Facing the difficult situation of construction consulting organizations and construction enterprises due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, in Official No. 75/2021/CV-VECAS dated August 9, 2021 to the Ministry of Construction, the Vietnam Engineering Consultant Association has made specific recommendations on a number of contents to request the Ministry of Construction to study, summarize and report to the Prime Minister for decision, such as:

Policies to resolve difficulties and problems related to the organization’s certificate of capacity for construction activities, the construction practice certificate and the architectural practice of the individual:

  1. Regarding the organization of examine in service of granting practice certificates of construction and architecture activities:     Due to the impact of the epidemic, in the past time, the activities of organizing the examination for the grant of practice certificates for individuals were not organized according to the plan and did not ensure the prescribed time, or could not be organized. Many individuals across the country face many difficulties because their construction or architectural practice certificates have expired or have not been granted. Therefore, the Association proposes to the Government and the Ministry of Construction to issue a policy to allow agencies and professional social organizations meet the requirements to organize examination in service of granting construction and architecture practice certificates online.
  2. Regarding an individual’s construction practice certificate that has expired or is about to expire in 2021: it is permissible to extend the validity of an individual’s construction practice certificate that has expired from January 1. 2021, will expire in 2021 extended to December 31, 2021.
  3. Regarding architectural practice certificates under the Law on Architecture:

     Due to the new implementation of legal documents and guidelines on architectural practice, many competent agencies granting and renewing architectural practice certificates in provinces and cities are still confused and inconsistent, request the Ministry of Construction to organize online answers or issue documents guiding these agencies to unify implementation.

      At the same time, it is proposed to extend the validity of the practice field “Architectural design of Works; Architectural Design Verification” issued in the Construction Practice Certificate for individuals has expired from January 1, 2021 and will expire in 2021, is extended to December 31, 2021.

  1. Regarding the organization’s construction capacity certificate: It is recommended to extend the validity until the end of December 31, 2021 for the organization’s construction capacity certificate that has expired and will expire within the year 2021.

Proposing policies and supplementing construction investment costs related to construction activities due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic.

      Currently, Vietnam’s legal regulations on force majeure events can be generally commented as unclear, not specific and full of legal regulations like many countries in the world; Therefore, in order to consider and solve the problem of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on construction investment activities, the current construction contract is a force majeure event that is necessary to fully issue detailed regulations in the Construction Law, Civil Law. Therefore, in order to promptly solve difficulties and support organizations and individuals in construction investment activities, the Vietnam Engineering Consultant Association proposes the Government and the Ministry of Construction some of the following solutions:

  1. Circulars guiding Decree 10/2021/ND-CP on management of construction investment costs and Decree 50/2021/ND-CP amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree 37/2015/ND-CP CP on construction contract has not been issued; Therefore, it is proposed to add to the Circular the contents and costs related to the prevention, control and remedy of damage caused by the impact of diseases such as COVID 19, and the costs of consultants and labor due to the temporary suspension. work for project participants in direct costs or general costs in the method of calculation of construction estimates and payment of construction contracts.
  2. The direct costs (materials, labor) at the projects and construction Works have been facing the huge increase in input prices; Therefore, it is proposed to issue a policy to allow projects within the scope of Decree 10/2021/ND-CP, Decree 37/2015/ND-CP stipulating construction contracts, Decree 50/2021 /ND-CP amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree 37/2015 on construction contracts may add these additional costs (if any due to the impact of the epidemic and to an appropriate extent) to the expenses. direct fees or offset price differences. At the same time, it is necessary to issue guidelines on adjusting the total investment, estimate or package price, and contract price, especially for lump sum contracts and fixed units price.
  3. Allowing and requiring Employer of projects within the scope of Decree 37/2015/ND-CP and Decree 50/2021/ND-CP amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree 37/2015 confirm, adjust the progress of extending the project completion deadline due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic (if any), in order to avoid the contractor, the consultants from being penalized for the contract or compensating for damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
  4. The current legal provisions on construction contracts, construction investment cost management and bidding mainly apply to organizations and individuals related to the establishment and management of contract performance construction contracts of construction investment projects using public investment capital, foreign state capital for public investment and construction contracts between PPP project enterprises and construction contractors performing bidding packages under the project PPP. Therefore, it is proposed that the Government and the Ministry of Construction consider policies on other sources of capital to minimize compensation for damage and contract penalties for contractors, consultants, and material suppliers due to the project caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.