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The Ministry of Construction is drafting amendments and supplements to Architecture Law No. 40/2019/QH14. The draft proposes changes to the conditions for practicing architecture, the authority to issue, extend, revoke, reissue, and convert architectural practice certificates, and the management of information and the architectural practice database.
Under the current Article 21 of the Architecture Law, an individual who serves as chief designer for architecture, an individual responsible for professional architectural matters within an architectural practice organization, or an architect practicing independently must hold an architectural practice certificate, except as provided in Article 31 (architectural practice for foreigners in Vietnam).
Individuals without a certificate may still participate in providing architectural services within an architectural practice organization or collaborate with practicing architects as individuals.
In the draft, the Ministry proposes changing the regulation from “Conditions for architectural practice” to “Conditions and capacity for architectural practice.”
Specifically, individuals who assume the role of chief designer/building design supervisor and lead tasks defined in points a, b, and c of Clause 2 Article 19 (design of architectural works; design of architecture within urban planning, rural planning, and urban design; landscape architecture) within an architectural practice, as well as architects practicing independently as individuals, must hold an architectural practice certificate, except as provided in Article 31.
Individuals without a certificate may participate in providing architectural services within an architectural practice organization or collaborate with independent practicing architects as individuals.
Regarding the authority to issue, extend, revoke, reissue, and convert architectural practice certificates, Clause 1 of Article 27 of Architecture Law No. 40/2019/QH14 currently assigns responsibility to the provincial-level architectural authority.
The draft presents two options:
Under the current Article 24, within five working days from the issuance of a certificate or from notification by local architectural practice organizations, the provincial architecture authority must publicly disclose information on its website and forward it to the Ministry. Within five days of receiving such information, the Ministry must publicly disclose it on its portal.
In the draft, the Ministry proposes rewriting these provisions as regulations on information management and the architectural practice database.
The draft describes the database as including:
Practice data are collected when individuals and competent state agencies carry out administrative procedures to issue, reissue, or convert certificates, and are updated and managed in the National Construction Information System. Each certificate is linked to a unique certificate ID for management.
Article 31 currently states that foreigners who already hold a valid foreign architectural practice certificate may participate in architectural services in Vietnam for up to six months. For longer terms, recognition or conversion procedures must be carried out at the provincial architectural authority.
The draft proposes that foreigners with valid foreign certificates participating in architectural services in Vietnam should undertake certificate conversion at the provincial architectural authority. Recognition and conversion of certificates between Vietnam and other countries are conducted under international agreements or treaties to which Vietnam is a party.
The draft further proposes amending and supplementing these provisions so that foreigners with valid foreign architectural practice certificates may undergo conversion at the provincial architectural authority.
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