Nghiên cứu hoàn thiện quản lý hợp đồng bảo trì công trình đường bộ việt nam tt tiếng anh

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS BUI THI NGOC LAN STUDY ON IMPROVING THE MANAGING FOR MAINTENANCE CONTRACT ROAD CONSTRUCTION IN VIETNAM Major: Construction management Code: 9580302 SUMMARY OF PHD THESIS IN ECONOMICS HA NOI – 2020 The thesis is completed at: University of Transport and Communications Supervisors: Prof Dr Sc Nghiem Van Dinh Dr Nguyen Quynh Sang Examiner 1: Examiner 2: Examiner 3: The thesis will be defended before the Boad of Examiners at institute Level at University of Transport and Communications Time……………………date…………….month…………year…………… The thesis can be found at: - The National Library - The University’s Library PREAMBLE The necessary of the thesis: The management, exploitation and maintenance play a significant role in our national important and long-term road management, which aims at prolonging the existence of road constructions To achieve the strategy’s goals, road management operators have applied variety of implementation methods and they have gained certain results However, there still have many difficulties and obstacles in managing road construction maintenance contracts as follows: (i) backward methods for selecting contractors to carry out the road construction maintenance contracts, the maintenance socializing has not been implemented; (ii) slow renovation in managing maintenance contract for road construction; (iii) the management of maintenance contract for road constructions has been greatly paid attention to, however, there are still lack of unified and specified legal regulations on this field; (iv) the staffs are not of the same quality levels at all units involved in the bidding and at the road construction management levels.; (v) road construction management authorities and contractors are lack of experiences; thus, all of them meet with difficulties in managing maintenance contract for road construction It can be seen that there are many obstacles in the managing of maintenance contract for road constructions Therefore, it’s necessary to research on Managing the maintenance contract for road constructions, which finds solutions to solve existing problems This is a significant task, which needs to be focused on to improve the Management for road construction maintenance contract in Vietnam As the consequences, the thesis “Study on improving the Managing for maintenance contract road construction in Vietnam” has important and necessary meaning in both theoretical and practical implications Studying purposes of the thesis The thesis aims ate systematizing, supplementing and clarifying the basic theories for road construction maintenance contract; referring to other nations’ experiences; and concurrently, bases on analysis and evaluation of existing management for road constructions in Vietnam, work out and propose solutions to improve the Management for road construction maintenance contract in Vietnam Object and scope: 3.1 Object of the study: The object of the thesis is the Management for road construction maintenance contract managed by Vietnamese Authorities, from the perspective of the Owner of road constructions 3.2 Scope of the study: - As for studying space: The thesis is limited in the reality of the Management for road construction maintenance contracts which are being managed by Vietnamese Authorities - As for studying duration: The thesis mainly studies the reality of the Management for road construction maintenance contracts in Vietnam during the period between 2013 and 2018 - As for the studying content: The thesis focuses on studying the reality of the Management for maintenance contracts applied to national road constructions which are being managed by Vietnamese Authorities, in order to provide solutions to improve the Management for road construction maintenance contract in Vietnam Theoretical and practical basis - As for theoretical aspect: The study is based on the theoretical background of Marxist Leninist philosophy in combination with applying the management mechanism and policies of Vietnamese Government in the management for road construction maintenance, etc.; Synthetically applying scientific knowledge in fields of management, economics and laws which are related to the management for road construction maintenance contract - As for practical aspect: By studying the situation of Management for road construction maintenance contract in Vietnam during the period between 2013 and 2018, I have found many obstacles and difficulties which need to be solved to improve the road construction maintenance contract, as follows: (i) Content and quality of bidding documents at the time of the bidding, and contract documents at the time of contract signing; (ii) Provisions on instructions and decisions of maintenance contracts; (iii) Evaluation procedure for the maintenance contents agreed in the contract; (iv) Standardize the process of stage payment, inspecting and acceptance, etc Studying methods 5.1 The methods to be used: The following methods are used in this thesis: Inheritance method, Professional method, Questionnaire survey method and Statistical method 5.2 Survey and assessment for the real situation of road construction maintenance contract PhD student had consulted experts and identified a number of key factors which affect the Management for road construction maintenance contract, they include: (i) Mechanisms and legal policies of Vietnamese Government; (ii) The owner of the road construction and (iii) Contractor for road construction maintenance After the identifying, PhD student had conducted a questionnaire survey; used SPSS software to assess the impact of the factors on the Management for road construction maintenance contracts; and arranged the factors based on their impacting levels; then, work out detail, accurate and sufficient solutions to improve the Management for road construction maintenance contract Scientific and practical significance of the thesis 6.1 Meaning of science With scientific studying methods, this thesis has systematized, enriched the basic theories on road construction maintenance, maintenance contract for road construction, and Management for road construction maintenance contract; Creating the premise for proposing solutions to improve the Management for road construction maintenance contract in Vietnam The studying results can be used in researching and training as well as practical management for road construction maintenance contract in Vietnam 6.2 Practical significance The thesis analyzes the achieved results and the limitations, shortcomings in the process of