastructure funded by the State, owners or authorized persons for dedicated railways and those invested in by other owners, maintenance units, and other organizations or individuals related to railway construction maintenance work are responsible for implementing quality management of railway construction works in accordance with Decree No. 46/2015/ND-CP of the Government and other relevant laws.

2. Railway maintenance files shall be prepared in accordance with Clause 9, Article 41 of Decree No. 46/2015/ND-CP of the Government and updated into the construction project management files.

3. The warranty period for railway construction repair work shall be implemented in accordance with Clause 4, Article 41 of Decree No. 46/2015/ND-CP of the Government.

Article 13.Handling against- Size of the stamp: 1 specialized agency under the People's Committee of the province/city.ngRailway Projects Exceeding Service Life with Continued Use Requirements service life as required use 1. A railway project exceeding its service life is a project that has been in operation and use for a longer period than the service life specified in the project design documents.

In cases where the project design documents are lost or do not specify the service life, the service life of the project will be determined according to relevant technical standards and regulations or based on the results of the project quality inspection.

2. At least one year before a railway project exceeds its service life, if there is a need for continued use, railway infrastructure management, operation, and business enterprises, organizations or individuals receiving limited-term rights to operate and manage national railway infrastructure funded by the State, owners or authorized persons for dedicated railways and those invested in by other owners must perform the following tasks:

b) Repair damaged parts of the project (if any) to ensure functionality and safe use; consider and decide on the continued use of the project except for projects listed in Appendix II of Decree No. 46/2015/ND-CP of the Government;

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

c) Report to the Ministry of Transport and the Vietnam Railway Administration the results of inspections, tests, and evaluations of project quality, and the results of project repairs (if any). The Vietnam Railway Administration will inspect and recommend the Ministry of Transport to make decisions regarding projects listed in Appendix II of Decree No. 46/2015/ND-CP of the Government.

. Reporting System for Implementation of Maintenance Work

Article 14a) Railway infrastructure management, operation, and business enterprises, organizations or individuals receiving limited-term rights to operate and manage national railway infrastructure funded by the State shall implement regular and urgent reporting systems on the implementation of national railway infrastructure maintenance plans to the Ministry of Transport and the Vietnam Railway Administration, regularly every six months before July 15 each year and before January 15 of the following year; maintenance of railway works

1. Reporting System:

b) Owners or authorized managers of dedicated railway projects and those invested in by other owners shall implement regular and urgent reporting systems on the implementation of maintenance plans to the Vietnam Railway Administration annually before January 15 of the following year;

c) The Vietnam Railway Administration shall implement regular reporting systems on the implementation of railway construction maintenance plans (including national railway infrastructure funded by the State, dedicated railways, and those invested in by other owners) to the Ministry of Transport annually before January 25 of the following year.

2. The report content must include all the following information: name of the project, project components implemented; volume and cost of implementation; completion time; adjustments and occurrences compared to the approved plan; evaluation of implementation results (according to the approved plan); proposals and suggestions during the implementation of railway construction maintenance work (in accordance with the reporting form specified in Appendix 4 of this Circular).

. Handling Railway Projects

Article 15Showing Dangerous Signs, Not Ensuring Safety for Operation and Use not ensuring safety for operation and use

1. When signs of danger indicating that a railway project does not ensure safety for operation and use are discovered, the enterprise managing, operating, and conducting business on the railway infrastructure, the organization or individual receiving a limited-term transfer of the right to operate and conduct business on national railway infrastructure invested by the State, the owner or the person authorized for dedicated railways or railways invested by other owners shall immediately report to the Ministry of Transport and the Vietnam Railway Administration; at the same time, they shall comply with the provisions of Clause 1 of Article 44 of Decree No. 46/2015/NĐ-CP of the Government.

2. When signs of danger indicating that a railway project does not ensure safety for operation and use are discovered or reported, the Vietnam Railway Administration shall inspect and propose the Ministry of Transport to decide on measures to address the situation.

3. In cases where railway construction works experience incidents during operation and use, the resolution of such incidents shall be carried out according to the provisions set forth in Chapter VI of Decree No. 46/2015/NĐ-CP of the Government.

Article 16. Technical requirements standard, Sports. technical standards, economic-technical norms in maintenance work of railway projects3.2.5. Medical examination and treatment establishments, laboratories, and vaccination centers at the provincial levelb) For components of railway projects without economic-technical norms, apply corresponding norms of relevant sectors or localities issued by competent authorities.concerning the classification and determination of state management authority in the field of crop productionrailway

1. For railway infrastructure maintenance work:

a) Apply according to the standards; comply with technical regulations and economic-technical norms issued by competent authorities;

2. For regular repair and emergency repair work on railway projects: apply the provisions of laws on investment in construction projects and related laws.

COSTS

Chapter III

Article 17. Sources of funds for maintaining railway projects MAINTENANCE OF RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE

2. The organization or individual receiving a limited-term transfer of the right to operate and conduct business on national railway infrastructure invested by the State shall be responsible for allocating funds for maintaining the transferred railway projects according to the contract with the competent state management agency.

1. Funds for maintaining railway works invested by the state are formed from the following sources:

a) State budget;

b) Other lawful revenues as prescribed by law.

3. Funds for maintaining dedicated railway projects or railways invested by other owners shall be allocated according to the regulations of the owner or the person authorized.

4. Management and use of funds for maintaining railway projects shall be carried out in accordance with current laws.

Costs

Article 18b) Costs for planning maintenance of railway projects (including survey costs; preparation, review, and verification of maintenance costs); maintenance of railway works

1. Contents of cost items related to the implementation of railway work maintenance include:

a) Costs for preparing and reviewing maintenance procedures and economic-technical norms serving railway work maintenance tasks;

c) Costs for regular, periodic, and emergency inspections of projects;

d) Costs for monitoring railway projects where monitoring is required;

e) Maintenance costs for railway projects;

f) Quality inspection costs for projects;

g) Costs for regular and emergency repairs of projects;

h) Costs for preparing, managing maintenance records of railway projects and updating the database of railway infrastructure.

2. Determination of costs for managing and maintaining railway projects shall follow the guidelines of the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Finance, and related legal provisions.

.

Chapter IV

IMPLEMENTING PROVISIONS

Article 19This Circular takes effect from February 1, 2016 and replaces Circular No. 20/2013/TT-BGTVT dated August 16, 2013 of the Minister of Transport on the management and maintenance of railway projects.u lImplementation

Organization

Article 201. The Director of the Ministry's Office, the Inspector General of the Ministry, the Heads of Departments, the Director of the Vietnam Railway Administration, the General Director of the Vietnam Railway Corporation, the Heads of agencies, units, organizations, and individuals concerned shall be responsible for implementing this Circular. The Head of the Office of the Ministry, the Inspector General of the Ministry, the Heads of Departments, the Director of the Vietnam Highway Corporation, the Directors of Provincial Department of Transport under central cities and provinces, the Heads of agencies, organizations and individuals related shall be responsible for implementing this Circular.

2. In the course of implementation, if any difficulties arise, organizations and individuals shall promptly reflect them in writing and send them to the Ministry of Transport for consideration and resolution./.

2. During implementation, if any difficulties arise, organizations and individuals shall promptly reflect them in writing and send to the Ministry of Transport for consideration and resolution./.