THE MINISTRY OF THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM

PLANNING AND Independence - Freedom - Happiness

INVESTMENT ---------------
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No. 03/2015/TT-BKHDT Hanoi, May 6, 2015

CIRCULAR

SPECIFYING PREPARATION OF INVITATION TO BID ON CONSTRUCTION WORKS

Pursuant to the Law on Bidding No. 43/2013/QH13 dated November 26, 2013;

Pursuant to the Governments Decree No. 63/2014/ND-CP dated June 26, 2014 on providing specific
provisions on implementation of several articles enshrined in the Law on Bidding in terms of the
contractor selection procedure;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 116/2008/ND-CP dated November 14, 2008 on defining the
functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Planning and Investment;

The Minister of Planning and Investment hereby promulgates the Circular on providing specific
provisions on preparing the invitation to bid on construction works.

Article 1. Scope of application

1. This Circular hereby provides specific provisions on preparing invitation to bid on construction work
within the scope of application stipulated in Article 1 of the Bidding Law No. 43/2013/QH13 as
follows:

a) Form of the invitation to bid on construction works No. 01 (Form No.01) applying to national
competitive and limited bids by following the single-stage one-envelop bidding procedure;

b) Form of the invitation to bid on construction works No. 02 (Form No.02) applying to national
competitive and limited bids by following the single-stage one-envelop bidding procedure.

2. With regard to the bid for construction works specified as projects financed by official development
assistance from Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank (WB) under the national competitive
bidding process, the form of the invitation for national competitive bid written in Vietnamese by ADB
and WB shall apply.

Article 2. Applicable entities

This Circular shall apply to organizations or individuals participating or involved in the procedure for
selection of contractors for procurement of construction works within the scope of application
stipulated in Article 1 hereof.

Article 3. Application of Forms of invitation to bid for construction works

1. Forms of invitation to bid for construction works issued together with this Circular shall be created
on the basis of regulations laid down in the Vietnams bidding law, and simultaneously consult bidding
regulations adopted by ADB and WB in order to facilitate contracting parties involvements in
contractor selection and further improve the competitiveness, equality, transparency and economic
efficiency in the bidding process.

2. With regard to the procurement of construction works financed by ODA, if contributors agree, the
Form No. 01 or Form No. 02 issued together with this Circular shall apply, or certain contents provided
in bidding regulations enshrined in the International Treaties and Agreements between Vietnam and
these contributors may be amended and modified.

3. With regard to the international bidding, based on the size and characteristics of the bid,
organizations or individuals charged with preparing the invitation for bid shall be obliged to modify
regulations on the language, currency type, incentive and schedule in the bidding process and other
relevant contents in conformity with regulations enshrined in the Law on Bidding No. 43/2013/QH13,
and the Decree No. 63/2014/ND-CP.

4. With regard to the bid for small-scale procurement of construction works, based on the
characteristics of this bid, if stakeholders find that it is necessary to employ the method for single-stage
two-envelop contractor selection, they shall be required to submit the plan for contractor selection to
competent authorities for approval and use the Form No. 02 enclosed herein to prepare their invitation
for bid.

5. When preparing, verifying and approving the invitation for bid on construction works, organizations
or individuals are required to adopt the form of invitation for bid on construction works enclosed herein
and, depending on the size and nature of the specified bid, set out proper requirements on the basis of
sticking to the principle of competitiveness, fairness, transparency and economic efficiency; and not to
impose requirements to constrain bidder's participation or give more advantages to one or several
bidder(s) as a manner to result in the unfair competition. They shall not be allowed to revise regulations
on bidders' instructions and general contractual terms and conditions laid down in the Form of
invitation for bid; as regards other contents, they are allowed to carry out any necessary revision to
make these regulations appropriate for the size and characteristics of the bid. In case there is any
amendment to regulations laid down in the form of invitation for bid, organizations or individuals
charged with formulating, verifying and accrediting the invitation for bid must undertake that such
amendments are more appropriate, scientific and stringent against regulations stated in the Form of
invitation for bid, and are not in breach of legal regulations on bidding. The written request for
approval of the invitation for bid must clarify contents that have been modified as per regulations
specified in the Form of invitation for bid and clearly state reasons for such modification for
stakeholders' consideration and decision.

