Thông tư 52/2013/TT-BGTVT

CIRCULAR

REGULATIONS ON MANAGEMENT, OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF ROAD CONSTRUCTION WORKS

Pursuant to the Law on Construction dated November 26, 2003;

Pursuant to the Law on Road Traffic dated November 13, 2008;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 107/2012/NĐ-CP dated December 20, 2012 defining the functions, tasks, entitlements and organizational structure of the Ministry of Transport;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP dated December 06, 2010 on maintenance of construction works;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 11/2010/NĐ-CP dated February 24, 2010 regulating the management and protection of road traffic infrastructure; the Decree No. 100/2013/NĐ-CP dated September 03, 2013 amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Decree No. 11/2010/NĐ-CP;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 10.2013/NĐ-CP dated January 11, 2013 regulating the management, employment and operation of road traffic infrastructure properties;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 18/2012/NĐ-CP dated March 13, 2012 on Road Maintenance Funds;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 15/2013/NĐ-CP dated February 06, 2013 on construction quality management;

Pursuant to the Government’s Decree No. 108/2009/NĐ-CP dated November 27, 2009 on investment in the form of build-operate-transfer, build-transfer-operate and build-transfer contracts; the Government’s Decree No. 24/2011/NĐ-CP dated April 05, 2011 amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Decree No. 108/2009/NĐ-CP;

At the request of Director General of Department of Transport Infrastructure and Director General of Directorate for Roads of Vietnam;

The Minister of Transport promulgates the Circular regulating the management and maintenance of road construction works.

Chapter 1.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope and regulated entities

1. This Circular regulates the management and maintenance of road works including the process of maintenance and operation of road works; subject matters of the management and maintenance of road works. This Circular does not regulate management, operation and maintenance of highway works.

2. This Circular applies to organizations or individuals relating to management, operation and maintenance of road works across the territory of Vietnam.

Article 2. Interpretation of terms

In this Circular, some terms are construed as follows:

1. Road work maintenance means a collection of tasks aimed at ensuring normal and safe operation of the works as designed during the operation period.

2. Process of road work maintenance means regulations on sequence, subject matters and guidelines for the implementation of road work maintenance.

3. Central road network includes national roads and other road routes within the management of the Ministry of Transport.

4. Local road network includes provincial roads, district roads, urban roads and other roads within the management of People’s committees of central-affiliated cities and provinces (hereinafter referred to as People’s Committees of provinces), People’s committees of provincial-affiliated districts, communes (hereinafter referred to as People’s committees of districts).

5. Road management agencies include Directorate for Roads of Vietnam, Road Management Department, the Services of Transport and People’s committees of districts.

6. Road work investment, construction, management and operation enterprises means BOT project management enterprises, other project management enterprises and enterprises assigned by the State to engage in investment, construction, management and operation of road works.

7. Owners of specialized road works mean organizations or individuals that own specialized works as regulated by the law, or organizations or individuals that are authorized by the owners to carry out the management, operation and maintenance of specialized works as regulated by the law.

8. Road works management contractors include organizations or individuals that are assigned by or enter a contract with the road management agency, road works investment and operation enterprises, owners of specialized road works for implementing one or some tasks of the maintenance and operation of road works. Road work management, care and operation contractors include road works management, maintenance and operation contractors, repair and construction contractors and other contractors who engage in the implementation of road works maintenance.

Article 3. Requirements for management and maintenance of road works

1. Any road works that is put into operation must be managed, operated and maintained under the Law on Road Traffic, the Government’s Decree No. 11/2010/NĐ-CP the Government's Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP the Government’s Decree No. 10/2013/NĐ-CP other relevant legal documents and provisions set out hereof.

2. Road works maintenance must be done in accordance with the process of maintenance, technical regulations and standards on road works maintenance issued by competent agencies. The maintenance tasks must be organized in accordance with relevant regulations and provisions set out hereof.

3. The process of road works maintenance must be established in conformity with works’ components, equipment installed and types of works (roads, bridges, tunnels, ferries, floating bridges and other works), grades of works and purposes of use.

The process of maintenance is clearly and publicly expressed in Vietnamese on papers, magnetic tapes, discs and other media. In case the process of maintenance of the ODA funded construction works is prepared in English by foreign consultants or contractors, the Investor or project management board shall be responsible for translating it into Vietnamese before the works is handed over and put into operation.

4. Management, operation and maintenance of road works must ensure safety to traffic, people, properties, construction works, fire prevention and fighting, environmental protection.

5. Management and maintenance of the following works shall be done in accordance with this Circular and relevant regulations:

a) Civil works, urban technical infrastructure works: implemented in accordance with the law on maintenance of civil works, building material industrial works and urban technical infrastructure works;

b) Power, lighting, traffic lights supply works: implemented in accordance with the law on maintenance of such works, facilities; management, planting and care for green trees, carpets shall be done in accordance with relevant regulations;

c) With respect to equipment installed to the works: implemented under the guidelines of equipment supplier, manufacturer and relevant regulations;

d) Underwater collision avoidance, flow regulating works, and works in relation to domestic waterway, irrigation sectors: implemented in accordance with relevant regulations.

Article 4. Subject matters of road work maintenance

Road work maintenance includes one, some or whole of the following tasks: inspection, monitoring, quality evaluation, maintenance and repair of road works.

1. Road work inspection is to conduct the examination by means of visual methods or specialized equipment in order to assess current conditions of the works and detect damage or signs of damage of the works for early handling.

