Quick summary: An industrial boiler system in Vietnam needs complete documentation across 5 groups: technical safety inspection documents (equipment record, inspection reports, inspection certificate), operator training records, environmental documentation (an environmental permit or environmental registration), fire-safety documentation (design approval, acceptance testing, firefighting plan), and conformity/import documentation where applicable.
Missing any one of these can result in penalties or a lower score during an audit. The sections below list each document type in detail, along with who issues it.
1. Why prepare full documentation, not just for inspection visits?
The article “What Regulations Must Industrial Boilers in Vietnam Comply With?” introduced an overview of the 5 regulatory groups. This article goes deeper into the specific documents a company needs to have on hand, since in practice many companies know which regulations apply to them but are unclear on exactly what documentation is required, who issues it, and where it should be kept.
Complete documentation is not only useful when an inspection team visits — it also:
- Serves as legal evidence protecting the company in the event of a dispute or incident.
- Is a mandatory condition for passing a customer’s factory audit, particularly at FDI-invested factories.
- Helps a new employee (accounting, safety management) take over the role quickly whenever there is staff turnover.
2. Group 1 documentation: Occupational safety and technical inspection
| Document | Content | Issued/prepared by | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boiler equipment record | Technical information, inspection and repair history of the equipment | Prepared by the company, updated after each inspection | Kept throughout the equipment’s service life |
| Factory documentation | Manufacturing-metal and welding-metal certificates, weld inspection results, factory acceptance test record | Provided by the manufacturer | Mandatory for the initial inspection |
| Installation documentation | Installation layout drawing, installation acceptance record | Installer/contractor | Needed again for an extraordinary inspection following a location change |
| Inspection report | Records the examination and testing results from each inspection | Prepared by the inspector, in 2 copies (one for each party) | Kept until the next inspection |
| Inspection result certificate | Confirms the equipment meets technical safety requirements | Issued by the inspecting body within 5 working days of the report being approved | Keep the original somewhere easy to produce |
| Inspection stamp | Affixed directly to the equipment in a clearly visible location | Affixed by the inspector once the equipment passes | Do not remove or relocate the stamp without authorization |
| Operation and maintenance records | Operation log, maintenance and repair tracking book | Maintained by the company, updated daily/periodically | Reviewed by the inspector at every inspection |
| Repair/modification records (if any) | Repair design, acceptance record after repair/modification | Prepared by the repair contractor, kept by the company | Required for an extraordinary inspection following a major repair |
See the applicable interval for each type of inspection in the article “How Often Must an Industrial Boiler Be Inspected in Vietnam?”.
3. Group 2 documentation: Operator training
- Occupational safety and sanitation training certificate for each person who directly operates the boiler, issued by an occupational-safety training center or an inspecting body with a training function.
- A list of operating personnel along with their corresponding training records — it is best to keep a separate file per employee, noting the training date and expiry date (if the certificate has a validity period), to make it easy to track whenever staff change.
- Whenever a new employee takes over, their training certificate must be added to the file immediately, before they are allowed to operate the equipment.
4. Group 3 documentation: Environment
This is the group companies most often get confused about, since there are two different procedures depending on the facility’s scale and when it began operating, under the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection:
4.1. Environmental permit
Applies to investment projects in Group I, II, or III that generate wastewater, dust, or emissions requiring treatment, or that generate hazardous waste requiring management, once they go into official operation (Article 39, 2020 Law on Environmental Protection). The application file includes:
- An application for an environmental permit.
- A report proposing the environmental permit.
- Other legal and technical documents relating to the investment project or production facility.
4.2. Environmental registration
Applies to an investment project that generates waste but does not fall under the category requiring an environmental permit, or to a facility that was already operating before the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection took effect (January 1, 2022) and does not fall under the category requiring an environmental permit (Article 49, 2020 Law on Environmental Protection). The registration file typically includes:
- A location map of the project/facility site.
- An overall site-layout diagram of the project/facility.
- A diagram showing where environmental protection works are installed.
- A diagram showing wastewater/emission sampling points (if applicable).
A company needs to determine which category its facility falls under (permit or registration) before preparing documentation, since submitting the wrong procedure will cost time in having to redo it.
4.3. Periodic monitoring records (if applicable)
For fuel-burning boilers subject to emissions monitoring, periodic environmental monitoring reports should be kept on file, checked against the emission limits under QCVN 19:2024/BTNMT.
5. Group 4 documentation: Fire prevention and fighting (PCCC)
The boiler area typically falls within the factory’s overall fire-safety documentation. The main documents are:
- Fire-safety design approval certificate/document — issued by the Fire Prevention and Fighting Police before construction, confirming the fire-safety design of the facility meets the applicable technical regulation.
