Vietnam News Network

The construction sector must improve the quality of building work throughout Viet Nam, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai said at a conference held by the Ministry of Construction yesterday.

Hai said the remarkable growth of the sector had contributed greatly to the development of infrastructure, industry and civil projects.

However, he said more attention should be paid to quality management as there were many shortcomings in buildings.

Each phase of a construction project must be implemented thoroughly, from the drawing board to consultation and carrying out and checking the final work.

Minister of Construction Nguyen Hong Quan said work quality was a top concern, particularly for large-scale, national projects involving complicated techniques.

However, he said that while there were still shortcomings, the ministry was working on solutions to the problems.

Director of the ministry’s Project Quality Assessment Department, Le Quang Hung, attributed most of the problems to gaps in legal documents and technical standards.

He said these could be overcome if legal standards were set for quality management and contractors who did shoddy work were punished.

Hung said more than 6,000 large construction projects were implemented each year on an increasing scale and quality. Many won international prizes.

In the past five years, more than 90 per cent of projects were assessed to be of good quality. Major problems occurred in less than one per cent of total projects.

Prominent problems included the collapse of Can Tho Bridge, a landslide at Ban Ve hydro-electric plant under construction - and cracks discovered in the Thu Thiem tunnel project.