2. Road work monitoring is to monitor and measure technical specifications of the works according to design during the operation period.

a) Road work monitoring shall be carried out at the request of the investor, owner, road management agency and competent state agencies for avoiding possible incidents that may result in catastrophic effects on people, properties, environment and other events.

b) In addition to the cases as prescribed in Point a, Clause 2 of this Article, road work monitoring shall be compulsory for road works or work items as defined in the Appendix I hereof.

c) Road work monitoring shall be done in accordance with Article 13 of the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP.

3. Road work quality assessment includes inspection and determination of quality or assessment of quality conformity of the works in comparison with design, technical regulations and standards via visual examination of current conditions of the works in combination with analysis and assessment of test data. Road work quality assessment to serve road work maintenance shall be done in accordance with Article 12 of the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP.

4. Regular road work care includes activities of monitoring, caring and repairing minor damage and carrying out maintenance of the equipment installed to road works that are regularly and periodically conducted to maintain normal operation of road works and to minimize possible damage.

5. Road work repair means remedial activities performed on any damage caused to the works detected during the operation in order to ensure normal and safe operation of road works. Road work repair includes regular and unregular repair work, specifically:

a) Regular repair work means repair activities to be performed as planned in order to restore and improve technical conditions of road works that can not be met by regular road work care, including repair work, replacement for damaged components, equipment and technological equipment that are regularly carried out in accordance with the process of road work maintenance;

b) Unregular repair work means repair activities to be performed unregularly on the damage caused to the works or components by sudden impact of floods, storms, earthquake, collision, fire, explosion or other sudden natural disasters, or upon detection of signs of potential negative effects on the operation of the works or any incident may result in disaster.

Article 5. Responsibilities of organizations, individuals for management and maintenance of road works

1. Responsibilities of Directorate for Roads of Vietnam:

a) Act as an advisor for the Minister of Transport in state management of management and maintenance of road works;

b) Organize management, operation and maintenance of central road network within the management of the Ministry of Transport;

c) Inspect Road Management Department, the Services of Transport entrusted with the management, operation and maintenance of road works in accordance with technical regulations and standards, law provisions and assigned plans;

d) Inspect the road work investment, construction, management and operation enterprises in the implementation of management, operation and maintenance of road works that belong to central road network to ensure traffic safety and smoothness according to the Law on Road Traffic, the Decree No. 11/2010/NĐ-CP the Decree No. 100/2013/NĐ-CP relevant regulations and this Circular;

dd) Annually, work out the management and use of road traffic infrastructure properties reported by the road management department and the Services of Transport, and make submission to the Ministry of Transport as prescribed in Article 33 of the Decree No. 10/2013/NĐ-CP;

e) Suspend contractors from construction on the road routes in operation upon finding violations of the road construction license and regulations on traffic safety assurance on the routes within scope of management;

g) Make decision and take appropriate measures to ensure traffic safety in case of emergency on the routes that belong to central road network if necessary;

h) Handle within competence or make proposals to competent state agencies for handling organizations, individuals violating management, operation and maintenance of road works on the routes that belong to central road network;

k) Exercise authority and responsibilities for the management, operation and maintenance of road works according to relevant law provisions;

2. Responsibilities of the road management department, the Services of Transport entrusted with the management of national road:

a) Organize the implementation of management, operation and maintenance of the assigned routes ensuring traffic safety and smoothness;

b) Select and sign a contract with road work maintenance contractor as regulated; monitor and inspect the management, operation and maintenance of road works carried out by the contractor to ensure quality, progress, traffic and environmental protection safety; ensure all technical regulations and standards, maintenance process and provisions of this Circular are executed;

c) Work out and establish reports on management, operation and maintenance of road works within scope of management;

d) Report the management and use of road traffic infrastructure properties within scope of management to Directorate for Roads of Vietnam before January 10 annually;

dd) Handle within competence or make proposals to competent state agencies for handling violations of management, operation and maintenance of road works committed by organizations, individuals;

e) Exercise authority and responsibilities for management and maintenance of roads as regulated hereof, law provisions, decentralization and authorization by Directorate for Roads of Vietnam.

3. Responsibilities of the Services of Transport for local road network:

a) Act as an advisor for People’s committees of provinces in management, operation and maintenance of road works within scope of management of People’s committees of provinces in reliance on this Circular and relevant law provisions;

b) Exercise authority, responsibilities in state management for local road network; organize management and maintenance of road routes within scope of management as regulated by People's committees of provinces and law provisions;

c) Report the management and use of road traffic infrastructure properties within management of local authority to Directorate for Roads of Vietnam before January 10 annually;

d) Exercise authority, responsibilities for management and maintenance of road works within local road network according to relevant law provisions;

4. People’s committees of provinces shall be responsible for managing, operating and maintaining district roads and other roads in the administrative division as regulated by People’s committees of provinces and law provisions, making annual reports on management and use of road traffic infrastructure properties within scope of management to the Services of Transport.

5. Responsibilities of the contractors for the maintenance of road works:

a) Carry out the management and care of assigned road works according to this Circular, technical regulations and standards on maintenance, maintenance process and operation process (with respect to the works included with an operation process), terms and conditions under the contract signed with the road management agency (or owner of specialized road works, road work construction and management enterprises) and relevant law provisions;

b) Report management, care and operation of road works according to this Circular and technical regulations and standards on regular care, maintenance process and relevant law provisions to the road management agency (or owner of specialized road works, road work construction and management enterprises).