6. With regard to the bid for non-consulting services to be furnished, based on the size and
characteristics of this bid, regulations specified in the Form of invitation for bid mentioned above may
be modified to make them more appropriate for implementation.

Article 4. Implementation of regulations on taxes, fees and charges

1. The offer price of bidders must be composed of all expenses necessary to execute the awarded
contract, inclusive of taxes, fees and charges (if any). Taxes, fees and charges shall be calculated by
reference to statutory tax rates and fee or charge levels 28 days prior to the bids closing date.
2. When participating in the bid, bidders shall be responsible for learning, calculating and proposing the
quoted price which includes types of taxes, fees and charges (if any). In the event that the bid package
does not mention taxes, fees or charges, the bidders quoted price shall be considered to include all of
taxes, fees or charges; in this case, if the bidder is selected and awarded the contract, all liabilities or
obligations to pay such taxes, fees or charges (if any) to the State must be fulfilled. In the event that the
bidder submits the quoted price excluding taxes, fees or charges (if any) in the bid package, this bid
package shall be rejected.

Article 5. Construction, commonly shared works and provision expenses

1. The quoted price must be constituted by construction, commonly shared works and provision
expenses.

2. Provision expenses shall be composed of provisions for price drifts, additional workloads and
advances (if any).

The determination of provision expenses shall be carried out as per specialized legal regulations on
construction cost management and particular attributes of the bid. Stakeholders shall rely on the size,
characteristics, time and location of construction site as well as other related elements in order to
decide how such provision expenses are used but ensure compliance with specialized legal regulations
on construction cost management.

3. As for the lump-sum contract, bidders shall be obliged to calculate and distribute provision expenses
to the quoted price, and shall not be allowed to separate provision expenses already distributed to be
included in the quoted price for the purpose of consideration and evaluation during the process of
financial and commercial evaluation of bid packages.

4. As for firm fixed-price contracts and fixed-price contracts with price adjustment, once financial and
commercial bid evaluation takes place, provision expenses shall not be considered and evaluated as the
basis for making a comparison with other bidders and identifying the bidders rating. Provision
expenses shall be rectified during the contract negotiation process. The best price and the contractual
price shall be constituted by provision expenses; these provision expenses shall be managed by
stakeholders and only used for paying bidders under the terms and conditions of the contract whenever
payments are arising.

The invitation for bid must clearly specify contents and principles of using provision expenses as the
basis for bidders' price quotation, conclusion and execution of the contract which specifically clarify
the monetary amount or percentage of provision expenses calculated based on construction costs of the
bid in order for bidders to submit their bid proposal. Bidders are required to make a bid proposal
inclusive of provision expenses in compliance with requirements laid down in the invitation for bid.

Article 6. Contract

1. The invitation for bid shall comprise the form of contract and specific provisions on contractual
terms and conditions as the basis for bidders' bid proposal and contracting parties negotiation, contract
perfection and conclusion.

2. The contract signed between the stakeholder and the bid solicitor must conform to the Form of
contract and contractual terms and conditions stipulated in the invitation for bid, and amendments or
corrections proposed by the contractor and accepted by the investor in the course of contract
negotiation and perfection, but ensure such amendments or corrections are not in breach of legal
regulations on bidding and other relevant legal regulations.

Article 7. Implementation

1. This Circular shall enter into force from July 1, 2015 as a replacement for the Circular No.
01/2010/TT-BKH of the Ministry of Planning and Investment dated January 6, 2010 on specifying
preparation of the invitation for bid on construction works, and the Circular No. 02/2010/TT-BKH of
the Ministry of Planning and Investment dated January 19, 2010 on specifying preparation of the
invitation for bid on small-scale construction works.

2. Ministries, Ministry-level agencies, Government agencies, and other central organs, and the Peoples
Committees at all levels, as well as organizations or individuals concerned, shall be responsible for
implementing this Circular. In the course of implementation, if there is any difficulty that may arise,
Ministries, Ministry-level agencies, Government agencies, and other central organs, and the Peoples
Committees at all levels, as well as organizations or individuals concerned, shall be requested to send
their feedbacks to the Ministry of Planning and Investment for timely instructions./.

THE MINISTER

Bui Quang Vinh