• What are the cases in which the construction permit is required?

Pursuant to Clause 1 Article 89 of the  Law on Construction 2014, amended by Clause 30 Article 1 Law on Amendments to Construction Law 2020, apart from cases in which the construction permit is exempted, Construction works are required to have construction permits granted by competent state agencies to project owners in accordance with regulations laid down of the Law on Construction 2014 (amended in 2020). As such, these projects must apply for a construction permit before starting construction.

• Are there any cases in which the construction permit is exempted?

Pursuant to Clause 2 Article 89 of Law on Construction 2014, amended by Clause 30 Article 1 Law on Amendments to Construction Law 2020, cases in which the construction permit is exempted:

(1) Works involving state secrets; works constructed under emergency orders;

(2) Works of projects using public investment funds in which the construction investment is decided by the Prime Minister, heads of central-level agencies of political organizations, People’s Supreme Procuracy, People’s Supreme Court, State Audit Office of Vietnam, Office of the President, the Office of the National Assembly, ministers, heads of ministerial-level agencies, Governmental agencies, central-level agencies of Vietnamese Fatherland Front and of socio-political organizations or chairpersons of People’s Committees at different levels;

(3) Makeshift construction works as prescribed in Article 131 hereof;

(4) Works undergoing repair or renovation of their interior parts or works undergoing repair or renovation of their external architecture not facing roads in urban centers subject to architectural management requirements of competent state agencies; such repair or renovation does not alter the functions and force-bearing structures of the works, and must be conformable with construction planning approved by competent state agencies and requirements on fire and explosion prevention and fighting, and environmental protection;

(5) Advertisement works not subject to construction permits as prescribed by the Law on advertisement; passive telecom infrastructure works as prescribed by the Government;

(6) Construction works located in the territories of two or more provincial-level administrative units, works constructed in lines outside urban areas that conform to construction planning or detailed planning approved by competent state agencies;

(7) Construction works of which results of appraisal of the construction design following the fundamental design have been notified by specialized construction agencies to meet conditions for approval and which meet requirements for construction permit prescribed by this Law;

(8) Detached houses with under 07 stories of urban area construction investment projects or housing construction investment projects under detailed planning of 1:500 scale approved by competent state agencies;

(9) Grade-IV construction works or detached houses with under 07 stories in rural areas without urban planning, function zone construction planning or detailed construction planning on rural residential points approved by competent state agencies; Grade-IV construction works or detached houses in mountainous areas or islands without urban planning or function zone construction planning, except detached houses built in conservation zones or historical and cultural relic zones

Thus, if the project falls under one of the above cases, a construction permit is exempted. However, project owners of construction work prescribed in sections (2), (6), (7), (8) và (9), except detached houses prescribed in section (9), shall send written notices of the time of construction commencement and construction design dossiers to local construction management agencies.

• What is the application for issuance of a construction permit to the project and group of works in the project?

Pursuant to Article 45 of Decree 15/2021/ND-CP, the application for issuance of a construction permit to the project and group of works in the project shall include:

1. An application form for issuance of construction permit No. 01 of Appendix II of Decree 15/2021/ND-CP.

2. One in written proofs of land use rights as prescribed in legislation on land with respect to a group of works or the entire project.

3. Project approval decision; the written notice of appraisal result of the construction authority and the basic design drawing documents enclosed with a certification stamp (if any); report on construction design assessment result according to the provisions of Clause 4, Article 41 of Decree 15/2021/ND-CP; certificate of fire safety design appraisal and approved documents and drawings enclosed as per the law on fire safety; result of environmental protection in accordance with the law on environmental protection in case of failure to appraise the feasibility study report at the construction authority.

4. 02 sets of construction design drawings in construction design documents following the basic design approved in accordance with the construction law of each work in a group of works or the entire project, including:

a) Construction design documents prescribed in point d clause 1 Article 43 of Decree 15/2021/ND-CP for a work not built by route;

b) Construction design documents prescribed in point d clause 2 Article 43 of Decree 15/2021/ND-CP for a work built by route.

Please refer to the Danang City Administrative Procedures Information System website for more details.

• What are the procedures for granting construction permits?

Pursuant to Article 102 of the Law on Construction 2014 regulating the process of grant, re-grant, adjustment, and extension of construction permits as follows:

Step 1: Access the Danang City Administrative Procedures Information System, and select the administrative procedure you need to perform, then log in to your account and complete the application according to the instructions (in case not having an account, please register an account to log in).

Step 2: The project owner shall submit 2 sets of dossier of application for a construction permit to the agency competent to grant construction permits;

Step 3: The agency competent to grant construction permits shall receive the dossier.

Step 4: Within 7 working days after receiving a dossier, the agency competent to grant construction permits shall organize an appraisal of the dossier and conduct a field inspection. If the supplemented dossier still fails to meet the notified requirements, the competent agency shall issue a written notice to the project owner guiding the latter to further improve the dossier.

Step 5: The agency competent to grant construction permits shall examine the size, characteristics, and category of the work and site of construction stated in the dossier of application for a construction permit against the conditions prescribed in Law on Construction 2014 and send written requests for opinions of state management agencies in charge of fields related to the construction work in accordance with law;

Step 6: Within 12 days, for works or separate houses, after receiving a dossier, consulted state management agencies shall issue written replies on the contents under their respective management functions. After the above time limit, if they give no opinions, they shall be considered having agreed and shall take responsibility for the contents under their respective management functions; in pursuance to current regulations, the agency competent to grant construction permits shall decide to grant construction permits;

Step 7: From the date of receiving a valid dossier, the agency competent to grant construction permits shall examine the dossier for the grant of a permit within 20 days in the case of grant of construction permits, including also definite-term construction permits, adjusted construction permits and relocation permits, and within 15 days, for detached houses.

Step 8: The construction licensing agency uses its electronic signature or seal sample as prescribed in Form No. 13, Appendix II, Decree 15/2021/ND-CP, to stamp and confirm the design drawings accompanied with the Construction permit issued to the investor.

Please refer to the Danang City Administrative Procedures Information System website for more details.