Construction rules to be cut

Tong Thi Hanh, Director of the ministry’s Legal Department, said at a conference held on December 13 that the ministry was compiling a law which would amend several points of four existing laws, including the Law on Construction 2014, the Law on Housing 2014, the Law on Real Estate Business 2014 and the Law on Urban Planning 2009.

Hanh said that it was critical to amend the shortcomings in these laws. For example, the procedures for granting construction permits remained complicated and time-consuming, causing problems for firms.

The recent issuance of new laws such as the Law on Planning also required amendments to the legal framework in the construction and real estate business sector to ensure consistency in the legal system, Hanh said.

In addition, a decree would be compiled to remove 41.3% of the existing construction business prerequisites while simplifying another 43.7%.

Hanh said that all the changes would aim to create favourable conditions for construction and real estate businesses.

The ministry planned to propose the draft law to the Government in March 2018 and bring it to the National Assembly for discussion in May and October.

The ministry expected that the proposed law would be passed and come into effect from the beginning of 2019.

According to Nguyen Quoc Hiep, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Construction Contractors, the draft amendments must be given careful consideration because regulations in the construction sector were causing problems for firms.

Hiep said that it took his company three months to get the construction permit for a project of 42 townhouses due to the lack of clarity over whether district or provincial authorities had jurisdiction to grant the permit.

In addition, small changes in construction plans should not require a new permit, he said.

“Simplifying administrative procedures in construction and real estate sector is really urgent,” he noted.