Last reviewed: August 2026 | Updated for the OSS integration introduced by PP 28/2025.
How to Apply for a PBG Through SIMBG
SIMBG at simbg.pu.go.id is the mandatory channel for building approvals in Indonesia. There is no paper alternative.
One change catches people out before they start.
If you are a business, you no longer start at SIMBG. Under PP 28/2025, in force since June 2025, business actors register through OSS, which is now integrated with SIMBG. Individuals building a private house still go directly to SIMBG. Guides written before mid-2025 send businesses to the wrong door.
The sequence
Spatial conformity (KKPR), then PBG, then construction, then inspections, then commissioning, then SLF. The PBG must be obtained before construction begins. Article 253(4) and Article 263(1) of PP 16/2021 are both explicit about that.
Two stages, and the first one is free
Stage 1: planning consultation
Registration, a check that your design meets technical standards, then a statement of compliance. Article 253(8): planning consultation is held without charge.
This is where your drawings are assessed. Two bodies do it depending on the building:
| Reviewer | Reviews | Time limit |
|---|---|---|
| TPT (technical assessment team) | Single-storey houses up to 72 m², two-storey up to 90 m² | Max 5 working days |
| TPA (professional expert team) | Everything else | Max 5 rounds within 28 working days |
| TPA, special-function buildings | Referred centrally | Max 5 rounds within 40 working days |
Stage 2: issue
The technical office sets the retribution, you pay it, and the one-stop service office issues the PBG. It is only issued once payment is proven. What the retribution costs and how it is calculated is on our PBG cost page.
Statutory time limits
| Step | Maximum |
|---|---|
| First review after registration | 3 working days |
| TPA review | 5 rounds within 28 working days |
| TPT review (small houses) | 5 working days |
| Construction-stage inspection after you notify | 3 working days. If they do not attend, you may proceed |
| SLF and SBKBG issue | 3 working days |
| Same, with a prototype design | 1 working day |
Two of these are worth knowing, because you can hold the office to them.
Article 255(5): technical comments must be concrete and comprehensive, and cannot be changed or added to at later reviews. That is your basis for pushing back when requirements appear in round four that nobody mentioned in round one.
Article 265(5): if the technical office does not attend within three working days of notification, you may carry on. You are not obliged to wait indefinitely for an inspection.
Documents you need
Land
- Proof of ownership: SHM, AJB, SHGB or equivalent
- Contour drawing and soil investigation results. Soil investigation is not required up to two storeys
General
- KTP or KITAS
- KKPR or KRK, the spatial conformity approval
- Land-use agreement letter
- Environmental document: AMDAL, UKL-UPL or SPPL depending on scale
- Details of your certified planning consultant
- Airport safety zone clearance where relevant
Technical
- Architecture: design concept, site plan, floor plans, sections, elevations, details, specifications, flood-level recommendation
- Structure: calculations and drawings for foundations, columns, beams, slabs, roof frame and roofing, plus specifications
- Mechanical, electrical and plumbing: as applicable, covering electrical, plumbing and sanitation, fire protection, HVAC, lightning protection, communications, security and access, vertical transport
The governing technical guidance is SE Dirjen Cipta Karya No. 33/SE/DC/2024, which publishes the checklists the TPA and TPT actually use. Working through the relevant checklist before you file is the cheapest way to avoid a rejection round.
You can draw it yourself, if it is small
Article 252(4) and (5) allow self-prepared drawings for single-storey houses up to 72 m² and two-storey up to 90 m², using earthquake-resistant basic provisions or an approved prototype. The drawings can be simple provided the information is complete. Above those sizes you need a certified consultant.
If your design fails review
The TPA's final minutes either recommend issuing the compliance statement or recommend re-registration. On re-registration you resubmit corrected drawings with the previous minutes attached, and consultation resumes from that point rather than starting over.
After the PBG issues
Two provisions can cost you the approval:
- Article 263(5) to (8): you must notify the technical office of your construction start date through SIMBG. If you do not, they may seek clarification up to twice within six months, and failing that the PBG is revoked and you re-register.
- Article 268(6): if a discrepancy is found between what was approved and what is being built, and you do not provide technical justification within six months, the PBG is revoked.
Getting the approval is not the end of the obligation. Notifying the start date is a real requirement that people forget.
