Design Codes for Steel Structures in Vietnam: TCVN and Eurocode

The design codes for steel structures in Vietnam are the national standards, known as TCVN, together with international codes that foreign clients often specify. Vietnam has its own standard for the design of steel structures, and many projects follow it. Projects with international clients often specify Eurocode 3 or an American standard instead.

The code must be stated in the contract, because it governs the loads, the checks and the fabrication. When you choose a steel structure fabricator in Vietnam, ask which codes it works to every day and which it can support on request.

Design codes for steel structures in Vietnam: the national standards

Vietnam publishes national standards under the TCVN system. For steel structures, the design standard is TCVN 5575. Loads and actions are covered by a separate loading standard, and earthquake design has its own standard. The names and numbers of these standards are updated from time to time, so confirm the current edition with the engineer of record before you cite it in a contract.

International codes used alongside the national ones

Export and foreign-investment projects raise the question quickly, because the client's engineer may have written the design to a code from home. A fabricator that has worked to several codes can translate the requirements into shop drawings, but only if the specification names them.

Foreign investors often bring their own codes:

• Eurocode 3 (EN 1993) is used by many European and Asian clients. Its scope is outlined in this summary of Eurocode 3.
• AISC specifications are common on projects led by American companies.
• Other national codes, for example Australian or Malaysian standards, appear on export projects.

A project may combine them, for example by designing to Eurocode for the steel and to the Vietnamese standards for loads and local conditions. That combination must be written down.

Design code, fabrication standard and certificate

Three things are easy to confuse:

1. The design code governs the loads and the member checks.
2. The fabrication and execution standard governs cutting, welding, bolting and tolerances.
3. A certificate shows how the fabricator manages quality, for example welding quality under EN ISO 3834-2.

Designing to a code is not the same as being certified to it. Read our explanation of EN ISO 3834-2 welding certification to see how a certificate relates to the work.

How to state it in the specification

• Name the design code and the edition
• Name the loading standard and the wind and seismic basis for the site
• Name the steel grade standard and the welding standard
• State which standard governs fabrication tolerances
• Say who is the engineer of record

If two codes could conflict, say which one governs. Without this, each party reads the project in its own way. See also our guides to wind uplift and to seismic design basics.

What Truong Thinh works with

Truong Thinh prepares structural analysis and detailing in Tekla, SAP2000 and AutoCAD, and our engineers work to the code stated in the project specification. Our technical specifications list the grades and the welding scope, and our page on steel structure fabrication in Vietnam explains the process. Treat the project specification as the governing document. Agreeing on the design codes for steel structures in Vietnam at the start of a project is the simplest way to avoid disputes on loads and checks.

If you need to confirm the design basis for a steel package, send the specification and the loads, and discuss your structural design requirements with our engineering team.

Frequently Asked Questions