managing road construction maintenance contracts; Concurrently, it proposes solutions to improve the Management for road construction maintenance contract in Vietnam The study brings about practical contributions to the widespread application, effective improvement for the implementation of the Management for road construction maintenance contract Whereby, enhance the quality the Management for road construction maintenance contract in Vietnam The structure of the thesis Excluding the Preamble, Conclusions and the List of references, this thesis include following chapters: Chapter 1: Overview of studied situation relates to the thesis Chapter 2: Theoretical and practical basis for road construction maintenance contract and its management Chapter 3: Real situation and results of Management for road construction maintenance contract in Vietnam Chapter 4: Solutions to improve the Management for road construction maintenance contract in Vietnam CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF STUDIED SITUATION RELATES TO THE THESIS 1.1 Similar studies in the world 1.1.1 World studies which relate to road construction maintenance Most studies relate to the enhancement for quality of road construction maintenance, financial restructure for road construction maintenance, legal regulations on road construction maintenance, strategies to be used to improve the road construction quality, handover rights to private companies to construct, exploit and maintain road constructions, etc 1.1.2 World studies which relate to road construction maintenance contract and Management for road construction maintenance contract Most studies relate to the results obtained when applying Performance base maintenance contracts (PBC contracts), which help to reduce the cost for maintenance of road constructions and improving road conditions; The studies determine payment conditions, the performance standards in road construction maintenance contract, strengths and weaknesses of those contracts 1.2 Overview of domestic studies PhD student have studied and synthesized domestic scientific works according to four specific contents (i) Activities implemented in road construction exploitation and maintenance management; (ii) plans and forms of management for road construction exploitation and maintenance; (iii) effectiveness of exploitation and maintenance of maintenance contracts and (iv) application of contracts in road construction maintenance 1.2.1 Management for road construction exploitation and maintenance The studies focus on the important role of road construction; increasing income from road users to provide capital to the road construction and maintenance; management for road construction maintenance; maintenance policies; biding mechanism for road construction maintenance; related problems in road construction management, exploitation and maintenance, etc 1.2.2 Methods to manage road construction exploitation and maintenance The studies focus on solutions related to institutional strengthening of maintenance activities; methods to solve shortcomings in the last period of construction investment which relate to construction maintenance have not met requirements Shortcomings in Bidding for road construction maintenance, Road construction management and maintenance should be pointed out and resolved Then, enhance the socializing in the road construction maintenance 1.2.3 Effectiveness of the road construction exploitation, maintenance and management of maintenance contracts The majority of these studies focuses on: The maintenance costs and benefits obtained from the project during its operation; The benefits from transferring the road constructions - the owners have capital to turn over into other projects as well as obtain effective exploitation and maintenance; The roles of road construction maintenance and factors affect to the maintenance quality; high cost of road construction maintenance shall affect the maintenance management 1.2.4 Application of different types of contract in road management, exploitation and maintenance The studies determine the risk levels in PPP projects in Vietnam; empirical evidence in implementation Public - Private Partnership in the field of road traffic; major characteristics of PBC contracts, advantages and disadvantages when applying PBC contracts in road construction maintenance in Vietnam, etc 1.3 Comments on the studies and the insufficiences to be studied 1.3.1 What I have learnt from the overview of related works: - Firstly, we should focus on the issues related to the management, exploitation and maintenance of road constructions, risks in maintenance of road constructions, measures to mobilize capital for maintenance activities, etc - Secondly, we should focus on the methods for performing road construction management, exploitation and maintenance; point out achievements as well as shortcomings in construction bidding and quality management in every stages of the construction investment process (of which, shortcomings in final stage of construction have not been sufficiently studies like in construction maintenance process), socialization for road construction maintenance, renovation in the form of road construction maintenance contract by applying PBC contracts, etc - Thirdly, we should study on the effectiveness of the road construction exploitation and maintenance, maintenance contract, road construction maintaining technologies, maintenance plans, factors that increase road construction maintenance cost - Fourthly, we should initial study on applying of the different types of road construction maintenance contracts; evaluate the effectiveness of pilot PBC contracts in road construction maintenance in Vietnam, etc 1.3.2 Insufficiences to be studied The above overview shows the insufficiencies in the studies on road construction maintenance and road construction maintenance contract, which need to be further studied: - Firstly, there is still lack of systematic theoretical study on road construction maintenance contract which suit specific conditions of Vietnam - Secondly, there has not been a comprehensive evaluation with a scientific method on the performing of maintenance and management for road construction maintenance contracts in Vietnam - Thirdly, there is a limitation in studies for methods and sanctions for road construction maintenance contract 1.4 Framework of the thesis To accomplish the proposed study objectives, the thesis is built with content specified in its chapters The management for road construction maintenance contracts is carried out under the impacts of Vietnamese legal document system, specific regulations and process