Scenario: an investor building a 5,000 m² factory in Long An is told “a construction permit takes only 20 days”. In reality, 2.5 months pass between first filing and permit in hand: the dossier is returned twice — once because the fire-prevention drawings did not match the appraised file, once because the building lines in the drawings did not match the 1/500 detailed plan. This repeats across most FDI projects: the 20-day statutory mark is real, but the clock only runs once the dossier is “eligible” — and getting the dossier eligible is the time-consuming part.
What the Department of Construction does in FDI procedures
The Department of Construction is the provincial People’s Committee’s specialised construction agency, handling three progress-critical tasks: (1) issuing, amending and extending construction permits for works under its delegated authority; (2) appraising designs and checking dossier conformity with plans and technical standards; (3) managing construction quality during execution. The legal framework: Law No. 50/2014/QH13 on Construction (amended by Law No. 62/2020/QH14, effective 1 January 2021); Decree No. 15/2021/ND-CP detailing construction investment project management.
For FDI projects, the construction permit is the precondition for lawful groundbreaking. Without it, all construction activity counts as unlicensed building — subject to stop-work orders, fines and possible forced demolition of the violating portion.
The rules: how many days does the law allow?
Point e, Clause 1, Article 102 of the 2014 Construction Law (amended by Point b, Clause 36, Article 1 of the 2020 amending law) provides: from the date of receipt of a complete and valid dossier, the competent authority must consider the dossier and issue the permit within 20 days for construction works (including fixed-term permits, amended permits and relocation permits) and 15 days for private houses. Where further consideration is needed at the deadline, the licensing authority must notify the investor in writing of the reasons and report to its direct managing level — but no more than 10 days past the deadline.
Intermediate milestones are also codified: within 7 working days of dossier receipt, the licensing authority organises dossier appraisal and site inspection; if the dossier is deficient, it notifies once in writing for supplementation. When consulting relevant state management agencies, those agencies must reply in writing within 12 days; silence counts as agreement. Where a supplemented dossier still falls short, the authority guides further completion within 5 working days; if still ineligible, it must state the refusal reasons in writing within 3 working days.
Reality: how long does it take, and where does it stall?
In practice (observed durations, not legal rules): FDI factories and warehouses typically take 1.5–3 months from first filing to permit issuance, going through 1–2 supplementation rounds. Each round restarts the 20-day clock from zero.
Four bottlenecks specific to the Department of Construction:
First, insufficient land-use documents. The permit application must include lawful land documents. Projects leasing land without a formally signed lease, or awaiting the land use right certificate, fail the eligibility check. This is why many projects queue behind their land procedures at the Department of Natural Resources and Environment before daring to file for construction.
Second, design vs. the 1/500 detailed plan. Building density, height, building lines and setbacks in the design drawings must match the approved detailed plan. Foreign investors often import a standard factory template without checking local planning — redesigning to plan conformity costs 2–4 weeks per round.
Third, the interleaved fire-prevention appraisal. Works subject to fire-prevention appraisal must have design drawings consistent with the file appraised by the Fire Police; appraisal of technical designs or construction drawings takes no more than 10 working days for ordinary projects (Clause 10, Article 13 of Decree No. 136/2020/ND-CP, as amended by Decree No. 50/2024/ND-CP). In practice, each Fire Police comment round restarts the clock, and the Department of Construction only issues the permit once the fire-prevention file is final — the two appraisals chain into the longest leg of the whole process.
Fourth, design verification for qualifying works. Grade I, special-grade or structurally complex works require design verification by an independent consultant before filing. This step sits outside the Department’s 20-day timeline but is a condition for the dossier to count as “complete” — many investors do not budget for it and only hire a verifier when asked.
How to get the permit on schedule
Finalise land legality before touching the construction dossier — a necessary condition with no workaround. Cross-check design drawings against the 1/500 detailed plan from the basic-design stage; do not discover the mismatch at filing. Start the fire-prevention appraisal file early and in parallel, hiring designers fluent in QCVN 06 fire-safety standards for buildings. For works requiring design verification, sign the verification contract upfront instead of waiting to be asked. Finally, be ready to supplement the dossier within 5 working days — the investor’s response speed directly determines total duration.
Frequently asked questions
Where does an in-park factory apply for its construction permit?
Under each province’s delegation — either the Department of Construction or the authorised Industrial Park Management Board. Investors should check the provincial People’s Committee delegation decision before filing to avoid losing time on a misfiled dossier.
Is fire-prevention acceptance still needed after the construction permit?
Yes. Works subject to fire-prevention management must pass fire-prevention acceptance before being put into use under Decree No. 136/2020/ND-CP. The construction permit only authorises building; fire-prevention acceptance is the condition for operation.
What if the design changes after the permit is issued?
Changes affecting permitted contents (location, scale, height, building density) require a permit amendment — the same 20-day mark applies as for new issuance. Minor changes not affecting permitted contents only need notification and file records.
How is building without a permit handled?
A violation record is drawn up, construction is halted and administrative fines imposed; serious violations can lead to forced demolition of the violating portion. Unpermitted works cannot pass acceptance and cannot be certified for ownership — directly hitting the project’s asset value.
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This legal analysis has been verified against current Vietnamese regulations and cross-border FDI transaction practices by the attorneys at FLAT LAW FIRM.