6. Responsibilities of road work construction and management enterprises:

a) Be responsible to the road management agency and competent agencies for management, operation and maintenance of road work within scope of management, meeting the regulations on traffic safety and smoothness and law provisions;

b) Comply with investigation and inspection conducted by competent state agencies and exercise authority and responsibilities as regulated hereof and by relevant law provisions;

c) Make regular, unregular reports to Directorate for Roads of Vietnam (with respect to the road works that belong to central road network), the Services of Transport (with respect to the road works that belong to local road network) on management, operation and maintenance of the works within scope of management according to this Circular and regulations of competent state agencies;

d) In addition to provisions set out in Points a, b and c, Clause 6 of this Article, BOT project enterprises and other enterprises shall be responsible to state agencies that have authority to sign the project contract (hereinafter referred to as contracting state agencies) for executing a project contract in conformity with Investment certificate, terms and conditions agreed under the project contract.

7. Owners of specialized road works shall be responsible for executing provisions set out in Points a, b, Clause 6 of this Article and relevant law provisions;

8. Responsibilities of the investor and contractors (construction, renovation, expansion of road works in operation):

a) Carry out maintenance of road works since taking delivery of the project;

b) Take measures to ensure traffic safety, keep watch and handle traffic accidents and work incidents according to this Circular and relevant law provisions;

c) Comply with investigation, inspection and handling conducted by the road management agency, competent state agencies during the execution of this Circular and relevant law provisions;

Chapter 2.

ROAD WORK MAINTENANCE AND OPERATION PROCESSES

Article 6. Responsibilities for establishment of road work maintenance process

1. As for road work construction projects:

a) Technical design contractors (with respect to the works of three-step design), shop drawing design contractors (with respect to the works of one- or two-step design) shall be responsible for establishing and handing over to the investor the works or components maintenance process designed by their own along with the design documents;

b) Equipment suppliers shall be responsible for establishing and handing over to the investor the equipment maintenance process before acceptance and putting the equipment into use;

c) In case design contractors and equipment suppliers as prescribed in Points a, b, Clause 1 of this Article are unable to establish the maintenance process, the investor shall hire a consultant qualified as regulated for the establishment of maintenance process. Expenses paid to the consultant for the establishment of maintenance process are taken away from the expenses under the contract signed with the design contractor or equipment supplier.

2. As for the works that are currently in operation yet to have a maintenance process, the road management agency, road work construction and management enterprises, owners of specialized road works shall organize the establishment or hire a consultant to establish the road work maintenance process.

3. Establishment of maintenance process is not required for the following works or work components:

a) Temporary works except otherwise as regulated by the law; In this case, the road management agency, owner of specialized road works are still required to carry out the maintenance as regulated in the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP and this Circular;

b) Works, work components that have technical regulations and standards on maintenance issued by competent agencies;

Article 7. Content and bases for establishment of road work maintenance process

1. Content of the maintenance process to be established must ensure entire coverage of work components as prescribed in Clause 3, Article 6 of the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP.

2. Bases for establishment of road work maintenance process include:

a) Technical regulations and standards applied to the works;

b) Maintenance process of similar works (if any);

c) Design documents (including revised design documents if any), technical instructions on construction;

d) Instructions from equipment manufacturers, suppliers and installers;

dd) Natural conditions of construction site;

e) Experiences in management and operation of the works and equipment installed to the works;

g) Relevant provisions prescribed by competent state agencies;

3. As for the works that are already put into operation but yet to have maintenance process, apart from the provisions set out in Clause 2 of this Article, establishment of maintenance process shall be also based on the work completion documents, as-built drawings and actual operation capacity of the works.

Article 8. Assessment and approval of road work maintenance process

1. As for road work construction investment projects, assessment and approval of the maintenance process shall be done according to Article 7 of the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP.

2. As for the works that are already put into operation but yet to have maintenance process, responsibilities for assessment and approval are as follows:

a) As for central road network using central road maintenance funds, state budget capital and state budget based capital, the Ministry of Transport shall carry out assessment and approval of maintenance process for the following works: road works of special grades, road tunnels using ventilation equipment, bridge works of special and first grades, bridge & tunnel works using new technology, structure and material.

Directorate for Roads of Vietnam shall carry out assessment and approval of maintenance process for road works using central road maintenance funds, state budget capital and state budget based capital except the works approved by the Ministry of Transport.

State owned enterprises (affiliated to the Ministry of Transport) assigned to carry out investment, construction and maintenance of road works shall assess and approve the maintenance process for road works using corporate capital.

b) As for local road network, the People’s committees of provinces shall regulate assessment and approval or decentralize assessment and approval of the maintenance process of road works;

c) As for the works invested, constructed and operated in the form of BOT contracts and other project contracts, project management enterprises (the investor) shall be responsible for carrying out assessment and approval of the maintenance process after signing a project contract with the contracting state agency;

d) As for specialized roads, owners of specialized road works shall be responsible for establishing, assessing and approving the maintenance process as regulated in the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP and this Circular;

3. Organizations responsible for approving the maintenance process may hire a consultant to assess part or whole of the maintenance process before approval.

Article 9. Adjustment of road work maintenance process

During the implementation, upon finding any illogical factor that is likely to affect safety, capacity, quality and longevity of the road works, the road management agency, owners of road works shall have the right to adjust the maintenance process and make submission to competent agencies as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 8 hereof for approval.

