What happens if you buy a villa built without a PBG?

PBG — Persetujuan Bangunan Gedung — is the building approval that replaced the old IMB. SLF — Sertifikat Laik Fungsi — certifies the completed building is fit for use.

Both are required. Both are frequently missing on villas that have been sold and resold for years.

What missing paperwork actually costs you

Without a PBG and SLF you cannot obtain a rental licence, which means you cannot legally list the property — and after the 31 March 2026 deadline, platform listings without a licence face delisting.

You also cannot cleanly sell to a buyer who does their diligence, you may not be able to connect certain utilities or insure the building properly, and you carry exposure to enforcement.

That exposure stopped being theoretical in July 2025, when 48 structures at Bingin Beach were demolished under a Badung demolition warrant, with several hundred personnel involved. Enforcement teams have continued sealing unlicensed properties across Canggu, Uluwatu and Ubud.

Retrospective permits

Sometimes possible. Sometimes not — particularly where the building breaches zoning, height limits or setbacks, in which case no amount of process will fix it, because the building should not exist where it is.

Where it is possible it takes months, costs real money, and may require physical modification to the building.

What to check before you buy

• PBG issued, in the name matching the certificate, covering every structure on the plot
• SLF issued
• The as-built matches the approved drawings. Extensions, extra rooms and added pools are routinely built beyond the permit.
• Building sits within all applicable setbacks
• Height within 15 metres

The off-plan version

Buying off-plan, insist the developer's PBG exists before you pay anything beyond a nominal booking fee. "The permit is in process" is the single most common line in Bali off-plan sales, and it is sometimes true and sometimes cover for a project that will never be permitted.

Structure payments against verified construction milestones with retention held to completion and SLF issuance.

On construction cost, while you are here

Realistic hard construction in 2026 runs roughly USD 1,000–1,800 per square metre for investment-grade work, excluding land. Below about USD 600 you are buying a building that will show rising damp and rusting reinforcement within three to five years.

Budget overruns of 25–35% are normal. Rainy season adds 20–40% to structural phases. Use a licensed contractor with an NIB, a detailed bill of quantities, milestone payments, and an independent construction supervisor who works for you rather than for the builder.