PBG permit in Bali: how the building approval is obtained, step by step

Two stages — a free planning consultation, then issuance after the regional levy is paid — and two clocks the regulation actually sets. Every step below is cited to PP 16/2021.

What a PBG is, and when you need one

The PBG — Persetujuan Bangunan Gedung — is a building consent, not a land right (PP 16/2021 art. 1(17)). It replaced the IMB. It does not give you any right to the land; it records that a technical plan for a building on that land meets the standards for its function.

It is needed for building new, altering, extending, reducing and/or maintaining a building or its infrastructure (PP 16/2021 art. 253(3)), and it must be applied for before construction starts (PP 16/2021 art. 253(4)). It is applied for at the regency or city government (the province, in Jakarta; the minister, for special-function buildings) (PP 16/2021 art. 253(1)-(2)) — in Bali, that means the regency or Denpasar city, not the province.

The PBG is also not the first permission in the chain. Under the business-licensing rules, the basic requirements for any activity are spatial-use conformity (KKPR), environmental approval (PL), and the building approval and fitness certificate (PBG and SLF) (PP 28/2025 art. 12(1)): the zoning conformity comes before the building approval, and a plot whose zone does not allow the building will not get past the review. How the zoning check is read.

The procedure, in the order it happens

A PBG runs in two stages: planning consultation, then issuance (PP 16/2021 art. 253(5)). The consultation consists of registration, review against the technical standards, and a statement of compliance with them (PP 16/2021 art. 253(7)), and it is held without charge (PP 16/2021 art. 253(8)). Issuance means setting the regional levy, paying it, and issuing the PBG (PP 16/2021 art. 261(1)). In full:

A dash means the regulation sets no clock for that step. We have not added one.

Registration

Registration is made through SIMBG (PP 16/2021 art. 253(9)), which the regulation defines as a web-based electronic system for the PBG, SLF, building-ownership certificate and demolition processes (PP 16/2021 art. 1(48)). The applicant submits the applicant's or owner's data, the building's data, and the technical plan documents (PP 16/2021 art. 253(10)). Where part of the building is meant to be sold or transferred separately, the application adds a plan of the separate parts (rencana pertelaan) (PP 16/2021 art. 253(11)) — relevant to a villa complex planned for strata sale, irrelevant to a single house. The secretariat checks the file and gives a consultation schedule, through SIMBG, once the information is complete (PP 16/2021 art. 253(12), (14)).

Review: TPA or TPT

Who reviews depends on size. The TPT — a team of regency or city agencies that assesses small single houses and SLF renewal applications (PP 16/2021 art. 1(53)) — reviews single-story houses up to 72 m² and two-story houses up to 90 m² (PP 16/2021 art. 254(3)). Every building above those sizes goes to the TPA: a team of professional experts appointed by the regency or city to give technical advice (PP 16/2021 art. 1(52)).

The review runs in a fixed order: architecture first; structure, mechanical, electrical and plumbing only once the architecture passes (PP 16/2021 art. 255(1)-(2)). One rule carries a lot of weight in practice. It concerns the reviewers’ comments, which must be concrete and comprehensive, and cannot be changed or added to at a later session (PP 16/2021 art. 255(5)). A reviewer cannot raise a new objection at the fourth session that could have been raised at the first. If the architect is told something new late in the process, that is a point to raise, with the article.

In Bali one more rule applies: where a building needs consideration of customary aspects, the review may involve the customary (adat) community (PP 16/2021 art. 254(5)). The Buildings Law separately provides that customary buildings follow special provisions (Law 28/2002 art. 7(3), as amended by Law 6/2023).

The review ends with a recommendation to issue the statement of compliance, or a recommendation to register again (PP 16/2021 art. 255(10)). A negative result is not a refusal. The applicant corrects the plan and registers again, and the consultation continues from the minutes of the earlier consultation (PP 16/2021 art. 256(3)-(4)) — the earlier sessions are not thrown away.

The levy, and issuance

The statement of compliance is used to obtain the PBG together with the technical calculation for the levy (PP 16/2021 art. 256(5)). The levy is built from an integrated index and a unit price (PP 16/2021 art. 261(3)); the unit price is set by the regency or city government (PP 16/2021 art. 261(5)), so the same villa costs differently in Denpasar and in Badung. Denpasar’s by-law builds the figure from total floor area, a locality index, an integrated index and a built-building index (Denpasar Perda 5/2023 art. 63(3)(a)), and charges a swimming pool separately at IDR 10,000 per m² (Denpasar Perda 5/2023, PBG levy annex). How the levy is built, in more detail.

