How to check a Bali developer before you pay a deposit

Off-plan buyers on Bali rarely lose money on the design. They lose it when the land, the permits or the company turn out to be different from what the brochure said. In 2024 Terje Nilsen of Seven Stones Indonesia told The Jakarta Post that the market had “an awful lot of ‘off-plans’ that did not get completed”. In some cases, he said, the contractor ran out of cash and went bankrupt or simply left.

The checks below cost little compared with a villa. Do them before the booking fee, not after the contract.

Is the company real, and who stands behind it?

Indonesian companies are registered with the Directorate General of General Legal Administration (AHU) at the Ministry of Law. Anyone can use the company search at ahu.go.id. A search by name shows whether the company exists. A latest profile costs Rp 50,000 and a full profile Rp 500,000, paid by voucher, and arrives as a PDF.

Compare three names: the company in the contract, the company on the building permit and the company that receives your money. On Bali the marketing brand often differs from the legal entity, which is normal. Three different legal entities without an explanation is not.

Who owns the land?

Ask for a copy of the land certificate, usually Hak Milik (freehold, held by an Indonesian) or HGB (held by a company). If the developer itself leases the land from a Balinese family, ask for that master lease as well. Check that it runs at least as long as your lease and allows subletting.

You cannot easily check a certificate yourself. The land agency’s app, Sentuh Tanahku, shows certificate data only after you activate it by confirming an Indonesian national ID number at a land office. The check you need goes through a notary. Before a PPAT, the official who draws up land deeds, prepares a deed that transfers or encumbers land, the rules require them to check the certificate against the land office registers. Since a 2021 amendment this check is done electronically. Ask your notary to run the same check before you pay anything beyond a refundable booking fee.

Look at three things in the result: the owner’s name matches the person or company you are dealing with, there is no mortgage or block on the plot, and the plot on the map is the one you visited. Ask the developer directly whether the land or the building is pledged to a bank.

Can a villa legally stand on this plot?

Zoning decides whether the building can exist at all. GISTARU, the spatial planning app of the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs, shows the legal spatial plans and, where one exists, the detailed spatial plan (RDTR) with its zoning rules. Check that the zone allows the use you are paying for, for example tourist accommodation if you plan to rent the villa out.

Bali enforces this now. On 21 July 2025 the provincial government demolished 48 buildings at Bingin beach. Governor Wayan Koster said they stood without permits on land registered as an asset of Badung regency. After floods in September 2025 that killed 17 people, Koster said there should be no more conversion of productive land for hotels, villas and restaurants. If the plot was a rice field until recently, ask your notary about its zone before anything else.

Which permits should the developer show?

The main one is the PBG (Persetujuan Bangunan Gedung), the building approval. It replaced the old IMB under the Job Creation Law, with the details set in Government Regulation 16/2021. A PBG is the permission to construct a building, so a project that is already being built should be able to show it. Applications go through SIMBG, the government’s online system for building approvals. Buildings permitted before 2021 may still hold a valid IMB.

The second is the SLF (Sertifikat Laik Fungsi), the certificate that a building is fit for use. Under the Building Law as amended, a building may be used only after it has an SLF. An unfinished project will not have one yet, which is normal. Write it into the contract as a condition of handover.

Also ask for the company’s NIB, its business identification number, and check that its business codes (KBLI) match what it does, building and selling or renting out.

How should the payments be structured?

Indonesian housing rules give a useful benchmark. Under Government Regulation 12/2021, a developer may sign a preliminary sale agreement (PPJB) for a house under construction only once five things are certain: land status, the subject of the agreement, the PBG, roads and utilities, and at least 20% of construction done. Until those conditions are met, the developer may not take more than 80% of the price. You get at least 7 working days to study the PPJB, and it is signed before a notary.

A developer who takes money before the PPJB has to give you a schedule for construction, for signing the PPJB, and for the deed of sale and handover. If it misses the construction schedule or the PPJB date, you may cancel and get all your payments back. The refund is due within 30 calendar days of the signed cancellation letter. After that the developer owes 1‰ of the amount for each day of delay.

These rules are written for sales of houses and apartments, while most foreigners on Bali buy a lease, which The Jakarta Post put at “probably 75 to 80 percent of the market”. Ask your lawyer whether the rules apply to your deal. Even if they do not, a fair contract looks similar. It ties payments to stages you can check, such as foundation, structure, roof and finishing, and it keeps the last payment until handover and the SLF.

What do completed projects tell you?

More than any presentation. Visit two or three finished projects of the same developer. Talk to owners if you can, and ask how late the handover was. If the villas are rented out, read the guest reviews on booking sites, since they describe the buildings after a few years of use. Ask whether the finished projects received an SLF.

What should make me walk away?

The developer will not show the land certificate, the master lease or the PBG.
The contract, the permit and the bank account name different companies.
You are asked to pay into a personal account.
Most of the price is due before construction is under way.
The zone on the GISTARU map does not allow the use you are buying.

FAQ

Is a PBG the same as an IMB?

The PBG replaced the IMB under the Job Creation Law. An IMB issued before the change stays valid until it expires, while new construction needs a PBG.

Can a developer sell villas before the building is finished?

Yes, selling off-plan is legal and common. The housing rules link the binding agreement and most of the payments to land status, the PBG and at least 20% of construction.

Who should choose the notary?

You should. A developer’s notary may be competent, but you want someone who checks the documents for you.

What happens if construction is late?

Under Government Regulation 12/2021, a buyer can cancel if the developer misses the construction schedule and get all payments back. Check that your contract says the same, with dates and a penalty.

The rules and figures above are as of October 2026. Building and zoning rules on Bali have changed several times since 2021, so have an independent notary and lawyer review the documents before you sign.

Sunny Development Group has completed 10 projects on Bali, nine of them in North Kuta (Canggu, Tibubeneng and Kerobokan). The company counts its time on the market from 2011.