Administrative Regulations on the Quality Management of Construction Engineering

Regulations on the Quality Management of Construction Engineering

Order of the State Council [2000] No. 279

January 30, 2000

The Regulations on the Quality Management of Construction Engineering which were adopted at the 25th executive meeting of the State Council on January 10, 2000 are hereby promulgated and shall come into force as of the promulgation date.

Premier: Zhu Rongji

Attachment: Regulations on the Quality Management of Construction Engineering

Chapter I General Provisions
　
Article 1 For the purposes of strengthening the quality management of construction engineering, ensuring the quality of construction engineering and protecting the safety of people's lives and property, these Regulations are formulated in accordance with the Construction Law of the People's Republic of China.
　
Article 2 All those engaged in activities such as carrying out new construction, the expansion or reconstruction of any construction engineering as well as conducting supervision and control of the quality of construction engineering shall comply with these Regulations.
The term "construction engineering" as used herein refers to civil engineering projects, architectural engineering projects, projects involving the installation of wires, pipelines and equipment, and decoration projects.
　
Article 3 The owners of construction engineering, survey contractors, design contractors, construction contractors and project supervision contractors shall be responsible for the quality of such construction engineering.
　
Article 4 The construction administrative departments and other relevant departments of the people's governments at the county level or above shall strengthen the supervision and administration over the quality of construction engineering.
　
Article 5 To engage in activities relating to construction engineering, fundamental construction procedures shall be strictly applied and the steps of surveying first, then designing, and finally constructing shall be observed.
No people's government at the county level or above or none of its relevant departments may approve any construction project beyond its power or simplify fundamental construction procedures at its own discretion.
　
Article 6 The adoption of advanced scientific technologies and management methods is encouraged by the State in order to enhance the quality of construction engineering.

Chapter II Quality Responsibilities and Obligations of Construction Project Owners
　
Article 7 A construction project owner shall contract out the project in question to a contractor with the appropriate qualification grades.
No construction project owner may contract out the construction project in question by dividing it into parts.
　
Article 8 A construction project owner shall invite bidding for the survey, design, construction, and supervision of the construction project in question as well as for the purchase of important equipment and materials relating to the construction of such project.
　
Article 9 A construction project owner must provide any survey, design, construction and supervision contractors with original materials relating to the construction project in question.
The original materials shall be authentic, accurate and complete.
　
Article 10 No construction project contracting-out entity may force any contractor to bid for the construction project in question at a price below the cost or arbitrarily cut down on the reasonable time period for the construction of the project.
No construction project owner may expressly or implicitly instruct any design or construction contractor to violate mandatory standards for project construction and thus lower the quality of the project in question.
　
Article 11 A construction project owner shall submit construction drawings and design documents to the construction administrative department or other relevant departments of the people's government at the county level or above for examination and approval. Specific measures for the examination of construction drawings and design documents shall be formulated by the construction administrative department of the State Council in conjunction with other relevant departments of the State Council.
Without examination and approval, neither construction drawings nor design documents may be used.
　
Article 12 For a construction project subject to supervision, the construction project owner shall authorize a project supervision contractor with the appropriate qualification grade to conduct supervision, or may authorize any design contractor for such project, which has appropriate grade of qualification for project supervision and has no affiliation relationship with or any other interest in any construction contractor for such project, to conduct supervision.
The following construction engineering must be subject to supervision:
1. Key construction engineering of the State;
2. Large and medium-scaled public utility projects;
3. Construction engineering of residential neighborhoods developed in vast stretches;
4. Construction engineering with loans or assistance funds from foreign governments or international organizations; and
5. Other projects that must be subject to supervision as provided for by the State.
　
Article 13 Before obtaining a construction permit or a report on the commencement of construction, a construction project owner shall go through formalities for the supervision over the quality of the project in question in accordance with the relevant provisions of the State.
　
Article 14 Where, under the contractual stipulations, the construction project owner is required to purchase building materials , components, fittings and equipment, it shall ensure that such building materials , components, fittings and equipment conform to the design documents and contractual requirements.
A construction project owner may not expressly or implicitly instruct any construction contractor to use any substandard building materials, components, fittings and equipment.
　
Article 15 For a decoration project involving the change of the main part and load-bearing structure of the building in question, the construction project owner shall, prior to the commencement of construction, entrust the original design contractor or another design contractor with the appropriate qualification grade to put forward a design proposal. The construction shall not be commenced without a design proposal.
No user of a building may, during the course of decoration, illegally change the main part or load-bearing structure of the building.
　
Article 16 After receiving a project completion report, a construction project owner shall organize the design, construction, and project supervision contractors concerned and other relevant contractors to conduct completion-based check and acceptance.
A completion-based check and acceptance for a construction project shall satisfy the following requirements:
1. Matters included in the relevant design and stipulated in the contract for the construction project must have been completed;
2. Complete technical archives and construction management materials are available;
3. Reports on entry tests of major building materials , components, fittings and equipment used for the construction project are available;
4. Quality conformity documents as signed respectively by the survey, design, construction, project supervision and other contractors concerned are available; and
5. Warrant for the repair of construction project as signed by the construction contractor concerned.
The construction project shall not be delivered for use unless it has passed the completion-based check.
　
Article 17 A construction project owner shall, in strict accordance with the relevant provisions of the State regarding the administration of archives, timely gather and arrange documents and materials formed in various stages of the construction project in question, establish a sound archiving for the construction project and promptly transfer the archives of the construction project to the competent construction administrative department or other relevant departments when the construction project passes the completion-based check.

Chapter III Quality Responsibilities and Obligations of Survey and Design Contractors
　
Article 18 A contractor engaging in the survey or design of construction engineering shall obtain the certificate of appropriate qualification grade and shall undertake projects within the scope permitted by its qualification grade.
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