The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction is seeking opinions on the draft Decision of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee regulating works exempted from construction permits in the area.
According to the draft, in addition to the works already specified in Clause 2, Article 43, Construction Law No. 135/2025/QH15, Ho Chi Minh City proposes to add a number of cases exempted from construction permits.
The most notable are individual houses of households, individuals and organizations with a scale of less than 7 floors, with a total floor area of less than 500m2.
However, this policy only applies to houses located in areas that already have urban architectural management regulations, 1/500 detailed planning or approved separate urban designs.
In case the approved legal documents do not stipulate the construction of a basement, the investor can still build a maximum of one basement and is exempt from construction permits, provided to ensure safety for adjacent works and underground technical infrastructure systems.
People can still request competent authorities to issue construction permits if they have the need. The issuance of permits will be carried out by the People's Committees of communes, wards, special zones and the Department of Construction according to their authority.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, the demand for building individual houses of people is very large, causing permit procedures to arise in a significant volume.
In the first 6 months of 2026, Ho Chi Minh City has issued 20,222 construction permits, with a total floor area of more than 14.83 million m2. Among these, mainly ward and commune People's Committees issued 20,050 permits.
The Department of Construction believes that individual houses are a group of projects that have direct and regular relationships with people. Therefore, expanding the area of exemption from permits in areas that have been strictly controlled in terms of planning and architecture will contribute to reducing administrative procedures.
According to this agency, when the basic indicators on planning, architecture and urban space management have been established, it is possible to switch from the pre-inspection mechanism through issuing construction permits to management based on planning, architecture, commencement notices and construction order inspection.
In addition to individual houses, the draft also proposes exempting construction permits for temporary works not based on planning, which are cases specified in the Law on Urban Development.
This group may include wharves, smart parking garages, toilets, electricity charging stations, inland waterway ports and some other temporary works on public land managed by the State, road land, road safety corridors, park land, river, canal, ditch protection corridors and suitable areas.
Another group of projects proposed for exemption from licenses are charging poles and battery exchange cabinets installed on non-agricultural land or land managed by the State.
According to the Department of Construction, the demand for charging infrastructure development is expected to increase sharply along with the green transition process of Ho Chi Minh City's transportation. The city sets a target that by 2040, 100% of vehicles in circulation will use electricity or green energy.