Article 10. Road work operation process

1. Road work operation process is the guidance provided by design consultants, equipment & technology suppliers on manner, sequence and subject matters of operation of the works, equipment installed to the works to ensure proper operation and use of the works, to ensure safety and longevity of the works and equipment according to the design.

Subject matters of operation process of road works must cover regulations on traffic organization, operation loads, speed, vehicle components, lane arrangement, ferries, floating bridges, installation of equipment to the works, rescue operation, fire, explosion safety and other relevant issues.

2. The following works are required to have operation process:

a) Swing bridges, drawbridge, bridges using overhead lifting equipment;

b) Road ferries, floating bridge;

c) Road tunnels using equipment to serve management and operation of the works;

d) Technological equipment installed at tollbooths;

dd) Technological equipment installed at weigh stations;

e) Traffic monitoring system, traffic control technological equipment;

g) Other cases as regulated by competent state agencies, investors or owners of the works;

3. Responsibilities for establishment, assessment and approval of the operation process, revised operation process are instructed as in the case of road work maintenance process prescribed in Articles 6, 8 and 9 hereof.

4. Bases for establishment of the operation process include:

a) Design documents;

b) Capacity, use, characteristics and nature of equipment installed to the works;

c) Handbooks, user manuals, operator manuals;

d) Regulations on traffic safety assurance, labor and environmental protection safety;

dd) Other matters as regulated in Clause 2, Article 7 hereof;

Article 11. Documents serving management, operation and maintenance of road works

1. Documents serving management, operation and maintenance of road works include:

a) Legal documents, taking-over certificates concerning construction investment projects;

c) Shop drawing design documents (including revised design if any);

c) As-built drawings;

d) User manuals, operator manuals for equipment, technological line installed to the works (if any);

dd) Site clearance benchmark documents, land use right certificate of infrastructural constructions serving management of road works (if any); road safety corridor benchmark system;

e) Traffic safety assessment documents (if any);

g) Road work maintenance and operation processes (if any);

h) Traffic organization documents (if any);

i) Documents concerning initial conditions of bridge, tunnel works (if any);

k) Diaries of road patrols, records of bridges, tunnels, road registration documents, topographical maps; statistical reports on operation of road works; magnetic tapes, discs about conditions of the works and other media;

l) Records, documents concerning the handling of administrative violations of road lands (if any);

m) Documents concerning inspection, assessment, monitoring, repair work, operation and maintenance of road works:

n) Road, ferry and floating bridge vehicle count data;

2. Responsibilities for establishing, supplying and receiving documents during the phase of investment and construction to serve operation and maintenance of road work as follows:

a) As for road works that are constructed, renovated, upgraded or expanded, the investor shall establish and hand over the documents as prescribed in Points a, b, c, d, dd, e, g, h and i, Clause 1 of this Article to the road management agency before putting the works into operation. Upon handover, the two parties should inspect status of the documents and make a list of documents handed over;

b) As for road work repair projects, the road management agency, road work construction and management enterprises, owners of specialized road works as the investor thereof shall execute the tasks as prescribed in Point a, Clause 2 of this Article.

c) As for road works currently in operation, the maintenance contractor shall be responsible for establishing the documents as prescribed in Points k, l, m and n, Clause 1 of this Article and be subject to inspection of the road management agency, road work construction and management enterprises, owners of specialized road works.

Chapter 3.

MANAGEMENT OF ROAD WORKS

Article 12. Contents of road work management task

1. Manage and use as-built drawings, road work maintenance process;

2. Establish, manage and use the documents during the operation of road works;

3. Organize management and protection of road traffic infrastructure;

4. Monitor, update conditions of damage and degradation of road works.

5. Organize traffic, keep watch, count vehicle and handle accidents and incidents;

6. Management of vehicle loads, oversized vehicles, tracked vehicles traveling on the roads shall be done according to relevant legal documents;

Article 13. Management and use of as-built drawings, road work maintenance process;

1. Responsibilities of the road management agency:

a) File originals of as-built drawings, maintenance process and other documents after receiving from the investor construction projects as prescribed in Article 11 hereof;

b) Photocopy as-built drawings, maintenance process and other documents for handing over to the maintenance contractor;

c) Instruct the road work management, care and operation contractor to perform the duties as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article.

2. The road work management, care and operation contractor shall be responsible for filing and using as-built drawings, maintenance process, operation process (if any) and other documents;

3. Road work construction and management enterprises, owners of specialized road works shall take responsibilities as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article with respect to the road works under their own management.

Article 14. Establishment, management and use of documents during road work maintenance;

1. Responsibilities of the road management agency:

a) Instruct and inspect the execution of the provisions set out in Clauses 2, 3 of this Article by contractors during the maintenance period;

b) File and use documents during the maintenance period as regulated hereof;

2. Road work management, care and operation contractor shall be responsible for establishing, managing and using the following documents:

a) Records of bridges, tunnels, road registration documents, update conditions of bridges, tunnels and roads;

b) Establish management documents (topographical map), road safety corridor; on a three-month basis, update violations, site clearance, removal of works that violate road safety and road lands; establish documents concerning connecting positions and essential works within road safety corridor;

c) Record road patrols in dairy (roads, bridges and sewage); take notes of daily operation of tunnels, ferries, floating bridges, swing bridges, drawbridges and other specific bridges;

d) Establish and report management, operation and maintenance of road works;

dd) Establish, manage and use other documents as prescribed in technical regulations and standards on maintenance and approved maintenance process.

