Permit agents in Bali

A permit agent prepares and follows applications on the owner’s behalf. For a build, the two permits that matter most come from PP 16/2021:

• PBG (Persetujuan Bangunan Gedung), the building approval to build, alter, extend, reduce or maintain a building (Article 1). The technical plan is submitted to the regency or city to obtain it before construction (Article 253(1)).
• SLF (Sertifikat Laik Fungsi), the regional government’s certificate that the building is fit for use, needed before it is used (Article 1).

Both run through SIMBG, the web-based building management system (PP 16/2021 Article 1). Business licensing for a company, including a PT PMA, runs through OSS, the integrated electronic licensing system (oss.go.id; BKPM Regulation 5/2025).

The technical documents behind a PBG are prepared by architects and engineers; some permit agents work with them, some offer them in-house. Full detail: building permits: PBG and SLF.

• Exactly which permits are covered (PBG, SLF, business licences in OSS), and which are not.
• Whether the technical drawings are included, and who signs them.
• Government fees shown separately from the agent’s own fee. The PBG carries a regional levy (retribusi) charged by the regency or city on issuing it (UU 1/2022 Article 88(4) and (5)); ask for the figure and the regional regulation it comes from.
• What the agent needs from you, and by when.
• What happens if an application is returned for changes.
• Whether the agent will give you the SIMBG and OSS records in your name, so you can follow them.

• The firm’s NIB, searchable on OSS.
• The licensed architect responsible for the PBG documents: UU 6/2017 Article 14 requires an architect acting in building permitting to hold a licence, or to work with one who does.
• Copies of the issued PBG and SLF in the owner’s name, not only a receipt for an application.

• The agent offers to let construction start “while the PBG is processed”. PP 16/2021 Article 253(1) puts the PBG before construction.
• Fees are quoted as one sum with no split between government levies and the agent’s fee.
• The permits are to be issued in the agent’s name or a nominee’s name rather than the owner’s.
• The design exceeds 15 metres above ground with no stated exemption; Bali Provincial Regulation 2/2023, Article 100, sets 15 metres as the general limit.

Statutory limits from PP 16/2021. Ask the agent how actual times compare in your regency.

• PBG technical review, for buildings larger than a small single house: no more than five sessions within at most 28 working days, the first within 3 working days of registration (Article 254(8) and (9)).
• SLF: issued within at most 3 working days after the statement of fitness for use is uploaded to SIMBG (Article 276(2)).
• SLF renewal: every 20 years for single and terraced houses, every 5 years for other buildings, after an inspection (Article 297). Ask which applies to a villa run as a rental.