in each different contract PhD student shall analyze each of the factors that affect the management for road construction maintenance contracts, bring about evaluation criteria and necessary requirements to improve contract management according to following approaches: (i) Study the roles of the State management, the system of legal documents applied to the management of maintenance contract for road constructions which are managed by the State; (ii) Study and emphasize on the contents, methods and affecting factors of the management for road construction maintenance contract and (iii) Evaluate the management of road construction maintenance contract in the specific conditions of Vietnam in a certain period of time, explain the situation and propose solutions that suit the reality, specific requirements of the management for road construction maintenance contract CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL BASIS OF MAINTENANCE CONTRACTS FOR ROAD CONSTRUCTION AND THE CONTRACT MANAGEMENT 2.1 Road constructions and their maintenance 2.1.1 Road construction 2.1.1.1 Concept Road constructions include roads, parking places, signal lights, road signs, road markings, marker posts, barriers, traffic islands, median strips, milestones, walls, embankments, drainage systems, vehicle load inspecting stations, tollgates and other auxiliary equipment and constructions Roads include roads, bridges; road tunnels and ferries [30] 2.1.1.2 Classification of road construction This classification is of great significance and is closely related to the exploitation and maintenance of road constructions According to Laws No.23/2008/QH12, the road construction network is divided into six systems as follows: (i) National highways; (ii) Provincial roads; (iii) District roads; (iv) Commune roads; (v) Urban roads and (vi) Specialized roads 2.1.1.3 Several characteristics of road construction that affect the maintenance Specific characteristics of road constructions can greatly affect their maintenance, they include: (i) Systematic and continuous road construction; (ii) Road construction which are fixed assets and bear great impacts of nature; (iii) Road construction with longterm existence; (iv) Road construction that are not of pure public goods and (v) Road works bring benefits in the long run 2.1.2 Theory of road construction maintenance 2.1.2.1 Significance and importance of road construction maintenance The significance: Road construction maintenance is to maintain the normal conditions of the construction as designed and extend the life of the construction; concurrently, help to decrease the cost for the construction repairing The importance: It is important because when roads, bridges, etc, are properly maintained we can ensure that they are efficiently operated The quality deterioration of the roads, bridges, etc., due to the lack of maintenance can lead to future financial burden and cause legal and other related issues which affect the usage of roads and bridges 2.1.2.2 Road construction maintenance concept Road construction maintenance is a collection of works to ensure and maintain the normal, safe operating of road construction in accordance with the design regulations during the process of exploitation The content of road construction maintenance may include one or some or all of the following works: inspection, observation, quality inspection, maintenance and repair of works, but not including activities that modify the usage or scale of road construction [21] 2.1.2.3 Characteristics of road construction maintenance Road construction maintenance has some specific characteristics as follows [13]: - Must be done regularly and consecutively to: ensure road constructions are safely and smoothly exploited; timely handling of damages or generated issues that may cause traffic jam or accident, and problems arising from rains and floods, etc.; detect and prevent actions that encroach or use the road and traffic secure corridor - The quality of road construction maintenance greatly depends on the construction investment results If the construction is appropriately designed and ensured with good quality, the road construction maintenance shall be guaranteed with high quality - In road construction maintenance, if causes of damage are promptly detected, the road maintenance and repair shall be simply and cheaply carried out - Road construction maintenance greatly depends on natural impacts and it is also affected by climate changes 2.1.2.4 Contents of road construction maintenance The contents of road construction maintenance include one, some or all of the following jobs: Inspection, observation, quality control, maintenance and repair of road construction [17] [30] 2.1.2.5 Funds for road construction maintenance Road construction maintenance funding is formed from following sources: (i) Annual state budget allocations; (ii) Fee collected from users of road constructions which are invested from non-state budgets; (iii) Capitals invested by road construction owners; (iv) Contributions and mobilization from organizations and individuals and (v) Other legal capital sources 2.1.2.6 The implementation of road construction maintenance: The of implementation of road construction maintenance includes: (i) Conducting surveys to assess current conditions; (ii) Determine the damage level of road works and items; (iii) Determine maintenance level, work out maintenance process and plan total investment of each maintenance level; (iv) Determine financial sources for performing road construction maintenance; (v) Identify works, items or jobs that need to be maintained, maintenance conditions and standards, carrying, methods of implementation, scheduled progress, safety measures for equipment and people involved in the maintenance and (vi) Documents for maintenance including road construction maintenance process, as-built drawings, records of equipment to be installed in the construction, etc [29] 2.2 Theory on construction contracts and road construction maintenance contracts 2.2.1 Construction contracts 2.2.1.1 Concept According to Clause 1, Article of Decree No.37/2015/ND-CP issued by Vietnamese Government on April 22nd 2015: “Construction contracts are civil contracts agreed in writing between the contract-awarding party and the contractor(s) to perform one part or all of the jobs belong to the construction investment activities” [35] 2.2.1.2 Types of construction contracts Base on different criteria, construction contracts are classified into many different types 2.2.1.3 Main content of a construction contract A construction contract includes writing contract and accompanying documents 