National Assembly delegates from Nghe An province commented on 3 contents related to regulations on management and operation of apartment buildings in the Housing Law (amended).

Speaking at the discussion, Mr. Tran Nhat Minh, full-time delegate of Nghe An Delegation, commented on a number of contents related to regulations on management and operation of apartment buildings.

First of all, regarding the conditions of the apartment building management and operation unit, according to the delegate of Nghe An delegation, the overly detailed regulations as in the draft law are unnecessary, which can lead to both a lack and a surplus, causing difficulties for the management and operation unit during the implementation process.

Because according to the draft Law, these units operate under the Law on Enterprises or the Law on Cooperatives, so the internal organizational structure including specialized departments and divisions and the use of labor including standards and qualifications of officers and employees should be given to the units to autonomously arrange and assign according to functional and task requirements.

“In practice today, it is difficult for apartment management service companies to meet the requirements of both management and operation, and to provide security, cleaning, and environmental services. Most of these services must be rented by management units from other providers, especially in specific fields that require specialized units to operate,” said delegate Tran Nhat Minh.

Therefore, he suggested that the drafting and research agency only stipulate general principles on the conditions of the apartment management and operation unit to meet the function of managing and operating apartment buildings. Other specific conditions should be given autonomy to the units with this function, or assigned to the Ministry of Construction to specify details for the type of public service unit.

Regarding the staff directly involved in the management and operation of the unit, according to the delegate of Nghe An delegation, the draft Law only needs to stipulate "Must complete and have a Certificate of training course, professional knowledge and skills training on management and operation of apartment buildings by training facilities that meet the conditions prescribed by the Minister of Construction" is enough.

Regarding the price of apartment building management and operation services, Mr. Tran Nhat Minh agreed with the regulation: The provincial People's Committee is responsible for promulgating a price framework for apartment building management and operation services as a basis for the parties to refer to when agreeing on the price of apartment building management and operation services for non-state-owned housing, which the delegate said is appropriate.

However, in case the price of apartment building management services cannot be agreed upon, the price within the service price frame issued by the Provincial People's Committee will be applied. The delegate of Nghe An delegation said that this regulation is rigid.

Mr. Tran Nhat Minh explained: The service price framework issued by the provincial People's Committee is primarily intended to manage and operate State-owned apartment buildings in the area; therefore, the price framework is unlikely to be suitable for non-State-owned apartment buildings operating under normal conditions, especially for high-end apartments.

The provisions in the draft Law will cause difficulties for management and operation units and apartment buildings in the process of negotiating prices for apartment building operation services; at the same time, there will be an invisibility of imposition by the State on prices for management and operation services for apartment buildings that are not owned by the State.

Meanwhile, according to the draft Law on Prices (amended) to be passed by the National Assembly at this session, the State will only set prices for "Apartment building management and operation services for State-owned apartment buildings".

Therefore, the full-time delegate of Nghe An Delegation requested the drafting agency to study and amend in the direction of the Provincial People's Committee issuing a service price framework as a basis for the parties to refer to when agreeing on the price of management and operation services for non-state-owned apartment buildings, while the agreement between the parties is carried out in accordance with the provisions of the civil law.

Regarding the obligation to pay maintenance fees, the current Housing Law stipulates that apartment owners are responsible for contributing additional maintenance funds in case the funds are not sufficient to maintain the common property.

But in reality, there have been cases where many apartment owners, for some reason, refuse to contribute this additional cost, leading to difficulties in apartment maintenance and repair, but the Management Board has no measures to force the owners to do so.

To overcome this problem, the draft Law on Housing (amended) has proposed a solution: "In case the owner does not pay this maintenance fee, the Management Board of the apartment building will coordinate with the operating management unit to request the electricity and water service provider to temporarily stop supplying until the maintenance fee is paid."

Delegate Tran Nhat Minh was concerned about this option, because whether it ensures compliance with the provisions of the Constitution and laws on human rights when electricity and water are essential human needs? On the other hand, is it feasible for the electricity and water service provider to temporarily suspend the supply when these are two independent civil transactions with the obligation to pay maintenance fees as stated in the review report of the Law Committee. Therefore, he suggested that the drafting agency continue to study the constitutionality and legality of this provision and study other more suitable solutions./.