- Fire-safety acceptance record — completed after the fire-safety system has been installed, before the facility is put into operation.
- On-site firefighting plan — describing assumed scenarios and the response plan in the event of fire or explosion in the factory area, including the boiler area.
- Decision establishing the facility’s fire-safety team and a list of personnel who have completed fire-safety training.
- Periodic fire-safety inspection record, prepared by the competent authority or through self-inspection.
- Inspection certificate for fire-safety equipment installed on site (fire extinguishers, fire-alarm systems, etc.).
Note: the current fire-safety legal framework consists of the Law on Fire Prevention, Fighting, Rescue, and Relief (2024, No. 55/2024/QH15) and Decree 105/2025/ND-CP. Some reference materials in the market still cite the procedure under the earlier Decree 136/2020/ND-CP; companies should confirm with the local Fire Prevention and Fighting Police which document list applies under the latest regulations.
6. Group 5 documentation: Product conformity and import (if applicable)
This applies only when a company imports a boiler or purchases equipment on a specialized-management list:
- Certificate of origin (C/O) for the equipment.
- The manufacturer’s technical documentation (specifications, catalog, drawings).
- Import quality-inspection registration documents (if the equipment is on a list requiring inspection).
- A conformity certificate (if the equipment is on a list requiring conformity certification before being placed on the market or installed).
7. Summary checklist by group
| Group | Documentation to review |
|---|---|
| Occupational safety & inspection | Equipment record, factory/installation documentation, inspection report, inspection certificate, inspection stamp, operation/maintenance log |
| Operator training | Occupational-safety training certificate for each operator |
| Environment | Environmental permit OR environmental registration (identify the correct one), periodic emissions monitoring report (if applicable) |
| Fire safety (PCCC) | Design approval certificate, acceptance record, firefighting plan, decision establishing the fire-safety team, inspection certificate for fire-safety equipment |
| Conformity/import | C/O, technical documentation, import quality-inspection records, conformity certificate (if applicable) |
8. How to store and manage documentation effectively
- Keep a separate documentation file for each boiler, named or coded by equipment ID, to make it easy to look up when a factory has multiple boilers.
- Keep both a hard copy (required when an inspection team visits) and a scanned/digital copy (easy to search and share internally).
- Clearly assign one person or department (typically safety management or HSE) to be responsible for updating and tracking document deadlines.
- Set a periodic review schedule (for example, every 6 months) to check which documents are due to expire or are missing.
- Whenever the person responsible for documentation leaves or changes, ensure a clear handover of the document list and storage location.
9. What happens if documentation is missing?
- Administrative penalties may apply if inspection reports, environmental documentation, or fire-safety documentation are not prepared or kept as required.
- The company may fail a customer’s factory audit, even if the equipment itself is actually operating safely.
- Time and cost are lost scrambling to prepare documentation when an inspection team visits or a customer makes an unscheduled request.
- In the event of an incident, missing documentation can make it harder for a company to prove it was fully compliant, leading to greater legal liability.
Specific penalty amounts for missing inspection documentation are detailed in the article “Legal Regulations on Boiler Inspection in Vietnam”.
Frequently asked questions
Does a company need both an environmental permit and environmental registration?No. These are two alternative procedures depending on the scale and emissions profile of the facility — a company only needs to complete the procedure that applies to it under Article 39 and Article 49 of the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection, not both.
What should be done if the inspection stamp is peeling off or lost?The company should contact the inspecting body that issued the stamp for guidance, rather than attaching a different stamp or ignoring the issue, since the stamp is part of the valid confirmation of the inspection result.
Does operator training documentation need to be renewed periodically?If the training certificate has a stated validity period, the company must arrange refresher training before it expires. If an employee moves to a different role, they must also be retrained appropriately for the new role.
Does a low-capacity boiler need the same documentation as a high-capacity one?Documentation requirements are based on whether the equipment falls under the list of equipment with strict occupational-safety requirements (based on pressure and temperature), not on capacity or the size of the business.
Conclusion
Legal documentation for an industrial boiler system spans 5 groups: technical safety inspection, operator training, environment, fire safety, and conformity/import. Preparing and storing it completely and systematically not only keeps a company compliant with the law, but also serves as an effective internal management tool, ready for any inspection or factory audit.
(This article summarizes information from regulations current as of August 2026. Companies should confirm the specific list of documents required with the licensed inspecting body, the environmental authority, and the fire-safety authority, since requirements may vary by facility scale and characteristics.)