2.2.1.4 Construction contract price According to Clause 1, Article 15 of Decree No.37/2015/ND-CP issued by Vietnamese Government on April 22nd 2015: “The price of a construction contract is an amount of money which the contract-awarding party undertakes to pay the contractor for performing required works including work volume, quality, progress, payment terms, advance payment and other requirements in the contract”[35] 2.2.2 Contract for road construction maintenance 2.2.2.1 Formation of a road construction maintenance contract Contract is a form of exchanging goods or services; it is the market economic conditions that have facilitated the formation of contracts between entities, including road construction maintenance contract Basic terms of a road construction maintenance contract shall set up the road construction maintenance contract including: route(s) to be maintained, technical and technological maintenance methods, implementation duration, the capital plan, etc 2.2.2.2 General overview on road maintenance contracts Road construction maintenance contract is one of construction contract types, it is a legal document binding the rights and obligations of contracting parties related to all or part of the maintenance to ensure and maintain normal and safe working of road construction in accordance with the maintenance procedure and the design during the operation and exploitation Road construction maintenance contract demonstrates the relationship of establishing, changing or terminating civil rights and obligations between the road construction operator manager and the maintenance contractor Therefore, the parties that enter into road construction maintenance contracts are the very parties involved in the 17 In the period of 2013-2018, the management for road construction maintenance contracts had transformed from traditional forms into contract signing with the forms: fixed-price contract for road construction regular maintenance base on performance quality, and PBC contract The performance management for each of the above contracts was implemented in an appropriate manner and achieved certain results 3.2.5 Acceptance, settlement and finalization of road construction maintenance contracts As for the two forms of road construction maintenance contracts that have been being applied, the payment is made based on technical status and the quality of the work; the acceptance and payment are made monthly This helps to maintain contractors’ financial resources so that they are initiative in planning consequence maintenance and limit the delays due to lack of capital 3.3 Evaluation on the management of road construction maintenance contracts in Vietnam in the period of 2013 - 2018 In the period of 2013 - 2018, the General Department of Vietnam Road had implemented bidding packages for road construction maintenance based on performance quality By studying actual conditions, PhD student would like to summarize the achieved results, the major limitations and basic causes of the limitations in the management of road construction maintenance contract in the period 2013-2018 3.3.1 Results The actual situation of the management for road construction maintenance contract in the period of 2013-2018 shows that: The management of maintenance contracts based on performance quality through public bidding had obtained certain results, saved the cost and ensured the service quality of road constructions in Vietnam, namely: Firstly: Strengthen the state management, supplement legal documents related to road construction maintenance contracts Second: Enhance the effect of biddings to select contractors to perform maintenance contracts Third: Enhance the quality of the negotiation and signing of road construction maintenance contracts Fourth: Improve the quality of the implementation management of road construction maintenance contract Fifth: Gradually fulfill the acceptance, settlement and final payment for road construction maintenance contracts 3.3.2 Major limits and basic causes of the limits in the management for road construction maintenance contract in Vietnam a Major limits: Firstly, major limits in legal policies and regulations such as: No detailed instructions that suit road construction maintenance contract with specific characteristics; Lack of 18 clearly stated regulations and Unclear regulations leading to difficulties and obstacles in the implementation of the monitoring and managing the maintenance contract Laws on road construction maintenance contracts are not clear and lack of detail regulations There is no unified sample for road construction maintenance contracts applied to the whole system; so there is no uniform and comprehensive implementation Secondly, the major limits in bidding to select maintenance construction: (i) Quality of bidding documents; (ii) Capacity of staffs participating in bidding activities is not equal among units and management levels; (iii) When apply online bidding, communication is limited, contractors are not fully informed of related information to participate in the online bidding; (iv) Slow assessment on the bidding proposals affect contractors’ operation and lead to the lengthen of contract perform duration and (v) Adjustment for tender package is necessary Thirdly, major limits in negotiating terms of contracts and signing of road construction maintenance contract include: (i) Many contracts are negotiated and signed with incorrect investment procedure order; (ii) many operating management owners of road construction and contractors not really care of and appreciate contract negotiation and signing Fourthly, major limits in managing the implementation of maintenance contracts include: (i) The management on the performance quality and schedule are not guaranteed; the quality management, acceptance and assessment have not been strictly implemented; encroachment has not been promptly detected, prevented and handled; (ii) Regarding the time, small scale of maintenance, the length of route to be maintained is too short, etc., all are obstacles that prevent contractors from investing in new technology, machines and equipment; (iii) Regarding professional capacity of road construction operating management owners, there is no sanctions system to synchronically handle the contractual violations; expenses for inspection and supervision are not fully and timely funded, etc.; (iv) Regarding the capacity road construction maintenance contractors, they are not capable to individually implement a bidding package of large-scale, great work volume and great value with variety of work items Fifthly, major limits in the acceptance, payment and final settlement