WHEN IS THE CONSTRUCTION PERMIT REQUIRED?

Legal grounds:

Law on Construction 2014;

Law on Construction 2020 amending and supplementing some articles of Law on Construction 2014;

Decree 139/2017/ND-CP;

Circular 03/2018/TT-BXD.

What is the construction permit?

Construction permit means the legal document issued by the competent State agency to a developer for construction of a new work, or for repair, renovation or relocation of a work.

Construction permit including:

Definite term construction permit means the construction permit issued for construction of a work or separate dwelling-house and used in a definite term as per the plan for implementation of a construction master plan.

Phased construction permit means the construction permit issued for each part of the work or each work of a project when the design for construction of the work or of the project has not yet been completed.

Which cases must a construction permit be applied?

According to the provisions of Article 89.1 of the Law on Construction 2014 and Article 1.30 of the revised Law on Construction 2020, the investor must apply for a construction permit from the competent authority for the construction work, except for the following cases:

State secrets works; emergency construction works;

Works under projects using public investment capital the investment in construction of which is decided by the Prime Minister, the head of the central agency of a political organization, the Supreme People's Procuracy, the Supreme People's Court, the State Auditor, the Office of the President of Vietnam, the Office of the National Assembly, ministries, ministerial equivalent agencies, governmental agencies, the central agency of the Vietnam Fatherland’s Front and of socio-political organizations, or the chairman of a people’s committee at any level;

Temporary works to serve the construction of main works or to be used for the organization of events or other activities within the time approved by the District-level People's Committees;

Works being repairs or renovation inside [construction] works or works being repairs or renovation of external parts which do not adjoin any urban road with requirements for architectural management as stipulated by a competent State agency; repairs or renovation which does not change the use function nor affect the safety of the weight bearing structures of the works, and is consistent with the construction master plan which has been approved by the competent State agency and with the requirements on safety of fire prevention and fighting and explosion prevention, and environmental protection;

Advertising works not falling into the category of works requiring issuance of a construction permit in accordance with the law on advertising; passive telecommunications infrastructure works in accordance with regulations of the Government;

Construction works located in two or more provincial-level administrative units, or construction works built along a route which does not pass through an urban zone and which complies with the construction master plan or master plan of a technical or specialised nature approved by the competent State agency;

Construction works for which the result of appraisal of the construction design formulated after the preliminary design has been notified by a professional agency for construction as satisfying the conditions for construction design approval and the conditions for issuance of a construction permit in accordance with Law on Construction;

Separate dwelling-houses on a scale of less than seven (7) storeys in investment projects for construction of urban zones or investment projects for construction of residential housing with a detailed master plan [to the scale] of 1/500 approved by a competent State agency;

Level IV construction works or separate dwelling-houses in rural areas on a scale of less than seven (7) storeys within a region for which neither a master plan for urban development nor a construction master plan for functional zones nor a detailed construction master plan for rural residential area is approved by a competent State agency; level IV construction works or separate dwelling-houses in mountainous areas or marine islands in areas for which there is no master plan for urban development or construction master plan for functional zones; except for works and separate dwelling-houses built in a reserve or historical-cultural heritage site.

Does the repair/renovation of construction work require a construction permit?

When repairing or renovating construction works, the investor must apply for a repair or renovation permit in the following cases:

Works being repairs or renovation of external parts which adjoin any urban road with requirements for architectural management as stipulated by a competent State agency;

Repair or renovation which change the use function nor affect the safety of the weight bearing structures of the works.

Is the investor required to apply for a permit in case of relocation of the work?

According to the provisions of Article 117 of the Law on Construction 2014, when a construction work wants to be relocated from one location to another, the investor needs to carry out the procedures for applying for a permit to relocate the work, in order to ensure that the relocation site must conform to the approved construction planning, ensure the quality and safety of the works, do not affect the neighboring works, and ensure the preservation of architecture for works requiring conservation.

Legal consequences for construction work without construction permits.

For cases where a construction permit is required before construction starts, the investor shall be administratively sanctioned according to Article 15.5 of Decree 139/2017/ND-CP, specially:

The administrative fine levels for violations are prescribed as follows:

A fine of up to VND 20,000,000 shall be imposed for construction of separate houses in conservation zones, historical-cultural relics, or construction of other works that do not fall into the cases specified below; and plus VND 20,000,000 in case of recidivism.

A fine of up to VND 30,000,000 shall be imposed for building separate houses in urban areas; and increased to VDN 80,000,000 in case of recidivism.

A fine of up to VND 50,000,000 shall be imposed for the construction of works requiring the preparation of economic-technical reports on construction investment or formulation of construction investment projects; and increased to VDN 100,000,000 in case of recidivism.

In case the construction of the offending work has been completed, the investor shall force the dismantling of the offending work or part of the construction work. (Article 15.11 (d) of Decree 139/2017/ND-CP, Article 4.1 of Circular 03/2018/TT-BXD)

In case the construction work is under construction, the investor must suspend the construction and carry out the procedures for applying for a construction permit according to the provisions of Article 15.12 of the Decree 139/2017/ND-CP and Article 5 of Circular 03/2018/TT-BXD.

ADK & Co Vietnam Lawyers