Need to completely resolve the problems in apartment buildings
(Baonghean.vn) - The conflicts arising from high-rise apartment buildings have been repeatedly reported by public opinion for many years and have become a daily topic of concern for society. The shortcomings and inadequacies in the planning, construction and management of urban apartment buildings have also been included in the agenda of National Assembly deputies and People's Councils at all levels during meetings. However, overcoming the shortcomings and resolving the problems arising in high-rise apartment buildings has not been really effective.
More than 1,300 violations at 72 apartment buildings
On April 11, 2018, the Provincial People's Committee issued Decision No. 1330/QD-UBND to establish an interdisciplinary inspection team to comprehensively inspect compliance with the law on investment, construction, land, management and use of apartments and high-rise buildings in the province. The interdisciplinary inspection team conducted inspections at 72 apartment buildings (put into use). After the inspection, on September 13, 2019, the Provincial People's Committee issued Inspection Conclusion No. 551/KL-UBND, (Conclusion 551) which pointed out a series of violations and shortcomings in investment, planning, construction and management at apartment buildings in the province.
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| Quang Trung Ward (Vinh City) is one of the places with the most apartment buildings in the province. Photo: Thanh Cuong |
According to Conclusion 551, at the time of inspection, Nghe An province had 92 high-rise apartment projects, of which 72 apartment buildings had been completed and put into use, and 20 apartment buildings were under construction. Vinh city alone had 69/72 apartment buildings put into use, accounting for 98.5% of the whole province. Through inspection and examination, the interdisciplinary team discovered 1,357 existing violations at 72 apartment buildings of 33 investors.
Among them, violations of detailed construction planning such as building beyond the number of floors are prominent. The apartment buildings that violated the regulations are: Trung Duc apartment building in Le Loi ward; Bong Sen apartment building in Quang Trung ward; unit 1 of Danatol apartment building; Truong Thanh apartment building in Nghi Phu commune; Sao Nghe apartment building; Muong Thanh Dien Chau apartment building; CT 1A apartment building in Quang Trung ward...
However, at the time of inspection, according to the authorities, this was a violation of construction order by the investor before January 15, 2018 when Decree 139/2017/ND-CP of the Government took effect, so it will be subject to administrative sanctions and must also have the quality of the construction work and the load-bearing capacity of the work inspected.
In addition to design violations, at the time of inspection, the interdisciplinary team also discovered 45 apartment buildings with changed exterior architecture; 5 apartment buildings did not construct or had not constructed the parking area or converted the parking area to another space; 6 apartment buildings did not arrange or did not construct a community room according to the design; 10 apartment buildings arranged the number of apartments on 1 floor, the total number of apartments in the project was not in accordance with regulations; 15 apartment buildings had not completed the acceptance work but had been put into operation and use, such as: 18-storey building No. 2 of Thanh Vinh apartment and office building; Bao Son apartment building; Kim Thi social housing apartment building No. 2... In total, 64/72 apartment buildings were constructed inconsistently with the design documents that had been appraised and approved by competent authorities, or inconsistently with construction standards and regulations.
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| Many apartment buildings are located in a crowded residential area. Photo: Thanh Cuong |
Conclusion No. 551 of the Provincial People's Committee also pointed out the existing problems, causes, responsibilities and measures to resolutely and completely handle violations in the investment, construction and management of apartment buildings. According to the report of the Provincial Department of Construction, immediately after the Provincial People's Committee issued Conclusion No. 551, functional units continued to carry out inspection and supervision activities at apartment buildings, thereby requiring the projects to correct existing problems and violations.
Fixed but not completely
According to statistics, up to this point, 1,091/1,357 existing violations in apartment buildings have been remedied, reaching a rate of 80.4%. Specifically, regarding fire prevention and fighting, 368/404 existing violations have been remedied; regarding construction investment, 314/383 existing violations have been remedied; regarding land and environment, 85/108 existing violations have been remedied; regarding management and use of apartment buildings: 324/462 existing violations have been remedied.
For example, regarding the shortcomings in construction investment, there have been 8 apartment buildings built in violation of planning and design documents that have been appraised and approved as stated in Conclusion No. 551. Up to now, all 8/8 apartment buildings have been inspected for quality and have been concluded to ensure safety in bearing the load. 7/8 apartment buildings have been approved by the Provincial People's Committee for planning adjustment; 2/8 apartment buildings have been approved for design adjustment; 1 apartment building has returned the illegal profits (Tecco 215 Le Loi apartment building with an amount of more than 1 billion VND). The remaining apartment buildings are submitting their documents to the competent state management agency for appraisal and approval.
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| Unsafe images at an apartment building in Trung Do ward. Photo: PV |
Regarding environmental problems, at the time of the inspection, the interdisciplinary team determined that 72/72 apartment buildings showed various violations. According to statistics from the Department of Construction, up to now, 68/72 apartment buildings have carried out rectification in terms of acceptance, confirmation of completion of environmental protection works and environmental pollution reduction to serve the operation and use phase...
Although the authorities have made many efforts in inspection, supervision and handling, and many apartment investors have been more aware of overcoming shortcomings and violations in projects and works, up to now, there are still many problems related to high-rise housing projects. The most prominent is the issue of granting certificates of house ownership to households. Up to now, there are 16 apartment buildings that have not been granted certificates of ownership, mainly because the investors have not paid land use fees or have not been approved for acceptance of the completion of construction works, and there is also the reason that the investors have mortgaged the project's land use right certificates at the bank.
Regarding the management and use of apartment buildings, there are currently 14 apartment buildings that have not established a Management Board; 10 apartment buildings have not yet fixed errors in the infrastructure system outside the apartment building to the local specialized management agency; 21 apartment buildings have not yet handed over the apartment building documents to the Management Board; 09 apartment buildings do not have a community room in the design documents.
According to Mr. Chu Anh Tuan - Deputy Director of Nghe An Department of Construction, there are many reasons why the problems in high-rise apartment buildings have not been resolved, mainly from investors. Mr. Tuan said that investors reported that the time after Conclusion No. 551 of the Provincial People's Committee was issued until the deadline for resolution was short. According to the request, investors must complete the resolution before December 30, 2019, which is the time to prepare for the New Year and the traditional New Year. In addition, after Tet, the Covid-19 epidemic occurred, so investors had difficulty in resolving the above-mentioned problems.
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| PVNC2 - CT2 apartment building in Hung Binh ward is often congested with traffic and flooded because it does not have a water treatment and drainage system. Photo: NH |
According to Mr. Tuan, in addition, completing required procedures such as quality inspection, planning adjustment approval, design adjustment approval... takes a lot of time, while following the prescribed procedures. That is, after completing this procedure, other procedures can be carried out. For example, if you want to adjust the planning, you must have a quality inspection certificate. And it takes 2-3 months to complete the quality inspection stage, from there you can ask the competent authority to approve the planning adjustment, the procedures must go from the ward, to the city and then to the province, which is very time-consuming.
“One of the other reasons is that many investors are facing financial difficulties, especially during the Covid outbreak. There is also a reason that some investors have handed over the project to the apartment management boards, but the management boards do not have the conditions and capabilities to overcome the problems.”