- Vetting a Bali developer before a deposit comes down to six checks: who the seller legally is (a PT PMA, a valid NIB, an active KBLI business code), what the villa stands on (an HGB/SHM title and a buildable zone confirmed at the BPN land agency), which construction permits are already in hand (KKPR, PBG, SLF), what the developer has actually delivered, how payment is structured (tranches tied to build milestones, not everything up front) and what the PPJB contract says.
- A deposit is paid only after an independent PPAT notary — not the developer's in-house one — has confirmed a clean title at the BPN, and the contract locks in a firm handover date with late-delivery penalties. In 2026 the permits matter more than ever: with the freeze on farmland conversion and an active SLF required from 31 March 2026, a villa without papers loses both its legality and its income.
A polished render, a sales office overlooking the rice terraces and a promise of "double-digit yields" are worth nothing until you have seen the documents. In Bali the deposit comes after due diligence, not before it — and in 2026 the order of that diligence matters more than ever: farmland conversion is frozen, permit oversight has been tightened, and without a valid certificate of fitness a villa loses the right to be rented out at all. Below is a six-step checklist that separates a reliable developer from a seller of thin air — the kind of scrutiny a buyer from Sydney, London or Dubai would apply to any off-plan asset back home.
How do you vet a Bali developer before paying a deposit?
In short: the check fits into six blocks — the legal entity (who is selling on paper), the land (title and zoning), the permits (KKPR, PBG, SLF), the track record (what has actually been delivered), the money (milestone payments instead of prepayment) and the contract (a PPJB with deadlines and penalties). None of these can be skipped "on trust" — each closes off a distinct type of risk, from an unfinished shell to land confiscation. The logical moment to pay a deposit is only once an independent PPAT notary has confirmed a clean title at the BPN land agency.
Below we work through each step: exactly what to ask, where to verify it, and which answer counts as normal versus a reason to walk away.
Step 1. Who the seller really is
The first thing investors confuse is the brand and the legal entity. The "project name" on the banner and the company you sign the contract with are not the same thing. Ask for the selling company's deed of incorporation (akta) and its registration number, the NIB (Nomor Induk Berusaha) — a single business identifier issued through the state OSS system. The NIB lets you confirm that the company exists, is active, and that its line of business (its KBLI code) permits the construction and sale of property.
A foreign developer operates legally through a PT PMA — a foreign-owned company. Only a PT PMA can hold HGB rights (Hak Guna Bangunan, the right to build), and it is this company that must appear both in the contract and on the title. If the seller is a local individual acting "by power of attorney" and the land sits in a nominee's name, you are buying a dispute, not an asset. That is doubly true now: Bali Law No. 4/2026 has sharpened the crackdown on nominee arrangements to the point of confiscation risk, as we covered in detail in our piece on the mistakes investors make in Bali.
Step 2. What the villa stands on: land, title and zoning
The land is the foundation of the deal in both the literal and the legal sense. There are three checks here.
Title. The developer must hold a certificate: SHM (Hak Milik, full freehold — available only to Indonesian citizens) or HGB through a PT PMA. A foreigner cannot hold SHM under any structure; for a non-resident buyer the lawful formats are a leasehold (Hak Sewa) or a building on HGB. Make sure the name on the certificate matches the selling company.
Verification at the BPN. The certificate is checked at the National Land Agency (BPN): its authenticity and registration status, that the owner matches, that there are no encumbrances (charges, seizures, disputes) and that the stated area matches the actual boundaries. Consultants put a formal title check at around USD 50–200 and 3–7 working days — a rounding error against the price of a villa. Check separately that the land has not been left on an outdated "customary" title such as Girik/Letter C: their conversion under PP 18/2021 was due by February 2026.
Zoning. The plot must sit in a zone where construction and tourist rental are permitted. Selling "farmland for a villa" is a direct route to frozen permits and demolition. How to read Bali's zoning and zone colours is set out in a separate explainer on Bali land zones.
A title that has not been verified at the BPN is a photograph of a certificate, not a right. Until the owner's name, the area and the absence of encumbrances are confirmed by the register, it is too early to pay a deposit.
Step 3. Construction permits: KKPR, PBG and SLF in 2026
The direct answer: a legal project in Bali must have obtained KKPR and PBG before construction begins, and an SLF by handover. These are three different documents, and one cannot stand in for another.
| Document | What it confirms | When it must exist |
|---|---|---|
| KKPR Konfirmasi Kesesuaian Pemanfaatan Ruang | That what is being built is exactly what the plot allows (compliance with the spatial plan) | Before any construction begins |
| PBG Persetujuan Bangunan Gedung | The building permit; replaced the IMB in 2021 (PP 16/2021). Issued through the SIMBG system on the basis of a design by a certified architect (IAI) and engineer (SKA) | Before construction begins |
| SLF Sertifikat Laik Fungsi | Fitness of the finished building for use; assessed at 90–100% completion. For residential villas it is valid for 20 years | At handover / before renting out |
Why this is critical specifically in 2026: without a valid SLF, an NIB number and the correct KBLI 55193 code, from 31 March 2026 a property risks automatic removal from booking platforms (Airbnb, Booking) as of 1 April. In other words, missing paperwork hits not only legality but income directly. A full breakdown of the permit package is in our article on a developer's KKPR, PBG and SLF documents.