3. Responsibilities of other contractors:

a) Design surveying contractors and work construction and repair contractors shall be responsible for establishing documents concerning survey, design, as-built drawings and executing other law provisions with respect to road construction projects;

b) Work assessing, inspecting and monitoring contractors shall be responsible for establishing performance reports according to the approved outline; executing other law provisions with respect to work construction projects.

4. Road work construction and management enterprises, owners of specialized road works shall take responsibilities as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article with respect to the road works under their own management.

Article 15. Management and protection of road works

1. Responsibilities of the road management agency:

a) Organize road patrols as regulated by the Ministry of Transport;

b) Execute provisions on management and protection of road traffic infrastructure as prescribed in the Decree No. 11/2010/NĐ-CP the Decree No. 100/2013/NĐ-CP and relevant law provisions; carry out floods, storms prevention and control as regulated by the Ministry of Transport and provisions of this Circular;

c) Execute provisions on management and maintenance of road works as prescribed in technical regulations and standards on maintenance and road work operation process;

d) Organize establishment and submission of maintenance plan according to law provisions; organize establishment, assessment and approval of economic-technical reports or road work repair projects according to law provisions; organize tenders, place orders, hand over maintenance plan and sign contracts for work maintenance;

dd) Inspect and monitor the execution of the contract performed by road work maintenance contractors;

2. Responsibilities of road work management, care and operation contractor:

a) Organize road patrol, inspection and protection of road traffic infrastructure as regulated by the Ministry of Transport;

b) Execute other provisions on management and protection of road traffic infrastructure as prescribed in the Law on Road Traffic, the Decree No. 11/2010/NĐ-CP the Decree No. 100/2013/NĐ-CP and regulations of the Ministry of Transport; carry out floods, storms prevention and control according to law provisions and this Circular;

c) Execute provisions on management and maintenance of road works as prescribed in technical regulations and standards on maintenance, road work operation process and contracts signed with the road management agency, owner of road works;

3. Road work construction and management enterprises, owners of specialized road works shall take responsibilities as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article with respect to the road works under their own management.

Article 16. Monitor, update conditions of damage and degradation of road works

1. Responsibilities of the road management agency:

a) Organize regular, unregular inspection and assessment of conditions of damage, degradation of the works;

b) Inspect, monitor and speed up the execution of provisions set out in Clause 2 of this Article performed by road work management, care and operation contractors

c) Update and summarize damage of the works within management as the base to build the maintenance plan; make the report to competent agencies and organize remedial work to ensure traffic safety and smoothness;

2. Responsibilities of road work management, care and operation contractor:

a) Carry out regular monitoring and updates of quality conditions of the assigned road works; punctually detect damage, degradation of the works and equipment installed to the works;

b) Establish quarterly reports on quality conditions of the road works assigned for management and care; carry out unregular reports on any damage affecting traffic and work safety;

c) Execute other provisions as prescribed in technical regulations and standards on maintenance and road work operation process;

3. Road work construction and management enterprises, owners of specialized road works shall take responsibilities as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article with respect to the road works under their own management.

Article 17. Traffic organization, watchkeeping, vehicle count and handling of accidents and incidents

1. Traffic organization:

a) The road management agency and other relevant agencies shall be responsible for executing provisions set out in Article 37 of the Law on Road Traffic:

b) The investor, construction contractors and road work construction and repair contractors shall be responsible for taking measures to ensure traffic safety according to regulations of the Law on Road Traffic, the Decree No. 11/2010/NĐ-CP the Decree No. 100/2013/NĐ-CP and regulations of the Ministry of Transport;

c) The road work management, care and operation contractors shall be responsible for performing traffic organization tasks as stated in the contract for management, care and operation of road woks;

2. Watchkeeping:

a) The road work management agency shall be responsible for instructing and inspecting watchkeeping duties performed by the road work management, care and operation contractors and taking appropriate measures to ensure traffic in case of congestion or work incidents;

b) The investor, construction contractors and road work construction and repair contractors shall be responsible for keeping watch and taking appropriate measures to ensure traffic on the road sections under construction that have bottlenecks, bypasses used, temporary bridges, spillway roads and underground roadways; dangerous and congestion positions; executing provisions on environmental hygiene;

c) Relevant organizations, individuals shall carry out watchkeeping duties to ensure traffic, prevent and control floods, storms as regulated by the Ministry of Transport;

d) Road work construction and management enterprises, owners of specialized road works shall take responsibilities as prescribed in Point b, Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article.

3. Vehicle count:

a) The road management agency shall be responsible for inspecting and monitoring the execution of provisions set out in Point b of this Clause by the contractor; summarize and store vehicle count data on the routes within scope of management;

b) Road work management, care and operation contractors shall be responsible for carrying out road vehicle count, establishing records of the number of vehicle on each ferry, number of ferries per day, month, quarter and year; making the report on vehicle counting to the road management agency;

c) Road work construction and management enterprises shall be responsible for organizing vehicle counting on the road sections assigned for management and operation; making the report on vehicle counting to contracting state agencies, the road management agency and other competent agencies.

4. When accidents happen, relevant organizations or individuals must execute provisions set out in Article 38 of the Law on Road Traffic.

