Consolidated Document No. 49/VBHN-VPQH: Law on Roads (Consolidated to 2025)
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Based on:35/2024/QH15 - Government Official Gazette
This explanation was generated by AI and checked by an automated AI review, not by a human expert. It is not legal, tax or accounting advice and may contain errors. Check the official document before you rely on it.
The Law on Roads (Luật Đường bộ) No. 35/2024/QH15, passed by the National Assembly on June 27, 2024 and effective January 1, 2025, comprehensively regulates road activities in Vietnam, including road network planning, road classification (national highways, provincial roads, commune roads, urban roads, dedicated-use roads), land reserved for road infrastructure, road safety corridors, and maintenance responsibilities for road structures. This consolidated document, No. 49/VBHN-VPQH, updates the law with amendments from Law No. 118/2025/QH15 (effective July 1, 2026), which mainly transfers authority over national highway management and road planning from the Ministry of Transport to the Ministry of Construction. For SME owners, the law is mainly relevant where it touches land use within road safety corridors, construction near roads, installation of advertising billboards near roadways, and motor-vehicle transport business licensing (a transport business license is required to operate). It also sets detailed rules for building infrastructure works (telecom, power, water supply/drainage) within road protection zones, which require written approval from the road management authority. This is a specialized transport-infrastructure law and does not directly regulate tax, accounting, e-invoicing, customs, or labor matters - RegHub's core coverage areas. As such, it is more reference material than a direct compliance requirement for most businesses, except for transport operators, outdoor advertising companies, or construction firms working near roads.
Scope of Application
The Law on Roads No. 35/2024/QH15, passed by the National Assembly on June 27, 2024 and effective from January 1, 2025, governs road activities and state management of road activities in Vietnam. Consolidated Document No. 49/VBHN-VPQH updates the original law with amendments under Law No. 118/2025/QH15 dated December 10, 2025 (effective July 1, 2026), which mainly transfers authority over road management, road network planning, and issuance of technical standards from the Ministry of Transport to the Ministry of Construction.
Road Classification
Roads are classified by management level into: national highways, provincial roads, commune roads, village roads, urban roads, and dedicated-use roads. The Ministry of Construction manages national highways (except where authority is delegated); provincial People's Committees manage provincial roads, certain delegated national highways, urban roads, commune roads, village roads, and frontage roads separated from national highways. Roads are also classified by function (main roads, branch roads, collector roads, frontage roads, internal roads) and by technical grade (expressways, Grade I-VI roads, urban roads).
Road Network and Infrastructure Planning
The road network plan is a national sectoral plan prepared by the Ministry of Construction, setting the development direction for the national highway system. The road infrastructure plan details the network plan, covers a 10-year period with a 20-30 year vision, and is reviewed every 5 years. Provincial People's Committees develop road development content within provincial and urban plans.
Land for Road Infrastructure and Safety Corridors
Urban land reserved for transport must reach 11%-26% of urban construction land (minimum 50% of that ratio for cities with special characteristics). Land for road infrastructure includes road land itself, land for bus stations, parking lots, rest stops, and road safety corridors. The width of protection and safety-corridor land is determined by the technical grade of each road type, with separate rules for rural roads, urban roads, bridges, tunnels, and ferry terminals. Land users within safety corridors (whether or not the land has been acquired by the State) must not obstruct road signage, must not impair driver sightlines, and must protect the landscape and environment.
Construction and Advertising Signage Within Road Protection Zones
Within road infrastructure protection zones, only specific categories of works may be built (national defense and security works; telecommunications and power lines; water supply and drainage excluding plants; irrigation and dike works; production conveyor belts; intersecting roads), and written approval from the road management authority is required. Installing advertising billboards within road safety corridors (except expressways and intersections) also requires written approval on location, scale, size, and construction plan - a rule outdoor-advertising businesses and developers near roads should note.
Maintenance of Road Infrastructure
The law defines road infrastructure maintenance to include routine and periodic upkeep, repairs, inspection, monitoring, and quality assessment, aimed at ensuring safe operation throughout a structure's service life.
Prohibited Acts
The law prohibits damaging road infrastructure, illegal connections, encroaching on safety corridors, obstructing road signage, and operating a motor-vehicle transport business without a transport business license or outside the scope of the license - a rule directly relevant to transport operators.
Relevance Note
This is a specialized transport-infrastructure law, outside the tax, accounting, e-invoicing, customs, and labor domains. Direct relevance is limited to specific business segments: motor-vehicle transport operators (licensing requirement), outdoor advertising near roads, and construction of infrastructure works within road protection zones.