The Ministry of Construction is finalizing a draft decree on construction licensing aiming to improve law observance in the field of construction.
Once the draft is enacted, a construction license holder would be required to apply for renewal of the license if failing to commence construction within 12 months after the date its/his/her license is issued. Furthermore, each license may be renewed only once. Upon expiration of the renewal duration, if the investor still fails to commence construction, it/he/she would have to apply for a new license.
Under the draft decree, a construction license would be granted to the applicant within 10 working days, for licenses to build houses in rural areas, or 15 working days, for those for construction of individual houses in urban areas, provided that the application dossier is complete and valid. Past this time limit, if the licensing agency gives no reply, the applicant may commence construction according to the designs submitted together with the application dossier.
The draft decree also specifies the handling of construction works built without or at variance with licenses, affirming that investors would be sanctioned in all cases. However, investors may continue building or using works which are conformable with construction master plans and standards. In this case, they would apply for grant or modification of construction licenses within two months after being sanctioned for unregulated construction. Past this time limit, investors that fail to obtain new or modified licenses would have their construction works dismantled.-