A completed but unaccepted work may not be put into operation — and all payment, settlement and warranty steps stay “hanging”. Construction acceptance is the legal procedure finalizing construction quality, detailed in Articles 24 and 25 of Decree 207/2026/ND-CP (guiding the 2025 Construction Law).
This article systematizes the acceptance sequence, record signatories and the 9 mandatory contents of the completion acceptance record.
1. Acceptance sequence: from work items to the whole project
Following the logic of Article 24 of Decree 207/2026, acceptance proceeds level by level:
- Acceptance of construction works during execution — especially concealed works (foundations, reinforcement, underground systems): must be accepted before proceeding to the next work;
- Acceptance of stages or parts (if any) — for stage-constructed works;
- Acceptance of completed work items and construction works — the overall acceptance step, producing the completion acceptance record;
- Inspection of acceptance work by specialized construction agencies (Article 25) — state inspection before handover for operation.
2. Signatories of the completion acceptance record
Clause 6 of Article 24 provides 5 groups of signatories:
- (a) The investor’s legal representative or authorized person;
- (b) The legal representative of the construction supervision contractor (or authorized person) and the chief supervisor — for consortia, representatives and chief supervisors of each member;
- (c) Legal representatives (or authorized persons) and site managers of prime construction contractors — for consortia, each member;
- (d) The legal representative (or authorized person) and chief designer of the design contractor (per contract with the investor);
- (dd) The legal representative of the authority signing the project contract (or authorized person) — for PPP projects.
3. Nine mandatory contents of the acceptance record
Clause 5 of Article 24 lists 9 required contents of the work-item/work completion acceptance record:
- (a) Name of the accepted work item or work;
- (b) Time and place of acceptance;
- (c) Record signatories;
- (d) Assessment of meeting acceptance conditions and conformity of the executed work with design requirements, technical instructions and the contract;
- (dd) Assessment of fire protection conformity with the appraised fire protection design — including fire separation distances, traffic roads, parking, open spaces for firefighting and rescue; escape solutions; fire resistance ratings, fire compartmentation, smoke control;
- (e) Acceptance conclusion: accepted or not; required additional repairs/completion and other opinions (if any);
- (g) Warranty start time and warranty period of the item/work;
- (h) Signatures, full names, positions and corporate seals of signatories;
- (i) Attached appendices (if any).
4. Notable new point: fire protection is mandatory content
Item (dd) makes fire protection conformity assessment a mandatory record content — tied to the appraised fire protection design. As fire protection law tightens, acceptance records lacking this content risk being deemed incomplete during state inspection of acceptance work (Article 25).
5. Acceptance does not reduce contractor liability
The principle in Clause 3, Article 4 of Decree 207/2026: the investor’s acceptance neither replaces nor reduces the contractor’s liability for work it performed. Prime contractors are liable to the investor for subcontractors’ work. After acceptance, contractors remain liable for warranty as prescribed.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Is an acceptance record missing one party’s signature valid?
A: Not complete. The law specifies the signatories (the 5 groups above); missing a mandatory signatory may render the record invalid, affecting handover, payment and settlement.
Q: What if concealed works were not accepted in time?
A: The contractor must notify in advance for acceptance as prescribed. If concealed without acceptance, the investor/supervision consultant may require uncovering and re-inspection — costs borne by the party breaching the procedure.
Q: When do state agencies inspect acceptance work?
A: Under Article 25 of Decree 207/2026, specialized construction agencies inspect construction acceptance work — a state control step before handover for operation.
Need advice on construction acceptance and handover procedures? Contact us for advice.
This article was prepared by the FLAW AI Legal Council. Content is pending QA Council review before submission for approval; information is for reference only and does not replace legal advice for your specific case.
