How to vet any Bali developer, including us
Twelve checks, in order, with the answer that should worry you attached to each. We score ourselves at the end and we do not score full marks.
Search for the best developer in Bali and you will get listicles written by the company sitting at number one. There is no independent ranking in this market. So here is the method instead, published so you can run it on anyone, us included.
Twelve checks, in the order they matter. For each one, what a good answer looks like and what should end the conversation.
The twelve
1. Legal entity. Registered name, registration number, NIB. Bad answer: a brand name and a WhatsApp number.
2. Zoning, per plot. Classification in the spatial plan, with the zone code and a map, checked on a date by a named person. Bad answer: “the area is zoned for tourism”. See how to check zoning.
3. Land certificate and BPN check. The landowner’s certificate number and the date it was verified at the land office. Bad answer: a photograph of a certificate with no verification date.
4. Building permit (PBG). Number and issuer, issued before construction. Bad answer: “it is being processed” on a building that is already up.
5. Certificate of fitness (SLF). For anything completed. Bad answer: silence, or the claim that nobody gets one.
6. Rental licence route. Who will hold the licence and under what structure. Bad answer: “the villa is licensed”, with no name attached. See renting out as a foreigner.
7. Lease deed, in full. Term, extension clause, who is bound, what extension costs. Bad answer: a summary instead of the deed. See end of a Bali lease.
8. Payment schedule. Instalments tied to physical milestones, with a stated consequence if a milestone is missed. Bad answer: instalments tied to calendar dates.
9. Handover, promised against actual. Every completed project, both dates. Bad answer: sales speed quoted instead of handover dates.
10. Warranty and defect log. Terms, plus a real log from a previous project with items still visible. Bad answer: a clean log.
11. Returns with the model shown. Occupancy, nightly rate, fee, costs, tax, and who verified the actuals. Bad answer: a single percentage. See gross vs net.
12. Named buyers. People who will take a call, with consent, from a completed project. Bad answer: anonymous testimonials with initials.
How we score
We publish our own answers against all twelve on the Verify page, and each one opens the document behind it rather than our summary of it.
A developer who scores twelve out of twelve on its own website has marked its own homework, and that includes us. The score is not the signal. The signal is whether you can open each item and read it yourself, with an issuer, a number and a date on it, and check it with the office that issued it.
So do not take our word for the twelve. Take the list to whoever else you are talking to.
Sources, and how to check them
- Method published in full so it can be used against us
- Our own scoring, updated [date], on the Verify page
Anything in [brackets] is a fact we have not yet published a document for. If a figure here is wrong, tell us and we will correct it and date the correction.
