CIRCULAR

PROVIDING AMENDMENTS TO CIRCULAR NO. 11/2021/TT-BXD DATED AUGUST 31, 2021 OF MINISTER OF CONSTRUCTION OF VIETNAM PROVIDING GUIDANCE ON DETERMINATION AND MANAGEMENT OF CONSTRUCTION INVESTMENT COSTS

Pursuant to the Law on Construction dated June 18, 2014; the Law on amendments to the Law on Construction dated June 17, 2020;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 52/2022/ND-CP dated August 08, 2022 defining functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Construction of Vietnam;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 10/2021/ND-CP dated February 09, 2021 on management of construction investment costs;

At the request of the Director of the Department of Construction Economics;

The Minister of Construction of Vietnam promulgates a Circular providing amendments to Circular No. 11/2021/TT-BXD dated August 31, 2021 of the Minister of Construction of Vietnam providing guidance on determination and management of construction investment costs.

Article 1. Amendments to Circular No. 11/2021/TT-BXD dated August 31, 2021 of Minister of Construction of Vietnam

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“Article 8. Management and announcement of construction prices prescribed in clause 2 Article 26 of Decree No. 10/2021/ND-CP

1. Construction unit prices announced by provincial People’s Committees under clause 2 Article 26 of the Decree No. 10/2021/ND-CP serve as the basis to determine and manage construction investment costs of construction projects within their remit. Construction unit prices announced by provincial People’s Committees are determined on the basis of construction norms issued by competent regulatory authorities and prices of cost elements prescribed in clauses 3, 4 and 5 of this Article provided that they are appropriate to the calculation period. Prices of cost elements include prices of building materials, unit prices of building labor, costs of building machine and equipment per shift.

2. Prices of building materials, unit prices of building labor, costs of building machine and equipment per shift are announced by provincial Departments of Construction on a periodic basis under the provisions of clause 2 Article 26 of the Decree No. 10/2021/ND-CP and regulations laid down in clauses 3, 4 and 5 of this Article.

3. Management and announcement of prices of building materials:

a) Prices of building materials to be announced must be in line with market prices, quality standards, origins, capacity and scope of supply of building materials at the announcement date. The list of building materials to be announced is compiled on the basis of the list of building materials available in the set of norms issued by competent regulatory authorities and the list of building materials available on the market.

b) Provincial Departments of Construction shall preside over and cooperate with relevant authorities in conducting surveys, collecting information, and determining prices of building materials applied at localities within their remit; announce these prices by using the Form No. 01 in Appendix VIII hereto; send announcement results, accompanied by electronic files (using consistent forms) to the Ministry of Construction of Vietnam for monitoring, managing, and inputting into the relevant database according to regulations laid down in clause 3 Article 29 of the Decree No. 10/2021/ND-CP.

c) Where necessary, provincial Departments of Construction can announce prices of building materials subject to changes on a monthly basis to meet requirements of management of construction investment costs. The deadline for quarterly and monthly announcement of prices of building materials must be earlier than the 15^th day of the first month of the following quarter, and the 10^th day of the following month, respectively.

4. Management and announcement of unit labor costs:

a) Unit labor costs announced locally must be on a par with building labor prices on the local labor market, appropriate to the characteristics, attributes and property of the work performed by construction workers; must be inclusive of wages, salaries and fringe benefits depending on the characteristics of construction work and several costs payable by employees in accordance with regulations in force. Costs payable by employees in accordance with regulations in force shall include: social insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance contributions and union dues as well as several other payables.

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c) The list of groups and levels of construction worker's qualification and methods for determination of unit labor costs are specified in the Circular providing instructions about economic and technical indicators and construction quantity takeoff.

d) Provincial Departments of Construction shall take charge of and cooperate with related entities in: conducting or hiring qualified consultants to conduct surveys, information collection, consulting unit labor price brackets announced by the Ministry of Construction of Vietnam to determine unit costs of construction labor for use in their localities; making price announcements by using the Form No. 2 in Appendix VIII of this Circular; sending these announcements, accompanied by electronic files (using consistent forms) to the Ministry of Construction of Vietnam for monitoring, managing and inputting into the relevant database as prescribed in clause 3 Article 29 of the Decree No. 10/2021/ND-CP.

dd) The deadline for annual announcement of unit labor prices should be prior to January 15^th of the following year.

5. Management and announcement of per-shift costs of machines and equipment:

a) Per-shift costs of construction machines and equipment to be announced must be appropriate to categories, output, main technical specifications, characteristics and attributes of each machine or equipment piece. The list of construction machines and equipment to be announced is compiled on the basis of the list of construction machines and equipment available in the set of norms issued by competent regulatory authorities, and the list of construction machines and equipment available on the market.

b) Per-shift costs of machines and equipment are determined as per a prescribed working shift (8 hours) of each machine or equipment, conform to consumption norms and basic data used for calculation of per-shift costs of machines and equipment that are issued by the Ministry of Construction of Vietnam, and correspond to the list of machines and equipment available in the set of norms issued by competent regulatory authorities.

c) Per-shift costs of machines and equipment are composed of all or several of cost items such as depreciation costs, repair costs, fuel costs, energy costs, machine operating labor costs and other costs of machines. Per-shift costs of machines and equipment are exclusive of those costs specified in point b clause 6 Article 4 hereof.

d) Consumption norms, basic data used for determining per-shift costs and methods for determination of per-shift costs of machines and equipment shall be subject to instructions given in the Circular providing instructions about economic and technical indicators and construction quantity takeoff.

dd) Provincial Departments of Construction shall take charge of and cooperate with related entities in: conducting or hiring qualified consultants to conduct surveys, information collection, consulting historical costs of machines per shift announced by the Ministry of Construction of Vietnam to determine per-shift costs of machines and equipment for use in their localities; making price announcements by using the Form No. 3 in Appendix VIII of this Circular; sending these announcements, accompanied by electronic files (using consistent forms) to the Ministry of Construction of Vietnam for monitoring, managing and inputting into the relevant database as prescribed in clause 3 Article 29 of the Decree No. 10/2021/ND-CP.

