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Too few contractors are handling too many construction projects
at the same time in HCM City, affecting the quality of supervision and
implementation, according to a recent report submitted to the Ministry of
Construction by the municipal administration.
 | | A construction site in
HCM City’s District 7. The city’s Construction Department found that the number
of contractors in the city had yet to meet demand. Few contractors but too many
construction projects has resulted in poor quality controls.
(Photo: VNS) | It has
called for clearer regulations and assigning of responsibilities to address this
problem, saying current ambiguities in quality control mechanism are making it
difficult to take corrective steps.
The
city’s Construction Department last year inspected 30 per cent of ongoing
projects and found out that most of the contracted managers, namely consultants
and supervisors, were not present at the site as they were running around to
oversee other projects.
The
department conducts periodical inspections, according to the ministry’s
regulations, on ongoing projects, mostly the bigger ones like skyscrapers and
those involving underground construction, an officer of the department’s
inspection office told Viet Nam News on the condition of anonymity.
He said
the department lacked inspectors to inspect all the projects. He
blamed loose management of the contractor’s responsibilities for the breakdowns
experienced by projects that they signed to implement. Since there is no
regulation limiting the number of projects that contractors can take on, they
tend to sign up for as many as they can, overstretching themselves, he added.
With
rapid population growth and economic development, the demand for building in HCM
City has been on the rise for the last several years. The number of contractors,
however, has not kept pace with this demand.
The inspectors said around 10,000 contractors have registered
with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, but
only half of them are functioning. The number of contractors able to take on big
projects is a few hundred, mostly private companies.
When
undertaking many projects at the same time, the contractors are faced with a
shortage of highly professional and experienced engineers as well as other
workers.
This has
undermined the quality of the building, especially skyscrapers and those with
underground construction that require a high degree of skill, the report says.
The
contractors have also not given proper attention to their projects’ quality
verification and certification documents, and some of them are not objective
enough, it adds.
One of
the downsides of the quality certification processes that the company, which is
independent from the project, hired by the contractors, said the inspectors,
implying that this can influence the assessment.
Most of
the construction breakdowns in the city have been found at private-funded
projects that deploy improper construction measures.
The main
reason for this is that contractors try to minimise costs and maximise profit,
especially by cutting down expenses on consultation and supervision, the report
says.
However,
it also notes that there was a 50 per cent decrease in construction breakdowns
last year over 2009, following tighter quality control measures applied in
recent years.
There
were about 14 breakdowns reported in the city last year, five of which were
construction errors and the rest, workplace accidents.
The
major reason for several construction breakdowns was poor and improper
management, consultation, maintenance and planning by private contractors, the
report says. There are very few State-owned contractors in the business after a
large number of them were privatised, and the remaining are focusing on
megaprojects like infrastructure and hydropower plants.
Moreover, project management units and district administrations where the
projects are located do not report regularly to the department.
Only
nine of 24 districts have sent reports on ongoing construction projects in their
areas, a department official said. The HCM
City People’s Committee, in an effort to address the issue, has said it would
guide the Construction Department to maintain close co-ordination with relevant
agencies in inspecting and controlling the quality of constructions in the city.
The committee said this is necessary to minimise construction breakdowns and
improve workplace safety.
The
committee has asked the Ministry of Construction and relevant ministries and
sectors to speed up completion of a national technical standard for
construction, especially those involving in extensive underground work.
The city
has also proposed that the ministry issue regulations clearly assigning
responsibilities of different parties, namely planners, consultants, project
manager, for breakdowns during construction.
The
ambiguity in verifying and approving construction quality has been causing
backlog in dealing with conflicts, wasting time and money, according to the
committee.
VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News | 
