A draft decree on contracts on construction activities has been recently unveiled by its drafter, the Ministry of Construction (MoC), for public opinion before it is submitted to the Government for issuance.
According to Pham Van Khanh, director of the MoC’s Construction Economics Department, as current shortcomings in the management of construction investment projects can be attributed to lax supervision of contracts, the promulgation of such a decree would reduce contractual disputes in construction activities and improve transparency and equality in their resolution.
Under the draft decree, construction contracts must be concluded on the principle of voluntariness, equality, cooperation, truthfulness and mutual benefit in conformity with law and social ethics.
A contract must contain all agreements between involved parties. These contractual agreements cover such major details as volume of to-be-performed jobs; quality and technical requirements; implementation schedule; conditions on take-over test and commission; price and method of payment; warranty duration; and liabilities for breach of the contract. A contract may be enclosed with one or several documents which constitute an integral part of the contract and are valid like the contract itself. Depending on the size and nature of construction works, enclosed documents may be bid-winning notice, design drawings, technical instructions and other annexes.
Contracts on construction activities, under the draft decree, include construction consultancy contract, construction execution contract, general construction contract, engineering and construction contract, procurement contract, engineering and procurement contract, and engineering, procurement and construction contract.-