Bali-specific constraints
The 15 metre height limit
Bali's provincial spatial planning regulation limits buildings to 15 metres above the ground they stand on, roughly four to five storeys. Exceptions are narrow: aviation navigation, religious buildings, defence and security, disaster mitigation, certain telecommunications and monitoring structures, and hospitals up to five floors. The rule traces to the traditional principle that a building should not rise above a coconut tree.
There has been public debate in 2026 about revisiting it. It has not changed.
Green zone land
This constraint operates before SIMBG. Green zone means protected areas, agricultural land or urban green space, and residential construction there is prohibited. Mechanically, KKPR is refused, and without KKPR the PBG application cannot proceed. That is why the honest answer to "can I build on jalur hijau" is no, and why the block is invisible if you only look at the building permit stage.
The 2025 moratorium
Get the chronology right, because two separate episodes get conflated.
A two-year moratorium on new hotels and villas in South Bali was proposed in 2024 and the Governor declined to proceed with it in January 2025. That one never came into force.
A genuine moratorium followed flooding in September 2025: a halt to construction of hotels, villas, restaurants and other commercial development on productive farmland and water catchment land. The reported position is that residential permits would only be granted where the land is owned and occupied by the same individual, meaning personal use rather than commercial.
We could not locate a numbered gubernatorial instrument enacting it, and note that SE Gubernur Bali No. 9 of 2025 concerns waste management, not the moratorium. It is commonly mis-cited.
Enforcement
Badung's Satpol PP recorded 194 violations of building without a PBG during 2025: Kuta Utara 110, Mengwi 68, Abiansemal 11, Kuta Selatan 5. Thirty-five businesses were sealed and fifteen released once permits issued. A 70-unit villa project in Kerobokan Kelod was halted because the developers held only an NIB and KKPR and could not produce a PBG, despite correct zoning.
In July 2025, 48 illegal buildings were demolished at Pantai Bingin under a Regent's demolition order.
The Satpol PP head's summary is the one worth remembering: holding an NIB and a KKPR is not enough. Without a PBG and SLF you may not build.
Common questions
How do I apply for a PBG online?
Through simbg.pu.go.id. Register, complete the free planning consultation stage with your technical documents, obtain the statement of technical standard compliance, pay the retribution, then the PBG is issued. Businesses now start in OSS, which is integrated with SIMBG.
How long does a PBG take?
Statutory maximums are 28 working days for TPA review of an ordinary building and 5 working days for TPT review of a small house, plus 3 working days for the first review after registration. Real timelines depend on how many correction rounds your drawings need.
Is applying for a PBG free?
The planning consultation stage is free under Article 253(8), and the SLF and SBKBG are free under Article 276(3). The one mandatory government charge is the PBG retribution, calculated by formula and paid before the PBG is issued.
Do I need an architect?
Not for a single-storey house up to 72 m² or a two-storey up to 90 m², where Article 252(4) allows self-prepared drawings using earthquake-resistant basic provisions or a prototype design. Above those sizes a certified planning consultant is required.
Can my PBG be revoked after it is issued?
Yes. Failing to notify the construction start date through SIMBG can lead to revocation after two unanswered clarification requests within six months, and an unexplained discrepancy between the approved design and what is built can also lead to revocation.
Can I build on green zone land in Bali?
No. The block operates before the building permit stage: KKPR spatial conformity is refused for construction on protected, agricultural or green open space land, and without KKPR a PBG application cannot proceed.
If you are stuck in the process
The two things that stall applications most are a KKPR that was never going to be granted, and drawings that keep attracting new comments round after round. The first is checkable before you spend anything. The second has a regulatory answer in Article 255(5).
See also what a PBG costs and the SLF certificate. To have an application reviewed, get in touch.
General information on Indonesian law as at August 2026, not legal advice. Building regulation is administered locally and practice varies between regencies. Some Bali provincial instruments could not be verified against primary text and are flagged where relevant.
Sources
- PP No. 16/2021: Articles 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 259, 261, 263, 265, 268, 274, 276, 277, 326
- PP No. 28/2025 on risk-based business licensing: Articles 12, 106, 108, 110
- UU No. 28/2002 on Buildings, as amended by UU No. 6/2023
- SE Dirjen Cipta Karya No. 33/SE/DC/2024 on technical standards
- Perda Provinsi Bali No. 2/2023 on provincial spatial planning