Common problems
- There are no domestic norms for tunnelling, rolling stock, signalling or train control systems.
- Figures are taken from a foreign project without any argument for why that project is "comparable".
- Conversion to the valuation date is done loosely, without separating escalation, exchange rate and differences in construction conditions.
- Each time the project is adjusted the work starts again, because the source data was never kept.
Legal basis
The wording below is our reading of each provision, not an official translation. Only the Vietnamese text is authoritative — you can open every document in the Document lookup section.
Law on Railways — Article 32.1For items that do not fit, or do not appear in, the official system of norms, construction prices and investment rates, a railway project may use systems published by domestic or foreign organisations for comparable items or comparable railway projects, converted to the valuation date.
Law on Railways — Article 32.2 and 32.5Where that is still not possible, investment rates from a comparable project elsewhere in the world may be used. Cost items not yet provided for in Vietnamese law may follow a comparable railway project abroad.
Decree 206/2026/ND-CP — Article 16Appraisal and verification of construction estimates — what the appraiser will examine.
What we do
- Identify which items lack domestic normsCompare the project’s work breakdown against the current norm system and list the gaps.
- Select comparable projects and prove comparabilityBy gauge, line type, share of underground and elevated sections, ground conditions and level of automation. This argument matters as much as the numbers.
- Convert to the valuation dateSeparating three layers: escalation over time, the price-level difference between the two countries, and differences in construction conditions and applicable standards.
- Keep the source dataPublisher, publication date, exchange rate used, price index used — so the next adjustment does not start from zero.
- Write the methodology noteDetailed enough for the appraiser to follow each step of the calculation.
What you receive
- A list of items with no domestic norm
- The comparable-project selection file with its reasoning
- A three-layer conversion table to the valuation date
- The retained source data set for future adjustments
When to call us
When preparing or adjusting total investment; when preparing package estimates for specialised items; or when the appraising authority has asked you to justify the basis of your unit prices.
Two conditions, stated before anything else. First, this is a service under Clause 2, Article 40 of the Law on Independent Audit — an audit firm must register it with the Ministry of Finance before providing it. Second, if we audit your organisation, or expect to, this engagement must pass an independence check under Article 30 of the same law before signing. We run that check first, and if it fails we say so plainly and decline.
Next step
Describe your situation on the Request advice page, or call 0825092007. We read it, classify it and reply within 24 working hours — including when the answer is that the work falls outside what we are permitted to do.
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