for road construction maintenance contracts on (i) No uniform process for the advance payment, payment and final settlement so many contract cannot be implemented in accordance with the set forth schedule; (ii) Capital source maintenance and payment is met with many unreasonable factors that make contractors face many difficulties; Each project has its own maintenance process and it must be agreed by Vietnam General Department of Vietnam Roads; (iii) In the contract settlement, reporting and approval on the settlement of contracts, operating management owner usually violate the stated deadline and affect the project disbursement b Basic reason for the above stated limits: 19 First: There is no clear separation between road construction maintenance contract and road construction contract; Standards and regulations on road construction, norms for road construction design and maintenance are not regulated in details; Legal regulation documents on bidding, technical process for the maintenance, standards and procedure for assessment on the quality of road construction maintenance contract, etc., are not adequate and unified Second: The quality of bidding documents at the time of bid opening is low, failing to meet the requirements set forth for the contractor selection; The staffs involved in bidding is of low qualification, irresponsible for the inspection and supervision (including operating management owner of road construction and the consultancy unit); Violation of regulations on bidding for maintenance of road construction such as connivance and arrangement in the bidding, dishonesty in capacity declaration, etc Third: The negotiation and signing of contracts are not closely and tightly, there is no unified sequence Fourth: The professional capacity of Road administration agencies and operating management owner of road construction are still limited in management; There are limits in the contractors’ capacity in finance, manpower, equipment and experiences to implement road construction maintenance contract; the monitoring on technical status of construction are mostly carried out manually; unclear criteria for control and management Fifth: Acceptance and payment are not timely applied, this cause financial difficulties for contractors during the implementation of the contract; The process for acceptance and payment of road construction maintenance contract has not been standardized CHAPTER 4: SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVE THE MANAGEMENT FOR ROAD CONSTRUCTION MAINTENANCE CONTRACT IN VIETNAM 4.1 Demands for maintenance for road construction in Vietnam 4.1.1 Demands for road transport in Vietnam In Vietnam, road transport plays an important role, it makes up 94.39% of the total volume of passenger transport and 77.47% of the total volume of good traffic [20] Therefore, road constructions are invested more than before and basically meet the role of driving force for socio-economic development, national defense and security, international integration In addition, an urgent requirement has been put Forward: the implementation of maintenance for road construction must be paid attention with first priority to maintain the exploitation quality and safe circulation 20 Table 4.1 shows that the demands for road transport is increasing, the numbers in following years increased in comparison with the previous years 4.1.2 State policies on the maintenance of road construction In socio-economic development, road constructions play a particularly important role that keeps the country's traffic artery without interruption Therefore, road constructions are always given with priority in investment and development by the Vietnamese Communist Party and Government The priority is shown by consecutively supplementation and improvement of legal documents to effectively manage construction, management and maintenance activities; approval on development strategies and planning in recent years 4.1.3 Demands for road construction maintenance In order to achieve the basic goals in the transport development strategy to 2030, plans for the maintenance of road construction play an important role The lack of capital for investing in road construction projects, which aim at satisfying transport needs, is a great difficulty Thus, road construction maintenance becomes more and more important As the consequence, timely arrangement for funds to conduct bidding and implementation of road construction maintenance contracts is essential in the management, assurance of traffic safety, maintaining the technical grades of roads in exploitation If technical status of road constructions are degraded quickly, there are potential unsafe traffic problems, etc 4.2 The viewpoint to propose solutions to improve the management of road construction maintenance contracts The first point of view: Work out a more accurate and complete awareness of the position and role of road construction maintenance contracts The contract management is the 21 very important factor affecting the quality of the road construction maintenance contracts, ensuring the rational and efficient use of the national capital invested in road construction maintenance, preventing waste, strictly compliance to the laws of the State The second point of view: Solutions ensure both the uniformity and flexibility to match the characteristics, scale and nature of each bidding package, in order to overcome difficulties and limitations in the management ò road construction maintenance contract The third point of view: Solutions giving priority and heightening the efficiency of the management for road construction maintenance contracts; first ranking for open, and preciseness in bidding process to select road construction maintenance contractors Fourth opinion: The management of road construction maintenance contracts must be unified, ensured with initiative, preciseness, economy and efficiency of the road construction management agencies, operating manager and maintenance contractors during the implementation 4.3 Solutions to improve the management of the road construction maintenance contracts 4.3.1 Improvement for bidding to select road construction maintenance contractors 4.3.1.1 Strengthen the capacity of staffs who performs the bidding - Ensure that the bidding staffs are of university or higher degree; with basic knowledge on construction, road constructions and maintenance; equipped with in-depth knowledge on laws and contract management; fluently in foreign language speaking and computer skills; professional ethics, honesty, responsibility and high professional discipline - Enhance the staffs’ capacity by organizing