Architects in Canggu, Bali

An architect designs the building and prepares the drawings. In Indonesia the law defines architect practice as planning, design, supervision and assessment of buildings and their surroundings (UU 6/2017, Article 1).

The architectural drawings form part of the technical plan that goes to the regency or city for a PBG. PP 16/2021 reviews the plan in two parts: architecture first, then structure, mechanical, electrical and plumbing (Article 255). Where a building calls for consideration of customary (adat) matters, the review may involve the customary community (Article 254(5)). Many architects work with structural and MEP engineers and hand the approved design to a builder.

• Scope by stage: concept, design development, PBG technical drawings, construction drawings, and site supervision if offered.
• Whether structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing design is included or sub-contracted, and to whom.
• How many design revisions are included.
• Who prepares and submits the PBG documents, and who answers the reviewers’ questions.
• The fee basis (fixed, per square metre, or a percentage of build cost), as the firm states it.
• Who owns the drawings, and whether you can give them to any builder.

• STRA (Surat Tanda Registrasi Arsitek). To be an architect, a person must hold one (UU 6/2017 Article 6(1)). It is valid for 5 years and renewed with continuing professional development (Article 10).
• Licence (Lisensi). An architect acting in building permitting must hold a licence, issued by the provincial government; one without it must work with a licensed architect (UU 6/2017 Article 14). The licence requires a valid STRA and a recommendation from the professional organisation (Article 15).
• The firm’s business registration (NIB), searchable on OSS.

• No named architect with an STRA, or the STRA has passed its 5-year validity.
• The design exceeds 15 metres above ground without a stated exemption; Bali Provincial Regulation 2/2023, Article 100, sets 15 metres as the general limit.
• The fee does not say who prepares the PBG technical documents.
• Drawings are delivered only as images, not in a form a builder and the permit reviewers can use.

We have no published sample of design durations in Bali yet. One statutory step: for buildings larger than a small single house, PP 16/2021 sets the technical review of a PBG application at no more than five sessions within at most 28 working days, the first within 3 working days of registration (Article 254(8) and (9)). Ask the architect how long reviews have taken in your regency recently. See building permits: PBG and SLF.