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6. Manufacturers and suppliers of building materials, labor; businesses supplying and leasing machines and equipment within localities; investors, successful bidders of construction projects, shall be responsible for providing information about prices of cost elements for provincial Departments of Construction for their announcement thereof as per clause 2 of this Article.

2. Article 9 is amended as follows:

“Article 9. Determination of construction costs

1. Construction costs include detailed unit costs and total construction costs. Construction costs are determined under clause 2s and 3 Article 24 of the Decree No. 10/2021/ND-CP and the detailed instructions given in Appendix IV hereto.

2. Investors may use construction costs prescribed in clauses 1 and 2 Article 26 of the Decree No. 10/2021/ND-CP and clauses 1 and 2 Article 8 herein, as a basis to determine and manage construction investment costs. In case where construction costs are determined based on detailed unit costs or total construction costs on the basis of construction norms, costs of building materials, labor unit costs, per-shift costs of machines and equipment may be determined under clauses 3, 4 and 5 in this Article.

3. Costs of building materials:

a) Costs of building materials announced by competent regulatory authorities under clause 3 Article 8 herein serve as a basis for determining construction costs.

b) With respect to building materials of which costs have not yet been announced or are already available but their categories are not appropriate to technical standards and regulations, quality requirements, supply capacity and other specific conditions laid down for each project or construction work, costs of these building materials used for determining construction costs shall be collected, aggregated, analyzed, assessed and selected by consulting sources of information on costs of building materials under the instructions given in point b section 1.2.1.1 Appendix IV hereto. Selection of costs of building materials must ensure objectivity, transparency and effectiveness of the project.

c) When preparing a feasibility study report, engineering design and determining construction investment costs for a construction work or project, building materials meeting less mineral consumption, energy saving and eco-friendly requirements are preferred on condition that investment effectiveness and conformance to the project’s requirements are ensured.

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dd) Assessment criteria employed to selection of costs of building materials used for determining construction costs shall conform to the instructions given in point a Section 1.2.1.1 Appendix IV hereto.

e) Methods for determining costs of building materials on site shall conform to the instructions given in section 1.2.1.2 Appendix IV hereto.

4. Unit labor costs

a) Unit costs of building labor announced by competent regulatory authorities under clause 4 Article 8 herein serve as a basis for determining construction costs.

b) If any unit cost of building labor announced by competent regulatory authorities is inappropriate to particularities of the construction job, work or project, the investor must conduct a survey to determine the unit cost of building labor according to the method prescribed in the Circular providing instructions about methods for determination of economic-technical indicators and construction quantity takeoff before making their decision to apply such unit cost when determining construction costs. While determining unit costs of building labor, provincial Departments of Construction shall follow instructions about accuracy and relevance of bases and methods for determining unit costs of building labor upon the investor's request.

c) Investors shall send dossiers on results of determination of unit costs of building labor under point b of this clause to provincial Departments of Construction for their monitoring and management; these dossiers should describe bases, methods and results of determination of unit costs of building labor, forms (if any) according to the stipulated method; on an annual basis, upon receipt of these dossiers, provincial Departments of Construction shall compile consolidated reports for submission to the Ministry of Construction of Vietnam.

5. Per-shift costs of building machines and equipment:

a) Per-shift costs of building machines and equipment announced by competent regulatory authorities under clause 5 Article 8 herein serve as a basis for determining construction costs.

b) In case where per-shift costs of building machines and equipment have not yet been announced by competent regulatory authorities, or have been announced but inappropriate to their uses and conditions for implementation of a construction work or project, the investor shall conduct a survey for determination of per-shift costs of building machines and equipment according to the method prescribed in the Circular providing methods for determination of economic-technical indicators and construction quantity takeoff before making their decision to such unit costs when determining construction costs. While determining per-shift costs of building machines and equipment, provincial Departments of Construction shall follow instructions about accuracy and relevance of bases and methods for determining per-shift costs of building machines and equipment upon the investor's request.

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6. With respect to any construction project located in at least 02 provincial-level administrative units, the investor shall take charge of determining construction costs under the provisions of clause 3 Article 26 of the Decree No. 10/2021/ND-CP to facilitate determination of costs, ensure anti-wastefulness and effectiveness for the project as well as adaptation to the capability of supplying resources according to the project implementation plan.”.

Article 2. Some Appendixes enclosed with the Circular No. 11/2021/TT-BXD are amended by the Appendix enclosed herewith.

Article 3. Implementation

This Circular comes into force from February 15, 2024./..

PP. MINISTER
DEPUTY MINISTER




Bui Hong Minh