Question mark about construction quality at Gamuda Land's A5 Apartment Complex

Hand over the house before acceptance

Accordingly, the State Appraisal Department of Construction Quality - Ministry of Construction (Appraisal Department) has just issued Notice No. 96/GD-ATXD/HT dated June 29, sent to Gamuda Land Joint Stock Company (Gamuda Land) on the results of the inspection of the acceptance of completed works.

In this document, the Appraisal Department has approved the completion acceptance results of the investor Gamuda Land for the A5 Apartment Complex project, part of the Tan Thang Sports and Residential Complex project (Celadon City, Son Ky ward, Tan Phu district, Ho Chi Minh City).

The A5 apartment complex has just had its acceptance results approved, including blocks of buildings/construction items with a construction area of 30,876.7m2, a total floor area of 250,313.2m2 (excluding basement and roof areas), and a maximum height to the roof floor of 47.95m. With 4 blocks of buildings A1, A2, A3, A4 (block A) 15 floors high, including a 5-storey common base block, a 9-storey tower block and a technical stairwell; the height of the common base block is 17.75m, the height to the roof floor of the tower blocks is 47.95m. The total number of apartments is 688;

3 blocks B1, B2, B3 (block B) are 15 floors high, including a 14-storey tower block and a technical staircase; height to the roof floor is 47.95m. Total number of apartments is 547.

9 blocks V1, V2, V3, V4, V5, V6, V7, V8, V9 (block V) are 5 stories high; height to roof floor is 17.55m. Including 5-story apartments, total of 98 apartments.

There is also a 2-storey mini clubhouse, 12.4m high to the top of the roof wall; 1 basement located under the blocks with a total floor area of 69,427.9m2.

Question about construction quality at Gamuda Land A5 apartment complex, picture 1 — Many Gamuda Land customers had their houses handed over before the Appraisal Department had a document approving the acceptance results.

Also in this document, the Appraisal Department requires Gamuda Land and the Contractors participating in the construction of the project to be responsible for the accuracy, honesty, and conformity of the Design Documents compared to the Technical Regulations and Design Standards; Completion Drawings compared to the approved Design Documents; Construction Completion Documents compared to the provisions of law and to be responsible for the results of the construction quality acceptance.

It is worth mentioning that many months before the acceptance document was issued, Gamuda Land had handed over the houses to customers to move in. During working sessions, when receiving questions from customers about the conditions for handing over the project, this investor repeatedly affirmed that it had all the acceptance documents from the authorities, and was qualified to hand over the houses.

The fact that the A5 Apartment Complex has not been approved for use was discovered when the Journalists and Public Opinion newspaper had a meeting with the Appraisal Department and then the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction requested the Tan Phu District People's Committee to prevent Gamuda Land from handing over apartments there.

As an experienced investor in the construction industry, Gamuda Land's handover of apartments without the competent authority's approval of the acceptance results has raised many customers' doubts about whether this investor does not understand Vietnamese laws or is deliberately breaking the law to force customers to receive the house? In addition, customers who "must receive the house early" have encountered many problems related to the quality of the construction when living here in the past time.

Is the quality worth it?

According to some residents, due to the fear of having to pay a fine if they did not pay to receive the house, they had to take the risk to move in. Although at that time, the investor had not yet provided enough documents to show that the apartment was eligible for handover. The shortcomings related to the quality of the project made the people who moved in extremely upset.

Mr. TN, a resident of Apartment Complex A5, said: “At the time the investor handed over the house, many constructions were not completed and the common living area was not clean. But those were problems that could be easily fixed, so we accepted it. But when the rainy season began, the shortcomings related to the quality of the construction began to be revealed.”

Specifically, during the first rains of the season in May, some apartments were found to have water seepage and leakage from the ceiling. Leakage also occurred in some common areas such as the basement parking lot and the hallway.

Question about construction quality at Gamuda Land A5 apartment complex, picture 2 — The recent rain caused some apartments in A5 Apartment Complex to be flooded.

“The situation of apartments being soaked and flooded has made many people extremely upset about the quality of construction here. Not to mention that with some luxury apartments like Skyline, the quality is not much better when the apartment owner said that the area under the floor was completed carelessly, sketchily, unacceptable. In addition, in the saltwater swimming pool area, residents also recorded water seeping out. If in the long run, saltwater will cause rust and affect the quality of surrounding constructions,” said Mr. TN.

Faced with the above issues related to construction quality, many residents believe that in the long run, residents will be the ones to suffer the main losses. When the warranty period as committed by the investor expires, projects with poor construction quality will reveal many problems and repairs will have to be taken from the residents' maintenance fund.

For that reason, some residents are calling for feedback on issues related to construction quality as well as acceptance results to the authorities. From there, they will review the conditions for putting into use at Apartment Complex A5, to ensure the safety and rights of residents living here.

Question about construction quality at Gamuda Land A5 apartment complex, picture 3 — The floors and skirting at the apartment in the Diamond Alnata area are blistering and peeling due to water damage.

Question about construction quality at Gamuda Land A5 apartment complex, picture 4 — The situation on the ceiling of a Skyline apartment, in the Diamond Alnata subdivision.

Regarding the A5 Apartment Complex, previously on April 13, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee issued a decision to fine Gamuda Land for signing a contract to buy and sell apartments in this apartment complex without a document from the Department of Construction notifying that it is eligible to sell or lease future housing according to the law.

Pursuant to Clause 4, Article 58 of Decree 16/2022 of the Government , the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City has decided to fine Gamuda Land VND 900 million for illegal capital mobilization. The company must also take remedial measures to return the capital mobilized illegally. The time limit for implementing remedial measures is 10 days from the date of receipt of the decision. All costs for organizing the implementation of remedial measures shall be borne by the company.

Up to now, the remediation of the consequences at this apartment complex is still facing many difficulties. Tan Phu District People's Committee has also continuously issued documents requesting Gamuda Land to fully implement the penalty decision of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee. However, in meetings with customers, Gamuda Land said that it is still waiting for instructions from the authorities to make the capital repayment.

Source