Cases exempted from construction permit

1. What is illegal construction?

The act of illegal construction as prescribed in Clause 5, Article 13 of Decree No. 121/2013/ND-CP is understood as constructing one of the contents of the construction permit and design drawings stamped by the construction permit issuing authority and attached to the issued construction permit.

2. Cases exempted from construction permit

From January 1, 2021, the amended Construction Law 2020 officially took effect, stipulating many cases exempted from construction permits.

Specifically, Clause 2, Article 89 of the Construction Law 2020 amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Construction Law (issued on June 17, 2020) details the cases exempted from construction permits, including:

1. State secret projects; emergency construction projects.

2. Construction works belonging to projects using public investment capital are decided for investment and construction by the Prime Minister, heads of central agencies of political organizations, the Supreme People's Procuracy, the Supreme People's Court, the State Audit, the Office of the President, the Office of the National Assembly, ministries, ministerial-level agencies, agencies under the Government, central agencies of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and socio-political organizations, and Chairmen of People's Committees at all levels.

3. Temporary construction works as prescribed in Article 131 of this Law.

4. Repair and renovation works inside the building or repair and renovation works on the exterior that are not adjacent to urban roads that require architectural management according to regulations of competent state agencies; the repair and renovation content does not change the function of use, does not affect the safety of the load-bearing structure of the building, is in accordance with the construction planning approved by competent state agencies, and requires fire and explosion prevention and fighting safety and environmental protection.

5. Advertising works not subject to construction permits as prescribed by law on advertising; passive telecommunications infrastructure works as prescribed by the Government;

Construction works located in two or more provincial-level administrative units, construction works along extra-urban routes in accordance with construction planning or technical and specialized planning approved by competent state agencies.

7. Construction works that have been notified by a specialized construction agency of the results of construction design appraisal implemented after the basic design meets the conditions for construction design approval and meets the conditions for granting construction permits according to the provisions of this Law.

8. Individual houses with a scale of less than 07 floors belonging to urban area construction investment projects, housing construction investment projects with detailed planning 1/500 approved by competent state agencies.

9. Grade IV construction works, individual houses in rural areas with a scale of less than 07 floors and located in areas without urban planning, functional area construction planning or detailed planning for rural residential areas approved by competent state agencies; Grade IV construction works, individual houses in mountainous areas, islands in areas without urban planning, functional area construction planning; except for works, individual houses built in conservation areas, historical - cultural relic areas.

10. Investors in construction works specified in cases 2, 6, 7, 8 and 9 (mentioned above), except for individual houses specified in case 9, are responsible for sending notices of construction commencement time and construction design documents as prescribed to the local state management agency for construction for management.