Step 4. Track record: what the developer has actually delivered
Documents show legality; the track record shows the ability to finish the build. Ask for addresses of completed projects, not renders: how many projects the developer has finished, whether on time, whether the villas are occupied, whether a management company is running them. A good sign is being able to visit a past project and speak to the owners. Having no completed project does not automatically mean fraud, but it shifts the entire first-timer risk onto you — and that is precisely when milestone payments and contractual penalties matter most.
What this looks like in practice. A buyer from the Gold Coast was ready to wire a 30% deposit for a villa in Ubud off the strength of a render. Due diligence took a week: the selling company's NIB turned out to be valid, but its KBLI did not cover construction, no PBG had been obtained, and the land sat in a restricted zone. The deal fell through — and that is a better outcome than an unfinished shell with a frozen permit. The same money later went into a project where the KKPR, PBG and a portfolio of three completed villas could be verified in a single day.
Step 5. Money: milestone payments, not everything up front
The golden rule: you do not pay the full amount before the villa is built. Payment is split into tranches tied to construction milestones. A typical structure is a small deposit on signing the preliminary contract, then payments on completion of the foundation, the shell and the finishing, and a final tranche on handover with the full document package. We set out the logic of the stages in our piece on the stages of building a villa in Bali, and the instalment formats in the article on developer instalment plans.
Practitioners note that there are known cases where money received under a preliminary contract went into construction while the title question stayed unresolved. The payment schedule should therefore rest on measurable milestones rather than the calendar, and come with a right to halt payments if the build falls behind.
Step 6. The contract: what belongs in the PPJB
An off-plan villa is sold under a PPJB — a preliminary sale and purchase agreement (the title is not yet transferred; the villa is under construction). The PPJB must contain: the parties, a precise description of the property, the price and payment schedule, the conditions for moving to the final AJB deed, and — crucially — a firm handover date and penalties for the seller's delay. The final AJB deed is signed before a licensed PPAT notary and takes effect only once registered at the BPN.
The PPAT notary must be independent — unconnected to the seller, agent or developer; ask for their licence number. It is always worth engaging a separate lawyer to review the deal structure — cheaper than any mistake. How a notarial transaction works in Bali is explained in our piece on the notary and the transaction.
Red flags: when to walk away
| Signal | Why it is dangerous |
|---|---|
| Refusal to show documents "until the deposit" | A legal developer has nothing to hide; a refusal means a hidden problem with the title or permits |
| "We work only through our notary" | The PPAT must be independent; an in-house notary does not protect the buyer |
| Pressure that "another buyer is ready" | A classic tactic to make you skip due diligence |
| A demand to pay everything up front | No link to milestones means no leverage if the build stalls |
| Farmland used for a tourist villa | Risk of a frozen permit, demolition and, under Law No. 4/2026, criminal liability and confiscation |
| A building larger than in the PBG | Exceeding the permitted parameters causes problems obtaining the SLF and on resale |
None of these flags is "solved by trust". Each is a reason to stop and re-check — and, if the developer refuses to cooperate, to exit the deal. A deposit paid in a hurry is far harder to recover than spending two to six weeks and around USD 1,000–5,000 on full due diligence (consultants put this at 0.3–1.5% of a typical USD 300,000 deal).
The bottom line
A reliable developer in Bali is not the one with the best render, but the one who shows you — without resistance — the NIB, a BPN-verified title, the KKPR and PBG, a portfolio of completed villas, and is ready to lock milestone payments with penalties into the PPJB. This is exactly how DOMA builds investment villas at its flagship Mirador project in Ubud: legal land in a permitted zone, a complete permit package and transparent payment stages. You can put together a villa configuration and see the project economics in the DOMA configurator — and keep this checklist to hand for a conversation with any developer.
FAQ
Can I trust a Bali developer's slick website and renders?
No. A website, 3D renders and a sales office tell you nothing about a project's legality. Bali is full of sellers who have never delivered a single villa. Look at the facts: the company's NIB registration number in the OSS system, the land title at the BPN, the KKPR and PBG permits obtained, and physically completed, occupied villas from earlier projects. Everything else is marketing.
Which documents must a developer show before I pay a deposit?
At a minimum: the PT PMA's deed of incorporation and its NIB number with the KBLI code, the land certificate (HGB, or SHM held under a leasehold structure) verified at the BPN, the KKPR spatial-use approval, the PBG building permit, and — for completed units — the SLF certificate of fitness. A refusal to show any of these 'until you pay the deposit' is itself a red flag.
What are KKPR, PBG and SLF in plain terms?
KKPR (Konfirmasi Kesesuaian Pemanfaatan Ruang) confirms that what is being built is actually permitted on that plot. PBG (Persetujuan Bangunan Gedung) is the building permit that replaced the old IMB in 2021 under PP 16/2021; it is issued through the SIMBG system on the basis of a design by a certified architect and engineer. SLF (Sertifikat Laik Fungsi) is the certificate that a finished building is fit for use; without a valid SLF a villa cannot legally be rented out.
Is it safe to pay a developer the full amount up front?
No — this is the single biggest financial mistake. Payment should be split into tranches tied to milestones: a small deposit on signing the PPJB, then payments as the foundation, shell and finishing are completed, and a final tranche on handover with the full document package. There are known cases where PPJB money went into construction while the title question stayed unresolved. A firm milestone schedule with late penalties is what protects you.
What if the developer insists on 'their' notary?
Be wary. The PPAT notary who executes the deal must be independent and unconnected to the seller, agent or developer. You are entitled to bring your own PPAT and a separate lawyer to review the deal structure. Pressure to 'work only through our notary' and 'another buyer is ready to pay' are classic tactics to make you skip due diligence.