training courses to improve bidding professionalism Especially, when applying online bidding, road construction operating managers must organize trainings to improve the information technology level for the staff performing the bidding of road construction maintenance - Organize training and coaching for the bidding officers, these staffs must thoroughly understand the process and perfectly organize online biddings to select contractors 22 - Issue specific and strict regulations to bind the bidding expert team’s responsibilities to the contractor selection results Especially, for online bidding, it is necessary to promulgate specific instructions on preparing assessment reports; Because the reports are currently prepared in accordance with Circular no 23/2015/TT-BKHDT 4.3.1.2 Improve the quality of bidding invitation for road construction maintenance packages - The requirements in the Bidding Invitation Documents must be clearly defined, it is not permitted to give requirements of orientation - Propose to enlarge the scale of bidding package and extend the implementation duration of road construction maintenance package - Strictly and rigorously regulate and implement sanctions against violations in bidding to any organization or individual, including contractors, road construction operating managers, bid inviters, state management agencies of all levels, agencies of inspection, audit, investigation, etc 4.3.1.3 Improve the quality of assessment on bid proposals - Appropriate priority should be given to the technical solutions, prices and progress proposed by contractors to select proper contractor that suitable and able to perform the contract - Improve the process of assessment on bidding proposals, eliminate unnecessary steps - Invest in equipment and technical facilities to improve the interface and utilities to enhance the quality of bid dossier assessment for online bidding, which has been applied since 2018 4.3.1.4 Improve the quality of online bidding - Road construction operating management owners supervise and associate the responsibility of the managers with the results of online bidding according to the set forth route - Decentralize to strictly control bid dossier of contractors - Propose the Government to continue perfecting the legal corridor for online bidding, promulgating the procedure of bid dossier assessment and the process of bidding evaluation to help minimize the bid inviter’s duration in selecting contractors, improve capacity and experiences through online bidding activities - PhD student suggests to push up the online bidding, set up and improve the national bidding network system 4.3.2 Perfect the negotiation, signing and implementation managing of road construction maintenance contracts 4.3.2.1 Enhance the professional capacity of road management agencies and road construction operating management owners - Road construction operating management owners should clearly define responsibilities of each assigned officer when performing the contract; study and set up a unified and 23 systematic sanction system to handle contractual violations committed by road construction operating management owners and Maintenance contractors to facilitate the penalization in case of any violation - Drastically implementation in compensation for site clearance to ensure contract performance quality and progress - Request the road construction operating management owners to strictly carry out the management, acceptance and evaluation on the performance quality; actively detect, prevent and handle violations of road corridors - Road construction operating management owners should have policies to diversify participants of road construction maintenance activities; to encourage measures to prevent and stop damage(s) and so on to create strong incentives motivating contractors’ determination to invest in developing facilities and technologies 4.3.2.2 Improve the capacity of contractors who perform road construction maintenance contracts - Actively improve the design capacity; management qualification; initiative ability of finance, manpower, equipment and advanced technology applications, etc., to be able to independently implement a maintenance contract for road construction - Improve the activeness in taking responsibility for the status ò road construction and being able to carry out the work without cumbersome administrative procedures - Active and quick in establishing self-governing units and training key staffs - Fully equip with knowledge on road construction maintenance contract to limit risks in the implementation - Directly survey and inspect the sites, take self-responsibility for the obtained results - Contractors must apply advanced technologies in maintenance work for road construction 4.3.2.3 Assurance for contract performance quality and implementation schedule - Ensure the compliance with standard provisions stated for the Project - Road construction operating management owners and maintenance contractors actively develop standard procedures for quality control of construction items - Closely inspect the quality of materials used in road construction maintenance and repair - Quantify the international roughness index (IRI) indicators; appearance of potholes, cracks, wheel subsidence; etc - Strictly monitor road administration agencies to ensure the implementation strictly comply with prescribed technical standards; strictly implement the management; strict management on volume and quality of maintenance, acceptance and assessment, etc - Closely inspect the experimental work including machines and equipment, staffs’ qualifications, etc.; Inspect the types, quality and quantity of construction equipment, the workmanship and qualifications of engineers and workers participating in the contract 24 - Focus on speeding up the implementation of maintenance work to ensure it is finished before rainy season starts - Intensify regular inspection and supervision to ensure the maintenance is strictly implemented in accordance with stated regulations - Develop evaluation sheet for contract performance progress insurances base on completion rate 4.3.2.4 Improve the quality of negotiation and contract signing - Carefully study the appropriateness of all conditions as well as practical requirements of each specific bidding package Particularly pay attention to and carefully negotiate following important contents: (i) Detailed provisions on risk division between the road construction operating management owners and the maintenance contractors; (ii) Terms of arisen volume, adjustments for contract volume and price; (iii) Problems are frequently raised with contract