Moving toilet also need permit?

That was the opinion given by delegates at a workshop to collect opinions from businesses on perfecting the law on investment and business in the construction sector, organized by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry in coordination with the Ministry of Construction on the morning of December 13, in Hanoi.

Construction licensing still has many shortcomings

Mr. Pham Sy Liem (General Association of Construction) commented on the content of construction permits. Granting permits but without checking the use of permits, without any regulations, when the construction is completed, who will check whether the construction is in accordance with the permit or not? Therefore, currently, violations of permits are common and only when the press discovers them will the authorities intervene.

“The authorities themselves did not detect the violations because their subordinates accepted bribes. I know of a case where people complained that if they wanted to build an additional floor, they needed a bribe of 25,000 USD. Managers must know about and prevent such things,” said Mr. Liem.

Along with that, some of the contents that are of public concern are the issue of apartment building renovation. Mr. Liem raised the question, why is it necessary to stipulate that apartment building renovation requires businesses to be involved in the renovation, but the owners do not renovate their own apartments but have to hire businesses? According to calculations, if the apartment owners do the renovation project themselves, it will be at least 20% cheaper.

Sharing the same opinion, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Hiep, Contractors Association said that, regarding construction permits, in the past, during the French period, there were construction permits, the content only had the land boundary of the house and the facade, the inside was not specifically regulated, and construction could be done freely.

Ms. Tong Thi Hanh, Director of the Legal Department, Ministry of Construction, said that in recent times, the implementation of many laws has also revealed some shortcomings, which are not suitable for reality, such as the time to carry out construction permit procedures is still long, the conditions for granting construction permits for some construction projects are not suitable for reality. Along with that, some regulations on residential land and investment policies have not ensured the consistency and synchronization of the related legal system...

"In order to improve the investment and business environment, reform and simplify administrative procedures in the construction sector, and ensure the consistency of policies with relevant international treaties to which Vietnam is a member, amending and supplementing the above Laws is necessary," Ms. Tong Thi Hanh suggested.

Ms. Hanh added that although the Ministry of Construction has posted the revised content on the Ministry's website, there have been no comments from the ministries so far. As for the Decree amending, supplementing and abolishing a number of regulations on business conditions in the construction sector, the Ministry has sent it to relevant agencies for comments, many ministries have commented and the Ministry is synthesizing and finalizing the draft Law.

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Advertising also suffers because of construction permits

Along with that, advertising businesses also encounter difficulties due to the provisions of the Construction Law. Specifically, according to the provisions of the Advertising Law, the dossier for notification of advertising products must include a construction permit from the Department of Construction.

However, according to the Construction Law, the conditions for granting construction permits for advertising works with a term of time must be consistent with the purpose of land use according to the approved land use plan and depend on the area with approved and announced construction zoning plans but not yet implemented and no land reclamation decision. According to the general assessment of enterprises, this is not feasible in practice and causes difficulties for enterprises.

Mr. Tran Hung, Vietnam Advertising Association, said that after the Advertising Law, there were many problems in construction, but the Association sent documents but few of the documents were answered by the Ministry of Construction and had never met.

Mr. Hung said, talking about advertising activities, after the Advertising Law, Construction Law... advertising activities, especially outdoor advertising, have become more stagnant due to two issues: One is licensing advertising construction works, the second is the Land Law along with planning issues.

“Up to now, to be exact, advertising projects that comply with the Advertising Law, Construction Law... are almost all in violation, even 100% in violation. But people still have to do it and do it illegally and with bribes, ready to be handled, punished but still have to do it because that is the need,” said Mr. Hung.

Mr. Hung also pointed out that localities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong... have not had an advertising plan for 4 years, while they are required to stop advertising and wait for a new plan to be made. The government requires that the advertising plan must be completed within 1 year, but now it has been 4 years and there is still no plan. Advertisers have been calling for a long time but they still ask to stop and only do so when there is a new plan.

In response to comments from experts and the Association representing businesses, a representative of the Ministry of Construction said that the Ministry will accept comments and perfect legal documents to suit reality.

According to Trung Hieu/baotintuc