5. When an incident happens, relevant organizations, individuals must execute provisions of the Law on Construction, the Government’s Decree No. 15/2013/NĐ-CP dated February 06, 2013 on construction quality control and other relevant law provisions.

Chapter 4.

ROAD WORK MAINTENANCE ORGANIZATION

Article 18. Establishment, approval and adjustment of road work maintenance plan

1. Establishment of road work maintenance plan using state budget capital:

a) Directorate for Roads of Vietnam shall be responsible for establishing central road network maintenance plan using state budget capital (according to the form as shown in the Appendix II hereof), including: central road maintenance funds, state budget capital, ODA capital, capital sources from operation of road traffic infrastructure and legal capital sources;

b) People’s committees of provinces shall regulate the establishment of maintenance plan for local road network within scope of management;

c) Contents of annual road work maintenance plan include regular care plan, road work repair plan for each route (road section) and other tasks (if any). Road work maintenance plan must cover the following information: name of the works, main work components, unit mass, maintenance cost, period, methods and level of priority.

2. Approval of road work maintenance plan using state budget capital;

a) The Ministry of Transport shall approve central road network maintenance plan established by Directorate for Roads of Vietnam and other cases within competence;

b) The approval of local road work maintenance plan using local budget capital sources and local road maintenance funds shall be done according to regulations of People's committees of provinces and law provisions;

3. Sequence and procedures for approval of central road network maintenance plan:

a) Directorate for Roads of Vietnam shall summarize and establish road work maintenance plan and cost estimates, make submission to the Ministry of Transport before June 15 annually;

b) The Ministry of Transport shall assess and approve road work maintenance plan and cost estimates before July 15; work out and enter the maintenance plan and cost estimates into annual state budget accounting estimates of the Ministry of Transport and make the submission to the Ministry of Finance before August 30 annually;

c) Based on the decision on assignment of state budget accounting estimates issued by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Transport shall make the notice to Directorate for Roads of Vietnam about the estimates a part of which is intended for road maintenance;

d) Directorate for Roads of Vietnam shall organize checking lists of projects, work items and work quantities that need to be dealt with immediately; be responsible for establishing road work maintenance plan and cost estimates and making submission to the Ministry of Transport within 15 days at the latest since receipt of the notice as prescribed in Point c of this Clause;

dd) The Ministry of Transport shall assess and approve the road work maintenance cost estimates and assign budget accounting estimates to Directorate for Roads of Vietnam.

4. Adjustment of road work maintenance plan using state budget capital:

a) The central road network maintenance plan shall be adjusted and supplemented during the implementation to suit real-life circumstances. The Ministry of Transport shall decide the adjustment of central road network maintenance plan;

b) Adjustments and supplements made to local road network maintenance plan shall be decided by People’s committees of provinces;

5. Establishment, assessment and approval of road work maintenance plan shall be executed by state owned enterprises (that carry out the investment, construction, management and operation but not in the form of project contracts) affiliated to the Ministry of Transport as follows: the enterprises shall establish and make submission of the plan to the Ministry of Transport for approval in case state budget capital, state budget-based capital for maintenance is used; the enterprises shall approve the plan in case corporate capital is used.

6. As for BOT projects and others, annual maintenance plan and costs must be stated in the project contract as the bases for road work maintenance during the operation phase. The investor and project management enterprises shall establish annual road work maintenance plan and make submission to contracting state agencies for negotiation prior to approval for implementation.

In case the project contract is yet to define road work maintenance plan and costs, the contracting state agency, project management enterprise shall make supplements to the project contract in reliance on current economic-technical norms and portion of capital for maintenance of similar road works.

7. Establishment, approval and adjustment of the plan for maintenance of road works as not defined in Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of this Article shall be done according to provisions set out in Article 10 of the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP.

Article 19. Implementation of road work maintenance plan

1. As for central road network managed by the Ministry of Transport, maintenance plan shall be executed as follows:

a) Based on approved annual road work maintenance plan, Directorate for Roads of Vietnam shall organize the implementation as regulated.

b) In case the road works are invested, constructed, managed and operated by state owned enterprises affiliated to the Ministry of Transport (but not in the form of project contracts), the enterprises shall rely on the approved maintenance plan to organize the implementation as regulated.

c) The Ministry of Transport shall inspect and monitor the implementation of road work maintenance plan with respect to the cases as prescribed in Points a, b, Clause 1 of this Article or in case a project contract is executed by a competent state agency as prescribed in Clause 3 of this Article.

2. Implementation of local road network maintenance plan shall be regulated by People's committees within competence.

3. As for BOT projects and others, project management enterprises shall rely on maintenance plan and costs as prescribed in Clause 6, Article 18 hereof to organize the implementation of the maintenance plan ensuring traffic safety and smoothness.

Contracting state agencies shall be responsible for monitoring and inspecting project management enterprises in implementing the maintenance in accordance with the plan as stated in the project contract; detecting and handling violations committed by the project management enterprise to the regulations on road work management and maintenance and terms of the signed project contract.

4. As for specialized road works, owners of specialized road works shall be responsible for implementing the maintenance plan of their own and shall be subject to inspection and monitoring of state management agencies as regulated.

