National Assembly Standing Committee Meeting: Tighten management, reduce construction licensing procedures

Continuing the 50th Session program, on the afternoon of October 16, the National Assembly Standing Committee gave opinions on the draft Law on Construction (amended).

Innovation in legal thinking

Presenting the basic content of the draft Law, Deputy Minister of Construction Bui Xuan Dung said that the development of the Law aims to continue institutionalizing the Party and State's guidelines and policies on perfecting the law on the socialist-oriented market economy in the direction of: building a favorable, open, transparent, safe legal environment with low compliance costs.

At the same time, continue to improve the investment and business environment, simplify administrative procedures in construction investment activities, create favorable, transparent and equal conditions for people and businesses; overcome limitations and inadequacies in construction investment practices; ensure the synchronization and unity of the legal system.

The Law is expected to consist of 8 chapters and 97 articles; regulating construction activities; rights, obligations, responsibilities of agencies, organizations, individuals and state management in construction activities; applicable to domestic agencies, organizations and individuals; foreign organizations and individuals conducting construction activities in Vietnam.

Presenting the review report, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly's Committee on Science , Technology and Environment Tran Van Khai said that the draft Law has been developed according to a new orientation on innovative thinking in law-making, with the spirit of "framework law", assigning the Government to specify details on frequently changing contents.

However, the Drafting Agency continues to review and evaluate more carefully the level of institutionalization of a number of Party orientations, especially on developing a sustainable urban system, improving labor productivity in the construction industry and the mechanism for mobilizing social resources in investment in building technical-social infrastructure.

At the same time, closely follow the Politburo's policies and orientations; review to ensure that the draft Law and accompanying documents comply with Regulation 178-QD/TW on controlling power, preventing corruption and negativity in law-making work...

Regarding incentive policies in construction investment activities, the draft Law has demonstrated the policy of developing sustainable, modern, energy-saving and environmentally friendly construction, but the scope is still too broad, prone to overlap and lacking clear criteria and authority.

Combining investment and construction policies can make it difficult to distinguish management functions. It is necessary to review and adjust to focus on mobilizing social resources, applying science and technology, innovation, digital transformation and incentive mechanisms in construction; clarify criteria, conditions, competent authorities and avoid duplication with investment, tax and land policies.

Regarding construction permits, some people believe that permits are not a "barrier" but a tool to protect rights and social order. The problem lies in the quality and licensing process. It is necessary to simplify the process, clearly define responsibilities, processing time limits and publicize information for people and businesses to monitor.

Besides, the exemption of construction permits helps reduce procedures but it is necessary to perfect legal regulations in the Construction Law or Land Law to ensure property ownership rights on land.

In addition, it is necessary to supplement a mechanism to handle violations of licensed projects that are constructed incorrectly according to design, change functions or violate regulations, ensuring consistency and clarity of responsibilities among relevant parties...

Promoting digital transformation in the construction sector

At the session, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man approved the regulations on building an information system and national database on construction activities, in line with the policy of modernizing national governance on a data platform, contributing to promoting digital transformation in the construction sector.

The National Assembly Chairman requested connecting construction industry data with other national databases on land and planning to increase publicity, transparency, management efficiency, and reduce administrative procedures for people and businesses.

Considering that the draft Law assigns investors to conduct appraisal and control of construction designs after the project is approved but does not stipulate a mechanism for control and supervision of this work, the National Assembly Chairman proposed to supplement regulations on the responsibility of inspection and supervision of state management agencies with the design appraisal work of investors to ensure standards, regulations and methodical implementation.

Agreeing with the expansion of the subjects exempted from construction permits, the National Assembly Chairman requested the Drafting Agency to study regulations on clear post-inspection, publicize information, avoid abuse or lax inspection, ensure technical requirements, environment, fire prevention and fighting, people's rights, and overcome limitations in construction permit issuance.

“Many errors and violations in construction arise not because of the existence of the licensing mechanism but because of the lack of transparency and consistency in regulations on types of construction, conditions and licensing authority. Therefore, it is necessary to simplify the process, clearly define responsibilities, processing time limits and publicize information so that licenses become a tool to protect people's rights and social order,” the National Assembly Chairman emphasized.

Sharing the same view, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha suggested that the draft Law needs to "strictly manage but simplify licensing procedures." According to the Deputy Prime Minister, construction permits are mandatory in all countries and procedures must be quick, transparent, and meet the goal of quality control.

In particular, some principles cannot be changed such as safety, quality, human-friendliness, fire and explosion prevention, and sustainability against natural disasters; therefore, it is necessary to promote the application of information technology in management, simplify procedures based on clear standards and effectively carry out post-inspection.

Regarding decentralization of management to localities, the Deputy Prime Minister said that this is necessary but must be accompanied by legal conditions, planning, standards, organizational capacity, and implementation capacity.

“It is impossible to absolutely decentralize. There are projects that are not large in scale but are very complex in technology and engineering, and still have to comply with the regulations of other specialized laws,” the Deputy Prime Minister noted.

During the remaining time of the afternoon session of the same day, the National Assembly Standing Committee considered and approved a Resolution guiding the determination of the expected structure, composition and allocation of the number of candidates nominated to run for People's Council deputies at all levels for the 2026-2031 term; considered and approved a Resolution stipulating the number of Vice Chairmen of People's Councils, Vice Heads of People's Councils at provincial and communal levels and the arrangement of full-time People's Council deputies at provincial and communal levels; and gave opinions on personnel work within its authority./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/hop-uy-ban-thuong-vu-quoc-hoi-quan-ly-chat-che-giam-thu-tuc-cap-phep-xay-dung-post1070766.vnp