Consolidated Document 18/VBHN-BXD: Decree Detailing the Law on Urban and Rural Planning

Scope and Subjects of Application

Consolidated Document 18/VBHN-BXD authenticates the text of Decree 178/2025/ND-CP (effective July 1, 2025) as amended by Decree 34/2026/ND-CP (effective January 22, 2026). It details provisions of the 2024 Law on Urban and Rural Planning (as amended by Law No. 144/2025/QH15), covering when master plans, zoning plans, and detailed plans must be prepared; planning timelines; qualification requirements for consulting organizations and individuals; procedures for resolving conflicts between plans; and management of planning funding and databases. It applies to state management agencies and domestic or foreign organizations and individuals involved in urban and rural planning activities.

Timelines for Preparing Planning Tasks and Plans

• Urban master plans approved by the Prime Minister: up to 3 months for the planning task, 15 months for the plan itself.
• Other urban master plans, and master plans for economic zones or national tourism zones: up to 2 months for the task, 12 months for the plan.
• Commune-level master plans and non-urban special zone plans: up to 1 month for the task, 9 months for the plan.
• Zoning plans, underground space plans, and city-level technical infrastructure plans: up to 1 month for the task, 9 months for the plan.
• Detailed plans: up to 1 month for the task, 6 months for the plan.

Conditions for Consulting Organizations and Individuals

Individuals involved in planning must hold appropriate qualifications, and those serving as planning task or plan leads must hold a construction practice certificate (grade I, II, or III under construction law). Foreign consulting organizations must comply with bidding law and obtain an operating license from the state construction management agency.

Resolving Conflicts Between Plans of the Same Level

The decree sets out the reporting, appraisal, and decision procedure that applies when two plans of the same level, whether approved by the same or different authorities, conflict with each other, so that construction investment projects have a clear legal basis to proceed.

General Site Layout Plan (Streamlined Procedure)

This is the section most relevant to investors: a land plot that meets the size conditions (under 2 hectares for apartment projects; under 10 hectares for factories, industrial production facilities, education facilities, or non-linear technical infrastructure; under 5 hectares for other cases), sits within an area already covered by an approved zoning plan or master plan, and is developed by a single investor can obtain approval through a general site layout plan instead of a full detailed plan. The detailed-plan approving authority or its delegate must review and approve within 15 days of receiving a complete application.

Procedure for Preparing, Appraising, and Approving Plans

The process has three stages: (1) the planning organizing agency collects input and finalizes the planning task dossier; (2) the dossier is submitted through the national construction information database system to the appraisal agency, which convenes an appraisal council; (3) the dossier is submitted to the approving authority based on the appraisal report. A similar process applies to both planning tasks and formal plans.

Design Competitions and Consultant Selection

The decree details how to organize planning idea competitions (inviting at least 3 consulting organizations, forming a competition council of at least 9 members) and the methods for selecting planning consultants: competitive bidding under procurement law, or direct appointment/self-execution for lower-cost planning tasks not subject to mandatory bidding.

Funding, Support Resources, and Planning Databases

State-budget funding for planning activities is managed by the head of the planning organizing agency and controlled through the State Treasury. The decree also governs the receipt and use of support resources (funding, research results, competition prizes) and the principles for building and operating a centralized, unified urban and rural planning database from central to local level, published on the Ministry of Construction's planning information portal.

Transitional Provisions and Effective Date

Detailed plans approved under the old streamlined procedure before this decree took effect remain valid until adjusted under the new general site layout plan rules. The decree took effect on July 1, 2025, and repeals Decrees 37/2010/ND-CP, 44/2015/ND-CP, 72/2019/ND-CP, and part of Decree 35/2023/ND-CP on the earlier construction planning regime.

Amendments to Related Decrees

The decree also replaces the term 'construction planning' with 'urban and rural planning' across several related decrees: Decree 175/2024/ND-CP (construction activity management, including practice certificate and organizational capacity conditions for planners), Decree 111/2024/ND-CP (national construction database), Decrees 100/2024, 98/2024, 96/2024, and 95/2024/ND-CP (housing and real estate business), Decree 10/2024/ND-CP (hi-tech zones), Decree 35/2022/ND-CP (industrial parks and economic zones), and Decree 85/2020/ND-CP (architecture practice). These are purely terminology and procedural updates to the construction planning framework and do not create new tax, accounting, invoicing, or labor obligations for businesses.