5. Unregular repair work to central road networks managed by the Ministry of Transport shall be done as follows:

a) As for works, components damaged under sudden impact of floods, storms, earthquake, collision, fire and explosion or other sudden natural impacts that need urgent repair work, the Ministry of Transport shall authorize Directorate for Roads of Vietnam to approve and organize the implementation to ensure traffic and work safety;

b) Directorate for Roads of Vietnam shall be responsible for using expenses and implementation method with respect to unregular repair works as prescribed in Point a of this Clause; reporting results of repair works to the Ministry of Transport.

Article 20. Inspection, maintenance, repair and assessment of road work safety

1. The road work maintenance contractor shall carry out the inspection, maintenance, repair of road works under the maintenance contract and approved maintenance process; organize work safety if necessary;

2. Inspection, care and repair of road works shall be done according to provisions as prescribed in Clauses 2, 3, 4 and 5, Article 11 of the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP and this Circular;

3. Assessment of road work safety through work quality assessment shall be done according to provisions of Article 12 of the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP.

Article 21. Quality management in road work maintenance

1. The road management agency, road work construction and management enterprises, owners of specialized road works, investors, maintenance contractors, and relevant organizations, individuals shall be responsible for executing road work quality management according to the Law on Construction, Decree No. 15/2013/NĐ-CP Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP and other relevant law provisions.

2. Contracting state agencies shall inspect project management enterprises in implementing maintenance work, meeting quality requirements, terms and conditions of the contract and provisions of this Circular; upon detection of violations of work maintenance, carry out quick handling according to the law and provisions of the project contract. In case such violations affect traffic safety and are not yet remedied, contracting state agencies shall decide suspension of operation and collection of fees if necessary until project management enterprises complete remedial work to the violations and take measures to ensure traffic and work safety.

3. Road work maintenance documents shall be formed as regulated in Clause 2, Article 11 of the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP and this Circular;

4. Road repair work maintenance period is instructed in Clause 3, Article 14 of the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP;

Article 22. Maintenance to road works in operation without maintenance process

1. As for road works that in operation but yet to have the maintenance process, the road management agency shall carry out the followings:

a) Establish and submit to competent agencies as prescribed in Article 8 hereof the plan for road work maintenance procedure construction with respect to road works that have been put into operation but yet to have a maintenance process as prescribed in Clause 2, Article 6 hereof;

b) Make survey, inspect and assess current quality conditions of road works;

c) Organize the establishment of maintenance process and make submission to competent agencies for assessment and approval as regulated in Article 8 hereof;

d) In case the maintenance procedures are not issued, the road management agency, road work maintenance contractor shall carry out the implementation of maintenance as prescribed in the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP and this Circular.

2. Road work construction and management enterprises, owners of specialized road works shall execute the tasks as prescribed in Points b, c and d, Clause 1 of this Article with respect to the works under their management.

Article 23. Handling road works, components damaged or out of design life

1. Upon finding road works, components, or equipment installed to the works show signs of degradation in quality, failing to ensure safety for operation, the road management agency shall be responsible for executing provisions set out in Article 18 of the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP and the following provisions:

a) Organize inspection and assessment of current quality conditions of the works;

b) Instruct and inspect the road work management and operation contractor in executing provisions as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article.

c) Carry out remedial work to the damage to ensure traffic and work safety during the operation;

d) Make the report to superior and competent agencies;

2. Responsibilities of the road work management, care and operation contractor:

a) Carry out regular monitoring and inspection of the works, perform road patrols to detect any damage or degradation in quality, make immediate reports to the road management agency and owner of road works;

b) Upon detection of any damage, degradation in quality that is likely to affect operation safety, carry out keeping watch and regulating traffic if necessary, take measures to remedy damage to ensure traffic circulation; if necessary, send proposal to the road management agency for setting up signs to restrict loads, speed and taking appropriate measures to minimize or temporarily suspend operation of the works if found unsafe;

c) When taking measures to minimize or temporarily suspend operation of the road works as prescribed in Point b of this Clause, the road work management, care and operation contractor shall be responsible for directing traffic to ensure traffic circulation under the assignment and instruction of the road management agency, traffic police and competent state agencies.

3. The road work construction and management enterprises, owners of specialized road works shall be responsible for executing provisions set out in Clauses 1 and 4 of this Article; implement or instruct the road work management, care and operation contractor to execute provisions set out in Clause 2 of this Article.

4. Reporting signs of degradation in quality that are likely to cause loss of safety to traffic shall be done according to provisions set out in Point b, Clause 1, Article 13 of the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP.

5. In case the road works has an incident during the operation, the handling of such incident shall be done according to provisions on construction quality management.

6. In case the road works runs out of design life but operation of such works is still needed, the road management agency, road work construction and management enterprises, owners of specialized road works shall execute provisions set out in Article 16 of the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP; send proposal to competent state agencies for permission to continue operation of the works running out of design life as prescribed in Point d, Clauses 1, 2, Article 16, and Point d, Clause 2 of Article 26 of the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP.

Article 24. Procedures for approval of continued operation of works out of design life

1. Handling of the works from grade III and under shall be done according to Points a, b and c, Clause 1 of Article 16 of the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP.

