1. Decree No. 79/2014/NĐ-CP
2. Circular No. 66/2014/TT-BCA

Step 1: The application for approval for fire safety design shall be made into 02 sets and be certified by the project investor or vehicle owner. Documents in foreign languages must be translated into Vietnamese.

a) An application for approval of a planning project consists of:

– A written request for opinions about the fire safety and firefighting solution of the approving body or project investor (a letter of authorization must be made if another unit is authorized to do this tasks);

– Estimated investment in the project;

– Documents and drawings in 1:500 scale showing the requirements for fire safety and firefighting solutions 

b) An application for approval for fundamental design consists of:

– A written request for opinions about the fire safety and firefighting solution made by the investor (a letter of authorization must be made if another unit is authorized to do this tasks);

– A copy of the written permission for investment issued by a competent authority;

– Estimated investment in the project;

– Drawings and description of the fundamental design, which specify the requirements for fire safety and firefighting solution 

c) An application for approval for technical design or construction drawing consists of:

– A written request for approval for the fire safety design of the investor (a letter of authorization must be made if another unit is authorized to do this tasks);

– A copy of the written approval for the planning issued by a competent authority;

– Estimated investment in the project;

– Drawings and description of the technical design or construction drawing, which specify the requirements for fire safety and firefighting solution 

d) An application for approval for the construction location consists of:

– A written request for approval for the construction location (a letter of authorization must be made if another unit is authorized to do this tasks);

– A copy of the document about the lawfulness of the land on which the construction is built;

– Drawings and documents showing the terrain of the land pertaining to fire safety such as fire resistance level, distance from the construction to adjacent constructions, wind direction, altitude.

e) An application for technical design of a motor vehicle with special fire safety requirements consists of:

– A written request for approval for the fire safety design made by the project investor or vehicle owner (a letter of authorization must be made if another unit is authorized to do this tasks);

– A copy of the written permission for investment, manufacturing, or modification of the vehicle issued by a competent authority;

– Estimated investment in the vehicle;

– Drawings and description of the technical design, which describes the fire safety solution with regard to the operation and flammability threat of the vehicle; conditions for fire blocking, preventing spread of fire, escape, and rescue in the event of fire; solution for fire safety of the electricity system, the fuel system and engines; the fire alarm system, fire extinguishing system and other firefighting equipment; systems and equipment for detecting and dealing with leak of flammable gases and liquids

Step 2: Submit applications to Department of Fire Prevention, Fighting, Relief and Rescue of Ministry of public security or that of provincial-level People’s Committee.

1. The Department of Fire Prevention, Fighting, Relief and Rescue of Ministry of public security shall carry out the examination and approval of fire safety designs with respect to projects and works of national level, group A investment and construction projects (except projects invested by the provincial level using state budget); projects, works with building height at least 100 meters; special-use trains transporting passengers, petrol, gas, LPG, explosives, inflammable and explosive material; special-use ships of at least 50 meters in length transporting petrol, gas, LPG, explosives, inflammable and explosive material, chemicals with dead weight at least 1,000 tons; investment and construction projects proposed by the Fire department of provincial level, Department of Fire Prevention, Fighting, Relief and Rescue of provincial level or the Investor.

2. The provincial Department of Fire Prevention, Fighting, Relief and Rescue shall carry out the examination and approval of fire safety designs with respect to investment and construction projects, motor vehicles with special fire safety requirements that are out of authorities of Department of Fire Prevention, Fighting, Relief and Rescue in the administrative division, and the cases authorized by Department of Fire Prevention, Fighting, Relief and Rescue.

Step 3: Time limits for approving fire safety design

The time limit for approving fire safety design begins when satisfactory documents are received, in particular:

a) Planning project: 10 working days.

b) Construction location: 05 working days.

c) Fundamental design: 10 working days for Group A projects; 05 working days for Group B and C projects.

d) Technical design or construction drawing: 15 working days for Group A projects; 10 working days for Group B and C projects.

The classification of construction projects into Group A, B and C is carried out in accordance with regulations of the government on construction project management.