Contractors and builders in Canggu, Bali

A builder (contractor) turns the approved drawings into the building. Some work only to another firm’s design; others offer design-and-build, where one firm takes both. PP 16/2021 splits construction into preparation, the works, testing and handover (Article 59(3)), and the works themselves into substructure, basement, superstructure, architecture, and mechanical, electrical and plumbing (Article 59(7)).

The construction law requires every business that carries out construction services to hold a business certificate, the Sertifikat Badan Usaha or SBU (UU 2/2017, Article 30(1)), and every construction worker to hold a work competence certificate, the SKK (Article 70(1)). The law has since been amended by the Job Creation legislation, so ask the firm which certificates it holds today rather than relying on the original text.

See also how to hire a builder in Bali and the process map.

Questions to put to every builder, so quotes can be compared:

• The drawings and specification the price is based on, by revision number.
• A breakdown by the stages in PP 16/2021 Article 59 (substructure, superstructure, architecture, mechanical, electrical and plumbing), not one lump sum.
• What is excluded: pool, landscaping, furniture, utility connections, permits.
• Who applies for the PBG and who pays the regional fee for it, if the builder is to handle it.
• The payment schedule, tied to completed stages.
• The planned duration per stage, and what happens if it overruns.
• Who supervises on the owner’s side, and how the builder reports progress.
• Defects period and what the builder will repair in it.

• SBU number, then look the company up yourself in the LPJK business search (lpjk.pu.go.id).
• SKK certificates of the site manager and key staff, checkable in the LPJK worker search (lpjk.pu.go.id).
• NIB (business identification number), searchable on OSS.
• The PBG for your building. PP 16/2021 requires the technical plan to be submitted to the regency or city to obtain a PBG before construction (Article 253(1)). See building permits: PBG and SLF.

• The firm cannot give an SBU number, or the company name on the contract differs from the one in the LPJK search.
• Work is proposed to start before the PBG is issued (PP 16/2021 Article 253(1)).
• The design goes above 15 metres from the ground without an explanation of the exemption that applies; Bali Provincial Regulation 2/2023, Article 100, sets 15 metres as the general limit.
• Payments are front-loaded and not linked to completed stages.
• No named supervisor. PP 16/2021 expects construction supervision or construction management at each stage, with the regional government notified at the start and end of each stage through SIMBG (Article 59(8) to (10)).

We have no published sample of build durations in Bali yet, so we give none. Statutory steps that affect the timetable:

• The builder may not continue past a stage until the regency or city has inspected it and said work can continue (PP 16/2021 Article 59(11)). Ask the builder how long these inspections take in your regency.
• The SLF must be in place before the building is used; see building permits: PBG and SLF.