Amending the Construction Law in a synchronous manner, cutting down on administrative procedures

At the meeting on the Construction Law, delegates agreed that the amendment of the Law must be comprehensive and consistent with the Investment Law, the Public Investment Law and related laws, in order to avoid overlap and loopholes in management.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha gives a directive speech. (Photo: Van Diep/VNA)

On the morning of September 12, at the Government Headquarters, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha chaired a meeting with a number of ministries, branches, localities, experts... to listen to reports and give opinions on amending the Construction Law (draft Law).

Focus on revising and adjusting 4 major groups of issues

Reporting at the meeting, Deputy Minister of Construction Bui Xuan Dung said that the drafting of the Law aims to continue to concretize the Party and State's guidelines and policies towards building a favorable, open, transparent, safe legal environment with low compliance costs; improving the investment and business environment; simplifying administrative procedures in investment and construction activities; overcoming limitations and shortcomings in practice; and ensuring the consistency and unity of the legal system.

The draft Law is expected to amend and adjust 141/168 articles, rearrange into 8 chapters, 96 articles, focusing on 4 major groups of issues: innovating methods, improving management efficiency in construction investment; cutting down and simplifying administrative procedures, investment and business conditions; decentralizing management from the central to local levels, assigning clear responsibilities to entities participating in construction activities, ensuring transparency, efficiency, and accountability; only regulating framework issues and principles under the authority of the National Assembly, while the detailed regulations are assigned to the Government for decision.

Regarding some contents that need to be consulted, Deputy Minister Bui Xuan Dung said that regarding the regulations on norm management, the Ministry of Construction proposed a plan to allow organizations to apply norms issued by state agencies for public investment projects; allow organizations to build, adjust, apply or use construction prices in cases where there are none or they are not suitable. At the same time, it added a regulation allowing the governing agency to internally adjust capital between component projects while the total investment of the entire project remains unchanged, and then report to the competent authority to reduce procedures.

At the meeting, delegates agreed that the amendment of the Law must be comprehensive and consistent with the Investment Law, the Public Investment Law and related laws, in order to avoid overlap and loopholes in management.

The representative of the Ministry of Justice said that the draft Law needs to focus on obstacles; separate public and private project management; and at the same time amend regulations on construction contracts and technical contents to ensure feasibility.

Regarding this issue, representatives of the Hanoi People's Committee and Hai Phong People's Committee said that it is necessary to clarify the procedures for payment and settlement, especially after the merger of administrative boundaries; propose reforming the construction licensing and appraisal process...

The leaders of the Vietnam Association of Construction Contractors also proposed clarifying the investor's authority to adjust contracts; allowing reference to foreign norms and unit prices; requiring a minimum payment guarantee of 30% of the contract value to protect contractors and adding payment responsibility to subcontractors...

Facilitate local implementation

Concluding the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha stated that amending the Construction Law is an urgent task, aiming to institutionalize the policy of decentralization, delegation of power, arrangement of administrative units, and reorganization of two-level local governments.

"The law needs to be consistent and consistent with related laws such as Land, Planning, and Investment, creating favorable conditions for local implementation," the Deputy Prime Minister emphasized.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha chaired the meeting. (Photo: Van Diep/VNA)

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the articles and clauses in the draft Law need to be classified into four groups. The technical revision group is to ensure consistency with the two-tier local government model. The policy change group needs to focus on in-depth analysis, especially on issues of decentralization, authority and management techniques. The administrative procedure simplification group is to cut 50% of the steps and apply the "one-stop, one-file" mechanism. Finally, there is the group on applying information technology and digital data in construction management.

Giving opinions on a number of specific issues, the Deputy Prime Minister suggested that the project classification stipulated in the draft Law must be based on the nature of the project, the level of technological complexity, and the impact on safety, the environment and society.

Emphasizing that "the way to classify projects must be more realistic," the Deputy Prime Minister said that the determination of management subjects should focus on three groups: Investors and investment managers; design consultants, supervisors, and appraisers; main and subcontractors. Even households and small organizations participating in construction are subjects that must be adjusted to be associated with contractual responsibilities, payments, warranties, and protection of the rights of all parties.

Regarding construction licensing procedures, the Deputy Prime Minister said that this is the final management tool, ensuring that the project meets planning, design, fire prevention, fire fighting, and environmental protection requirements. Therefore, this regulation needs to be decentralized, shortened in time, and avoid overlap, while still meeting national and international standards on the capacity of staff, consulting units, supervisors, and contractors.

Pointing out the lack of standards, norms, and unit prices in the construction sector, the Deputy Prime Minister suggested that the draft Law should refer to and apply international standards and technologies of the producing country for fields that have not been issued domestically or for new projects such as high-speed railways, highways, airports, etc.

In addition, the Law should allow the use of foreign consultants when domestic capacity is not sufficient, to ensure objectivity and scientificity. The organization of the project management board must also be flexible to avoid congestion.

To ensure business interests and encourage innovation, the Deputy Prime Minister noted that current regulations on payment and settlement are still inadequate, especially for small and medium enterprises and subcontractors; therefore, it is necessary to study the removal of the regulation on payment only after inspection and audit conclusions, and replace it with a binding contract mechanism.

"At the same time, the Law needs to create space for investors to apply new technology, towards green, smart, and digitally transformed buildings. Adjusting total investment and changing technology must be given more initiative to investors, avoiding dependence or passivity," said the Deputy Prime Minister./.

(Vietnam News Agency/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/sua-doi-luat-xay-dung-dong-bo-cat-giam-thu-tuc-hanh-chinh-post1061455.vnp