Bali's own rules for building and living

Each section names the official instrument with its number and links to its text. Kabupaten and kota add detail through their own spatial plans and regulations, so check the plot's zoning as well.

Some provincial texts set directions rather than rules that bind a buyer directly. Where that is the case, the section says so.

Every foreign tourist pays IDR 150,000 once per trip, cashless, through Love Bali. The payment is valid while the tourist travels in Bali, until they leave Indonesia. This applies whether you arrive from abroad or from another part of Indonesia.

Exempt are foreign nationals who hold a KITAS or KITAP, holders of diplomatic, official, family reunification and student visas, and crew. A buyer who comes to view property as a tourist pays the levy.

Holders of a golden visa or of another visa type are exempt only once their application through Love Bali is approved. They must apply at least five days before they arrive, and the province decides within three days.

A tourist who has not paid can be warned and refused service at tourist attractions.

Perda Bali 4/2026, signed in February 2026, bans converting productive land designated in the spatial plan (Lahan Produktif) to non-agricultural use. The exceptions are national strategic policy, land acquisition for public use and relocation after natural disasters, and possibly, for an owner without other land to build on, a home used only as a residence. It sets administrative sanctions up to demolition and restoration of the land. See the Rules by date page for its summary.

Before it, a 2025 instruction of the Governor told every bupati and walikota not to approve the conversion of agricultural land, including protected food farmland (LP2B) and the mapped paddy area (LBS). That instruction was addressed to local governments.

Use the Map on this site to see whether a plot lies in a published protected rice field (LSD) polygon.

As a general directive (arahan), the provincial spatial plan limits buildings to 15 m above the ground they stand on, measured to where the walls meet the sloping roof. Exceptions include airport and navigation structures, religious buildings, defence, disaster, telecom and power structures, and hospitals of up to five floors.

In the special tourism zones of Bedugul-Pancasari and Kintamani the limit is two floors or 8 m, and tourist accommodation may cover at most 40 percent of the plot. In other tourism zones accommodation may cover at most 50 percent of the plot.

The kabupaten spatial plans and detailed zoning plans (RDTR) set the limit for each plot, and they can be stricter.

The spatial plan adopts the 1994 Bhisama of the Parisada Hindu Dharma Indonesia on the sanctity of temples as the basis for a zone around each temple. The outer limit is at least 5,000 m around the six great temples (sad kahyangan), at least 2,000 m around dang kahyangan temples, 50 m to 2,000 m around other kahyangan jagat temples, and 5 m to 50 m from the outer wall of village temples.

In the core zone, buildings other than the temple are limited to one floor, except for levels that step down below the ground floor on sloping land, and activities that lower the sanctity of the temple are not allowed. For temple areas on built-up land (type III), the zones can be adjusted to local conditions with the agreement of the local desa adat.

Ask the kabupaten planning office and the desa adat whether a plot lies in a temple zone before you buy.

Surat Edaran Gubernur Bali Nomor 7 Tahun 2025, a circular letter of the Governor of Bali dated 21 March 2025, sets a code of conduct for foreign tourists while they are in Bali. It is addressed to officials, the Majelis Desa Adat, businesses and foreign tourists. It is a circular, not a Perda or Pergub.

Among other things it requires foreign tourists to respect the sanctity of temples and sacred objects, to behave respectfully during ceremonies, and to dress modestly and appropriately in sacred areas. It forbids them to enter the utama mandala and madya mandala (the innermost and middle parts) of a temple, except to pray in Balinese traditional or prayer dress and not during menstruation, to climb sacred trees, and to desecrate sacred places, for example by climbing sacred buildings or taking indecent photos, including nudity. Violators face sanctions or legal proceedings under the law that applies; the only sanction the circular names itself is refusal of service at tourist attractions for a tourist who has not paid the levy. It has applied since the day it was issued, 21 March 2025.

The circular speaks of foreign tourists. It does not say whether a foreign resident or owner counts as one. A desa adat may add its own rules for its temples; ask the desa adat. We read only the English version published by Disparda Bali, the Bali provincial tourism office; the Indonesian text is the authoritative one.

National law sets a coastal setback of at least 100 m from the highest tide line, calculated for each stretch of coast. The provincial spatial plan bans buildings and activities that threaten the function of the setback and allows some supporting facilities only under conditions.