disputes during the actual implementation; (iv) Provisions related to the handling of contractual disputes in case of disputes between parties; (v) Terms on contract termination and cancellation After carefully negotiating each specific term, road construction operating management owners shall complete contract documents before being signed by involving parties - Enlarge the scale and scope of contracts into large-scale bidding packages, prolong the duration of contract performance The increasing of contract implementation period to 10 years shall be the motive power for contractors to boldly improve their capacity to perform maintenance contracts with the best results - Establish binding obligations requiring both road construction operating management owners and maintenance contractors to strictly comply with the regulations, necessary documents for contract negotiation should be ensured with quality - As for terms and conditions of road construction maintenance contracts to be negotiated and signed, they should be supplemented with the content of minimizing losses of contractors due to climate changes that affect the road construction maintenance 25 4.3.3 Improve the acceptance, final settlement of road construction maintenance contracts 4.3.3.1 Capital sources for contract performance: a As for State authorities: - Conduct accurate assessments on current status of damages on each route to be maintained to determine appropriate needs for capital; Reasonably and scientifically allocate sources of capital to road construction maintenance; Mobilize other sources of capital from socialization for maintenance; Strengthen management, control on vehicle load and increase penalties for overloaded vehicles - Diversify capital sources for road construction maintenance in order to prepare adequate capital that meet current maintenance capital needs; establish maintenance capital projects to solve capital constraints for the maintenance of road construction b As for road construction operating management owners - Strengthen measures to manage contract, materials used in the constructions; strengthen the management of the Contractor's maintenance technology in order to control the volume, quality, progress and costs during implementation - Establish a framework of criteria for assessing the quality of exploitation because it is a basic element for inspecting, accepting and final settling The framework should ensure the requirements of (1) The level of service effectiveness; (2) Timeliness; (3) Safety; (4) Quality of service and (5) Cost effectiveness c As for maintenance contractors: - Enhance the application of science, technology and mechanization in the implementation process - Increase awareness and strict compliance with all provisions of the policies and mechanism issued by the State as well as all terms stated in the signed contract 4.3.3.2 Forms of contract price and payment: - For Maintenance Services: Apply the form of fixed-price contract, monthly payment, by multiplying unit price per km (month) with the number of km (number of months) performed - For Renovation work: Apply the form of fixed-price contract with separated work items included in the contract price, by multiplying the completed output volume of each work item with its unit price; payment is made in accordance with contract implementation progress - For periodic overlays: Apply the form of fixed-price contract with separated work items included in the contract price, by multiplying the completed output volume of each work item with its unit price - For Emergency Repair: Apply the form of estimated fixed-price contract and the cost is included in monthly expenses of performance quality service (for general items); this is 26 applied to each specific emergency case, by multiplying estimated volume with its unit price (applied to earthworks, drainage repair, slopes, surface repair, etc.) 4.3.3.3 Standardize the documents for acceptance - Establish the standard sequence for acceptance and payment, and fully describe the contents of each step - The Contractor daily carry out the acceptance of each work item, he must provide the road construction operating management owners with following documents: (1) Request for inspection; (2) Minutes of acceptance for maintenance; (3) Minutes of acceptance for work volume; (4) List of contractor's personnel; (5) List of equipment and machines for traffic safety insurances; (6) List of construction equipment and machines; (7) List of formwork acceptance (for concrete placement); (8) Results of elevation inspection before constructing of items; (9) Results of elevation inspection after constructing of items; (10) Record of sampling of each material; (11) Quality control results for each material; (12) Results of particle composition experiments; (13) Standard compaction test results; (14) Result of determining the technical standard of the item to be accepted 4.3.3.4 Contract final payment and settlement - The agencies approving the settlement must pay attention and drastically direct the settlement of the contracts; strictly implement the strengthening and speeding up the settlement work - Increasing the quantity and quality of the settlement team of agencies in charge of examining the settlement; propose to prolong the time for examining and approving the settlement of contracts - Require road construction operating management owners, road construction management units and maintenance contractors to strictly abide regulations on procedures and sequences of setting up final settlement dossiers - Strictly and scientifically monitor, manage and achieve settlement records to avoid misplaced and irrecoverable files 4.3.4 Enhance the application of PBC contracts in road construction maintenance 4.3.4.1 Proposed process for the implementation of a road construction maintenance contract 27 Figure 4.2 - Proposed the process for the implementing of a road construction maintenance contract 28 4.3.4.2 Proposals for improvement of PBC contract form - Develop general provisions on road construction maintenance contract to make a foundation and legal basis for the implementation and management of road construction maintenance contract implementation after the signing; ensure explicitness and clarity of the agreement between road construction operating management owners and maintenance contractor as well as the change or termination of rights and obligations in contract performance - Develop regulations on (i) the principle for contract signing; (ii) the contents and forms of contracts; (iii) the invalid contracts; (iv) the contract amendments and supplements, etc., on the basis of respecting