2. As for road works from grade II and over, the road management agency, road work construction and management enterprises, owners of specialized road works shall send a set of documents to the Ministry of Transport for consideration and approval of extended operation of the works. The set of documents include:

a) Request form according to the form shown in the Appendix IV hereof;

b) Reports on results of inspection and assessment of work quality, results of repair work;

c) Written records of results of inspection and assessment of current quality conditions of the works;

d) Results of repair work to the damage to ensure capacity and operation safety before consideration and decision on continued use of the works;

dd) Road work construction and maintenance documents;

3. Regulations on handling of documents:

a) In case the documents are found not adequate as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article, within five working days, the Ministry of Transport shall issue a written request for supplements.

b) In case the documents are found adequate as prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article, the Ministry of Transport shall issue a written approval of continued operation of the works within 45 working days since receipt of the documents. In case conditions for approval are not met, the Ministry of Transport shall issue a written notice with reasons stated;

c) Receiving documents and returning the results shall be done at the head office of ministerial office or by post.

Article 25. Application of technical regulations and standards, economic-technical norms on road work maintenance and operation

1. Regular maintenance of road works must conform to national technical regulations and standards, internal standards on work maintenance issued by competent agencies according to law provisions.

2. Road repair work must conform to national technical regulations and standards on works repair, technical regulations and standards on construction issued by competent agencies according to law provisions.

3. As for works, equipment installed to the works that have internal standards or maintenance process, in addition to the provisions set out in Clauses 1, 2 of this Article, the internal standards and maintenance process shall be also based on for maintenance, care, repair of the works and equipment installed.

4. Application of economic-technical norms to maintenance tasks as follows:

a) Maintenance of the works using state capital must conform to economic-technical norms on maintenance issued by competent agencies;

b) Application of economic-technical norms to maintenance of the works using other capital sources as prescribed in Point a of this Clause is encouraged.

Article 26. Road work maintenance reporting

1. As for central road network managed by the Ministry of Transport, road work maintenance reporting shall be carried out as follows:

a) Directorate for Roads of Vietnam shall make quarterly and annual reports on performance of maintenance plan before 22nd of quarter’s last month, and before January 15 of the following year;

b) Road Management Department and the Services of Transport entrusted with the management of national road shall report to Directorate for Roads of Vietnam on performance of road work maintenance plan with respect to routes within scope of management before 15th of each quarter’s last month and before January 08 of the following year;

c) The road work management, care and operation contractor shall report to Directorate for Roads of Vietnam or the Services of Transport entrusted with the management of national road on performance of road work maintenance plan before 10th of each quarter’s last month, and before December 31 annually;

d) BOT enterprises, project management enterprises (with respect to the road works invested in the form of project contract), organizations transferred or rented to by the state the management and operation of road works, enterprises permitted by the state to carry out investment, construction management, operation of road works shall report to Directorate for Roads of Vietnam on performance of road work maintenance plan before 15th of each quarter's last month and before January 08 of the following year.

2. As for local road network, People’s committees of provinces shall regulate reporting and responsibilities of local road management agencies for reporting.

3. Owners of specialized road works shall make annual reports to the Services of Transport on the management and operation of specialized roads.

The Services of Transport shall summarize and report to Directorate for Roads of Vietnam on the management and maintenance of local road network and specialized roads within scope of management before January 08 of the following year;

4. In addition to regular reports as prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article, agencies, organizations as prescribed in Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this Article shall be responsible for making unexpected reports in case of force majeure events or at the request of competent agencies.

5. Reports must include name of the works, work items, quantity and costs, completion time, adjustments and variations compared with approved plan; evaluation of results (according to approved plan), proposals and petitions during the maintenance (according to the form as shown in the Appendix III hereof).

Article 27. Expenses for road work management and maintenance

1. Road maintenance funds as prescribed in the Government’s Decree No. 18/2012/NĐ-CP dated March 13, 2012 on road maintenance funds, state budget capital, ODA capital and other capital sources from the operation of road traffic infrastructure properties according to law provisions;

2. Capital from owners of specialized road works, BOT contract capital, project contracts, capital from enterprises assigned for construction, management and operation of road works.

3. Capital sources from organizations, individuals as prescribed in Article 49 of the Law on Road Traffic and other legal capital sources as prescribed in Article 19 of the Decree No. 114/2010/NĐ-CP.

4. Management and use of expenditure for road work maintenance shall be done according to applicable regulations.

Article 28. Road work maintenance costs

1. Costs for road work maintenance include:

a) Costs for establishment and assessment of work maintenance procedures and economic-technical norms serving road work maintenance;

b) Costs for establishment of work maintenance plan (including survey, establishment and assessment of road work maintenance plan);

c) Costs for regular and unregular inspection of the works;

d) Costs for monitoring of road works as requested;

dd) Costs for road work care;

e) Costs for quality assessment if necessary;

g) Costs for regular and unregular repair work;

h) Costs for establishment and management of road work maintenance documents and updating of road traffic infrastructure database;

i) Costs for performing tasks relating to management, operation and maintenance of road works according to law provisions;

2. Determination of road work maintenance costs shall be instructed by the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Finance and relevant law provisions;

Chapter 5.

IMPLEMENTATION

Article 29. Effect

This Circular takes effect since February 01, 2014 and replaces the Circular No. 10/2010/TT-BGTVT dated April 19, 2010 of the Minister of Transport regulating management and maintenance of road works.

Article 30. Implementation

1. Chief of the Ministry Office, the Chief Inspector, director generals of ministries, Director General of Directorate for Roads of Vietnam, directors of the Services of Transport of central-affiliated provinces and cities, heads of relevant agencies, organizations and individuals shall be responsible for executing this Circular.

2. Difficulties that arise during the implementation of this Circular should be reported to Directorate for Roads of Vietnam for instruction, or to the Ministry of Transport for consideration and handling./.