A Customer guide to the building permit process in Vietnam

A CUSTOMER GUIDE TO THE BUILDING PERMIT PROCESS IN VIETNAM

We have designed this guide with the newcomer to the permit process in mind. It details the steps involved in obtaining a building permit in Vietnam, especially useful for foreign investors – from preliminary review through final approval. This information will help people who have had little or no experience with the building permit process. Experienced building professionals will also find information about the required amount of processing time useful for their scheduling.

Building Permits: When are they required?

At first, we should take a look into the case are exempted from applying building permit process as below:

a/ Separate dwelling houses of 3 storeys or less, with a floor area smaller than 200 m2 in non-urban areas; far from national highways, district roads ...; not belong to concentrated residential areas; not belong to the rural residential areas in the one must be issued with a construction permit issued by the District People of Committee.

b/ Residential house related city projects and housing area which have detailed plan of construction 1/500 scale and urban design are approved by competent authority.

c) Small repair cases (such as wall patches, lime scuffing, tile turning, ceiling repair, paving, door replacement), interior renovation, installation of equipment inside the house does not change the architecture, power and safety of the works.

Therefore, any detached house of constructor included new construction, renovation, expansion, repair, restoration and embellishment which are not subjected to the exemption of construction permit above all must apply for construction permit.

Applying for a Permit

You may apply for a building permit when the plans for your proposed project are complete and Planning approvals, if required, are granted.

To apply you must turn in an application package , consisting of:  

• Application for construction permit; (fill in the form)

• Copies of one of the papers evidencing the land use right in accordance with the provisions of the land legislation;

• Construction design drawings;

• For construction works with adjacent works, there must be written commitments to ensure safety for adjacent works; or if it is a construction work of an enterprise, it must also have a business registration certificate.

The Review Process: What happens next? .

Within 7 working days after receiving the dossier, the dossier-receiving committee shall notify in written the applicant of the dossier supplement (if the dossier is incomplete). Applicants have the right to request the dossier-receiving committee to explain the additional requirements and complete the dossier, the time limit for completing the dossier shall not be counted into the time of granting the construction permit.

For individual dwelling houses, the time limit for granting construction permits shall not exceed 15 working days after the full receipt of valid dossiers.

Once the construction permit is issued, the fee must be paid and construction commenced within 12 months. After 12 months from the date of issuance of the construction permit, the work has not started, the applicant shall have to apply for the extension of the construction permit.