the freedom, voluntariness and equality in negotiation and agreement between the road construction operating management owners and maintenance contractors - Develop a uniform model of maintenance contract for road construction based on the respects for the inherent nature of the contractual relationship; supplement and adjust some provisions to perfect PBC contracts which have been relatively effectively applied in Viet Nam The close and flexible combination of performance base maintenance and actual volume performed in a road construction maintenance contract shall create a uniform contract form that suitable to each specific content in a large scale and long-term contract For the above purposes, PhD student has completed the PBC contract form (Appendix 5) and some important documents on the Letter of Acceptance for Bid proposal and contract award (Appendix 6); Guarantee for contract performance (Appendix 7); Deposit security (Appendix 8) and Money Guarantee (Appendix 9) 4.4 Assessment on the imperativeness and feasibility of proposed solutions 4.4.1 The imperativeness of the proposed solutions This thesis proposes four solutions and surveys to verify the imperativeness and feasibility of the proposed solutions Survey results show that the imperativeness and feasibility of the four proposed solutions are correlated and homogeneous The imperativeness and feasibility of the proposed solutions are of above the average; among them, the two most imperative and feasible solutions that need priority are “Improve the contract negotiation and signing, and management for the implementation of road construction maintenance contracts” and “Improve the acceptance, payment and settlement for road construction maintenance contracts” 29 CONCLUSIONS AND PROPOSALS Conclusion The findings of this thesis contribute in promoting the results and overcoming the limits of the management of road construction maintenance contracts in Vietnam, in order to improve the management of road construction maintenance contracts so that contribute to the rational and efficiency use of road constructions and extending the life of road constructions Contribution of the thesis: - Firstly: Overview of domestic and overseas research on special management, exploitation and maintenance of special equipment; on special maintenance contract; on management of special maintenance contract and finding research gaps - Secondly: The thesis has systematically presented, supplemented and developed the theoretical basis for road construction maintenance contracts and the management for road construction maintenance contracts Summarize experiences of some countries in the world and lessons for Vietnam - Thirdly: Analyzing and assessing current status of road construction maintenance activities, the thesis has analyzed and synthesized the results achieved in maintenance and management of road construction maintenance contract as well as limits and issues raised in the application of appropriate forms of maintenance contract and the needs to improve the management of road construction maintenance contracts in Vietnam - Fourthly: The thesis includes four solutions proposed to perfect the management of road construction maintenance contracts with scientific evaluation methods, these solutions are of high reliability on the necessity and feasibility The solutions are proposed in order to prolong service life of national highways by improving the contract performance quality, ensuring the progress of maintenance contracts, improving the capacity of contract management, improving the capacity of maintenance contractors, etc Recommendations: - Additional implementation and completing detailed legal documents on standards, norms, price ranges, investment capital rate for maintenance, plan of cost price, contract procedures, bidding to select maintenance contractors … aims to assign the Ministry of Transport to integrate the content of managing special-service maintenance contracts into the system of legal documents to ensure consistency and uniformity - Promulgate detailed and unified legal documents on road construction maintenance contract and management for road construction maintenance contract in order to adjust acts and consciousness of the subjects participating in the contracts - Establish policies which give priorities to the implementation of maintenance contract for important roads 30 - Establish policies which give priorities to the elimination of potential traffic and construction risks, and the replacement of damaged or degraded bridges - Establish policies on maintenance acceptance and payment ensuring procedures stated in the signed maintenance contracts; These shall help the contractors be financially proactive in implementing signed road construction maintenance contracts - Establish policies and sanctions to strictly handle all contract violations from the bidding stage to the contract implementation, etc., of all entities involved in the contract management process - Implement the mechanism that encourage private contractors to participate in the implementation of road construction maintenance contracts - Study and promulgate legal documents on detailed and unified road construction maintenance contracts in managing road construction maintenance contracts in Vietnam 31 LIST OF STUDY WORKS WRITTEN BY PHD STUDENT WHICH RELATE TO THE THESIS AND HAVE BEEN PUBLISHED Bui Thi Ngoc Lan (2019), "Study on road construction maintenance contracts in Vietnam", Architecture and Construction Magazine No 33/2019, page 85 Bui Thi Ngoc Lan (2019), "The solutions to improve cost control in maintaining road constructions ", Vietnam Road and Bridge Magazine No 3/2019, page 33 Bui Thi Ngoc Lan (2019), "Solutions for managing risks in road construction maintenance contract based on performance quality and results (Performance Based Contract)", Vietnam Road and Bridge Magazine No 4/2019, page 26 Bui Thi Ngoc Lan (2019), "Maintenance for road construction in of Vietnam: Results and set forth tasks", Transport Magazine No 06/2019, page 161 ... and settlement - The agencies approving the settlement must pay attention and drastically direct the settlement of the contracts; strictly implement the strengthening and speeding up the settlement... CONSTRUCTION MAINTENANCE CONTRACT IN VIETNAM 4.1 Demands for maintenance for road construction in Vietnam 4.1.1 Demands for road transport in Vietnam In Vietnam, road transport plays an important... maintenance process and it must be agreed by Vietnam General Department of Vietnam Roads; (iii) In the contract settlement, reporting and approval on the settlement of contracts, operating management