VietNamNet Bridge – The revised Law on Construction is expected to assign more responsibility to owners of construction projects in ensuring projects are carried out efficiently and follow regulations.

According to Minister of Construction Trinh Dinh Dung, the revision of the law aims to effectively manage capital use in construction projects and minimise capital loss and waste of construction investment, especially for projects financed by the State budget.

Speaking at a recent meeting on the revised law, a representative of the Ministry of Justice's Department of General Affairs in Legal Development said that State management agencies should also take more responsibility in ensuring punishment for construction projects that were discovered to violate regulations.

The requirement for the revision of the law comes after almost 2,600 construction projects nationwide were found to be in breach of initial planning that project owners had committed to, he said.

However, due to lack of clear policies, no State management agency has responsibility for fining project owners who have violated construction regulations.

In addition, many investors of construction projects were found to not hand over public utilities to local authorities after projects have been completed, he said.

Some investors wanted to collect fees from these public utilities, he said.

Deputy Minister of Justice Dinh Trung Tung said the existing Law on Construction included several regulations on bidding.

The Ministry of Construction should carefully review the revised law to avoid overlaps with the Law on Bidding, Tung said.

The construction ministry is advised to issue a decree to adjust activities related to construction planning instead of adding regulations on construction planning to the revised law, he said, as the Law on Construction Planning is expected to be issued in the coming time.

He suggested that the construction ministry review all laws relating to construction investment before submitting proposals to the National Assembly to avoid overlaps.

The revised law, which has 10 chapters, is planned to be submitted to the National Assembly's sixth session beginning on October 21 and ending on November 26.

Source: VNS