Looking for a high-class apartment in Viet Nam? Make sure it has a bidet, or it could be worth less than you think.
The construction ministry's circular No 14, officially circulated last June, outlined the criteria used to classify high-rise buildings. One of those for the two top classes is that apartments must have at least one bidet.
A sales official from the Phu My Hung Company, one of biggest real estate companies in Viet Nam, said the most luxurious 250sq.m flats in Phu My Hung residential area that cost billions of do rig would not make the classification. The apartments all lack bidets.
Nguyen Van Dat, General Director of Phat Dat Real Estate Development Joint Stock Co in HCM City, said he was ignoring this circular because his company's high-rise buildings had already been completed.
He said that a building's class was assessed based on its cost and other criteria, not whether the bathrooms all had bidets.
Truong Thanh Nhan, the general director of Van Phat Hung Company investing in the Phu My real estate project, expressed concern that while the company had advertised their building as top-class, they did not meet the circular standards. Most of their apartments are also missing bidets.
Deputy Construction Minister Nguyen Tran Nam argued that installing bidets in buildings was necessary to serve women.
According to the circular, there are four classes of high-rises in Viet Nam.
A first-class (luxury) building must meet top technology, architecture, infrastructure, equipment and service requirements. Apartments must be over 70sq.m, with a living room, bedroom, kitchen, dining room, toilet and other service rooms. Each must have at least two toilets, and the main bedroom should have a private toilet. Minimum hygiene equipment includes a sink, hygienic tub, bidet, shower and washtub.
Apartments in the next class down as regulated by the Ministry of Construction must be over 60sq.m and also be equipped with bidets.
Under the new criteria, no new projects in HCM City fall into either of these classes.
Unfeasible regulation
Other standards include having enough space for both car and motorbike parking for each apartment.
"The Phu My high-rise building has 500 flats which means that the building must have parking lots for around 750 cars," said Nhan, the general director of Van Phat Hung Company. "But we can't possibly get that much space for a parking garage."
Deputy minister Nam suggested that investors build underground garages or five or six-storey car parks.
Secretary General of HCM City Real Estate Association, Do Thi Loan said the ministry's Circular No 14 not only had unfeasible standards, it also contradicted with other regulations or circulars from the same ministry.
She noted that some flats were under 50sq.m but still cost several billions of dong. She said there was no reason why these flats would rank as third or fourth class.
An investor of a high-rise building located in the southern area of HCM City said he was concerned about his building's classification. He said it was impossible to rank the building as first or second class because most of the flats did not meet the ministry's regulations.
He noted that if the building was ranked as third class, it would lower its value.
Deputy chairman of HCM City's Construction Technology and Science Association, Phan Phung Sanh said that Viet Nam had not previously classified buildings. The initiative came after some buildings were advertised as luxury-class, sold at high prices and turned out to be dumps.
According to Sanh, classification should be based on detailed standards of equipment, services and the final product.
Officials of HCM City's new urban area's management board said Viet Nam needed to circulate standards on designing, constructing, checking and managing buildings.
HCM City University of Economics lecturer Nguyen Xuan Chau said that construction materials of first or second-ranking buildings should be clearly regulated.
According to deputy minister Nam, Viet Nam was still a new market, with limited personal standards, meaning that criteria to classify apartments were necessary.
"The circular is good for buyers because it raises the responsibility of investors," he said.
The construction ministry's circular No 14, officially circulated last June, outlined the criteria used to classify high-rise buildings. One of those for the two top classes is that apartments must have at least one bidet.
A sales official from the Phu My Hung Company, one of biggest real estate companies in Viet Nam, said the most luxurious 250sq.m flats in Phu My Hung residential area that cost billions of do rig would not make the classification. The apartments all lack bidets.
Nguyen Van Dat, General Director of Phat Dat Real Estate Development Joint Stock Co in HCM City, said he was ignoring this circular because his company's high-rise buildings had already been completed.
He said that a building's class was assessed based on its cost and other criteria, not whether the bathrooms all had bidets.
Truong Thanh Nhan, the general director of Van Phat Hung Company investing in the Phu My real estate project, expressed concern that while the company had advertised their building as top-class, they did not meet the circular standards. Most of their apartments are also missing bidets.
Deputy Construction Minister Nguyen Tran Nam argued that installing bidets in buildings was necessary to serve women.
According to the circular, there are four classes of high-rises in Viet Nam.
A first-class (luxury) building must meet top technology, architecture, infrastructure, equipment and service requirements. Apartments must be over 70sq.m, with a living room, bedroom, kitchen, dining room, toilet and other service rooms. Each must have at least two toilets, and the main bedroom should have a private toilet. Minimum hygiene equipment includes a sink, hygienic tub, bidet, shower and washtub.
Apartments in the next class down as regulated by the Ministry of Construction must be over 60sq.m and also be equipped with bidets.
Under the new criteria, no new projects in HCM City fall into either of these classes.
Unfeasible regulation
Other standards include having enough space for both car and motorbike parking for each apartment.
"The Phu My high-rise building has 500 flats which means that the building must have parking lots for around 750 cars," said Nhan, the general director of Van Phat Hung Company. "But we can't possibly get that much space for a parking garage."
Deputy minister Nam suggested that investors build underground garages or five or six-storey car parks.
Secretary General of HCM City Real Estate Association, Do Thi Loan said the ministry's Circular No 14 not only had unfeasible standards, it also contradicted with other regulations or circulars from the same ministry.
She noted that some flats were under 50sq.m but still cost several billions of dong. She said there was no reason why these flats would rank as third or fourth class.
An investor of a high-rise building located in the southern area of HCM City said he was concerned about his building's classification. He said it was impossible to rank the building as first or second class because most of the flats did not meet the ministry's regulations.
He noted that if the building was ranked as third class, it would lower its value.
Deputy chairman of HCM City's Construction Technology and Science Association, Phan Phung Sanh said that Viet Nam had not previously classified buildings. The initiative came after some buildings were advertised as luxury-class, sold at high prices and turned out to be dumps.
According to Sanh, classification should be based on detailed standards of equipment, services and the final product.
Officials of HCM City's new urban area's management board said Viet Nam needed to circulate standards on designing, constructing, checking and managing buildings.
HCM City University of Economics lecturer Nguyen Xuan Chau said that construction materials of first or second-ranking buildings should be clearly regulated.
According to deputy minister Nam, Viet Nam was still a new market, with limited personal standards, meaning that criteria to classify apartments were necessary.
"The circular is good for buyers because it raises the responsibility of investors," he said.
Source: Vietnam News
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