Once paid, the PBG is issued by the one-stop licensing office (DPMPTSP), once it has proof the levy was paid (PP 16/2021 art. 261(7)-(8)). It comes as a document with an attachment, and the attachment — the approved drawings — is what the building will later be checked against.

After the PBG: the start notice, the inspections, and the SLF

Construction begins after the PBG is obtained, and the owner must give the schedule and start date of construction, through SIMBG, before work begins (PP 16/2021 art. 263(3)-(4)). This step is easy to miss and it has a consequence: if the notice is never given, the PBG is revoked, after at most 2 clarification requests within 6 months of issue (PP 16/2021 art. 263(6)-(8)), and the applicant registers from the beginning. A PBG obtained and then left in a drawer while financing is arranged is exposed to exactly this.

The technical office then inspects the works at the substructure, any basement, the superstructure with architecture and services, and testing and commissioning (PP 16/2021 art. 265(3)). Each inspection is due within 3 working days of the owner's notice — and if it does not happen, work may proceed to the next stage (PP 16/2021 art. 265(4)-(5)). A late inspection does not stop the site.

At the end, the SLF — a fitness-for-function certificate (PP 16/2021 art. 1(18)) — must be obtained before the building may be used (PP 16/2021 art. 274(2)). It is issued with the building-ownership certificate (SBKBG) within 3 working days of the fitness statement being uploaded, without charge (PP 16/2021 art. 276(2)-(3)). The SLF then has to be renewed: it is valid for 20 years for single and terraced houses; 5 years for other buildings (PP 16/2021 art. 297(2)).

The building-ownership certificate on leased land

The SBKBG is where the PBG meets the land. Its attachments include the land-use agreement, a deed of separation, a site plan and/or a fiducia deed where charged (PP 16/2021 art. 275(4)). The general elucidation to PP 16/2021 accepts that a building may stand on another's land by agreement, so building and land ownership can differ (PP 16/2021, general elucidation), and the Buildings Law requires a written agreement between the landowner and the building owner for it (Law 28/2002 art. 35(3), as amended by Law 6/2023). For a villa built on a lease, that agreement is the lease or a document alongside it — and what it says about the building at the end of the term is what the SBKBG will carry. What a lease is, in Indonesian law.

Changing a building that already has a PBG

An amended PBG is needed for a change of function, of the number of floors, of floor area, of the façade, or of components affecting safety or health, and structural strengthening (PP 16/2021 art. 262(2)). It is not needed for routine upkeep (pemeliharaan) and care (perawatan) (PP 16/2021 art. 262(3)).

Two of those cases come up constantly in Bali. Adding a floor or enclosing a terrace changes the floor area. Turning a house into a guest villa changes the function: a change of function requires a new PBG from the central government (Law 28/2002 art. 6(3), as amended by Law 6/2023), and it also moves the building onto a different SLF cycle. Height is capped separately by the provincial spatial plan at 15 meters above the ground (Bali Perda 2/2023 art. 100(2)), so an extra story can fail on height before it reaches the review. The 15-meter rule.

A villa that was built without a PBG, or has only an IMB

Three positions, each with a documentary answer:

• It has an IMB. The IMB is still valid until it expires (PP 16/2021 art. 346(2)). Nothing needs converting. A later alteration on the amended-PBG list goes through the PBG procedure.
• It has a PBG but no SLF. It may not lawfully be used until the SLF is issued (PP 16/2021 art. 274(2)).
• It has neither. The building must obtain an SLF first (PP 16/2021 art. 346(3)), and the PBG is issued together with the SLF (PP 16/2021 art. 262(4); art. 286(2)). The as-built drawing must show at least beam and column dimensions, escape routes, fire protection, lightning protection and the electrical installation (PP 16/2021 art. 282(13)).

The third position is the one buyers meet. It is not hopeless; it is work, and it has to be done by someone who can prepare an as-built drawing and a technical assessment. Who pays for that, and whether the price reflects it, is a negotiation point — item 9 of the due diligence checklist.

The sanctions for building without a PBG or using a building without an SLF are administrative: a written warning, restriction or suspension of building or use, freezing or revocation of the PBG or SLF (PP 16/2021 art. 327(2)). They fall on the owner and the user, which after a sale means the buyer.

Where to read the rest

This page is the procedure. The reasons behind it are on three others: building a villa in Bali (the land right, the zone’s coverage cap, the levy), PP 16/2021 in English (function and the SLF cycle), and the Buildings Law (the owner’s duties and when a building can be ordered down).

Questions on this page