Regulations on construction and housing to take effect in mid-August

1. New guidance on the application for building permit

Circular No. 15/2016/TT-BXD on guidelines for the issuance of building permits defines these new details of an application for building permit:

+ Copies of written evidences of land use right, land appropriation decisions, technical designs or construction drawings, investment project approval decisions, etc. need not to be notarized or certified.

+ Files containing photographs of original documents may replace copies.

+ Copies of enterprise registration certificate(s) or investment certificate(s) are no longer required in an application for phase-based and project-based building permits.

+ The applications for building permits for detached houses in urban and rural areas are similar (though the current regulation distinguishes the two areas) and require a main investor’s written undertaking of safety of contiguous buildings.

Circular No. 15/2016/TT-BXD shall come into force as of August 15, 2016.

2. Guidance on the registration of main investors of tenement renovation projects
 
Circular No. 21/2016/TT-BXD on guidelines for certain articles of the Decree No. 101/2015/ND-CP on renovation and reconstruction of tenement buildings shall come into force as of August 15, 2016.

Organizations and individuals shall prepare the following documents to register themselves as a main investor of a project for renovation or reconstruction of a tenement building:

+ The regulated form of registration as a main investor of a project for renovation or reconstruction of a tenement building.

+ Documents that prove the competence, experience and financial capacity of the enterprise, such as written evidences of the real estate trading functions, legal capital, owner’s equity, etc.

+ The plan for project execution, e.g. the preliminary design plan and master plan of the project, basic planning criteria; plans for compensation, assistance and relocation, etc.

3. Larger minimum size of social housing

Such detail is prescribed in the Circular No. 20/2016/TT-BXD on guidelines for certain details of the Decree No. 100/2015/ND-CP on development and management of social housing.

A social apartment or dwelling that a household or individual invests in, sell, rent or rent to own must:

+ Have a minimum size of 10 m2 (i.e. 1 m2 larger than that defined in the current regulation).

+ Have a wall-to-wall width of at least 2.40 m and a clearance height of at least 2.70 m at the lowest position.

+ Have an average living space per person of at least 5 m2.

Moreover, the Circular regulates that the minimum living area of an apartment must be 25 m2 (inclusive of sanitary rooms).

Circular No. 20/2016/TT-BXD shall take effect as of August 15, 2016 and replace the Circular No. 08/2014/TT-BXD. />
4. Amendment to the regulation on building permits for foreign contractors

Circular No. 14/2016/TT-BXD, in effect as of August 15, 2016, prescribes the guidelines for the issuance of building permits to foreign contractors in Vietnam.

Major revisions to an application by a foreign contractor for building permit include:

+ Only (non-certified) copies of certain documents or files, in image or other formats (*.pdf), that contain color photographs of original documents, e.g. bidding result papers, licenses of operation, etc., are required.…

+ For individual contractors: The (self-made) declaration of personal occupations with relevant working contracts in the last 3 years is no longer required.

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