Along rivers only limited uses are allowed, such as water works, bridges, pipes, cables and power lines. Other buildings already inside a river setback stay as they are and are to be brought into order step by step, to restore the function of the setback.

The exact setback lines are fixed by each kabupaten. A plot inside a setback may not be buildable at all. The Map on this site shows an indicative 100 m coastal strip.

The page on zones and map colours shows how the detailed plans draw setbacks and protected farmland over the zone colours.

In water catchment zones, which exist in every kabupaten and kota, the provincial spatial plan allows no new bore wells and calls for strict control of groundwater use.

Under national rules, a business in tourism, housing or commercial areas needs a groundwater business licence, and a household or group needs an approval when it takes 100 m3 or more a month.

Before you plan a well for a villa, ask the kabupaten whether the plot lies in a catchment zone.

Every household must manage its own waste: sort it into at least five kinds, compost or process organic waste on site or through the village waste unit, take recyclables to a waste bank and send only residual waste to the landfill. Managers of housing estates, hotels, offices and shops have the same duty for their areas. A desa adat may impose adat sanctions under its own rules.

Plastic bags, polystyrene and plastic straws are banned in Bali for businesses and for everyone's use.

Under the 2025 Clean Bali Waste Movement circular, every desa, kelurahan and desa adat must run waste sorting at source with a separate collection schedule, from 1 January 2026. Hotels, shopping centres, restaurants and cafes must also sort, avoid single use plastic and report. Villas are not named; ask the desa or the kabupaten environment office whether a villa run as a business is covered.

Bali's customary villages (desa adat) have their own members and rules. The provincial law on desa adat (Perda 4/2019) names three kinds of residents: krama desa adat (Hindu members of the desa adat), krama tamiu (Balinese Hindus who are not full members but are recorded in the local desa adat) and tamiu (anyone else who is in the area for a time, or lives there and is recorded). The definition of tamiu does not name nationality, but it covers any person outside the first two groups, so a foreign owner is usually tamiu. The law's explanation says that "recorded" (tercatat) means recorded for population administration, not registered as a member; how tamiu are recorded is left to each desa adat's awig-awig and pararem.

Tamiu have limited duties and rights, set by each desa adat in its own written rules (awig-awig and pararem). Contributions are not left to each village alone. Pergub Bali 34/2019 defines dudukan as a mandatory contribution (kontribusi wajib) from krama tamiu and tamiu. As amended by Pergub 55/2022 (Pergub 2/2023 repeats the definition and does not amend Pasal 13), it requires dudukan to follow a type and a standard set by the provincial Majelis Desa Adat (MDA), leaves the way it is collected and used to the desa adat's pararem, which must follow an MDA guideline, and has the dudukan collected supervised regularly. Voluntary gifts are a separate matter: Perda 4/2019 lists non-binding donations from third parties (dana punia) among a desa adat's income.

That guideline is MDA Bali decision 03/KEP-PSM.III/MDA-BALI/XII/2022 of 12 December 2022. We read it as both the guideline and the dudukan standard that Pergub 55/2022 Pasal 13(5) and 13(7) refer to: it cites Pergub 55/2022 Pasal 13 and sets the standard, and we found no separate decision on the standard and no later revision. It is a guideline of the customary council, not a Perda or Pergub, but Pergub 55/2022 gives the MDA the task of setting the standard and tells village pararem to follow it. For tamiu it allows dudukan only in matters of pawongan and palemahan, not parahyangan, and sets a ceiling in rice value, charged at a given time, with the period and how long the amount applies set by the village: at most the value of 1.5 kg of rice for a tamiu who has a home in the village area (Tamiu Jenek or Rajeg), at most 1 kg for a tamiu who rents there for at least 35 days (Tamiu Padunungan), and none for a stay under 35 days (Tamiu Padgatakala). Rice is valued at the going price. The guideline does not say how a foreign owner who does not live in the property is classed. Punia stays voluntary, with no fixed amount and no pressure. A pararem on dudukan must be registered with the provincial customary-affairs office (Dinas Pemajuan Masyarakat Adat) and given a registration number, and collectors must carry a letter of assignment from the bandesa adat and may not hold back an Indonesian identity card (KTP) or family card (KK).

Before you buy, ask the bendesa adat for the pararem that applies to tamiu and its registration number, and ask in writing what it asks of you. Amounts differ from village to village; the MDA's own guideline says they vary widely.

Bali's tourism standards regulation requires every tourism business, including one that provides accommodation, to hold a tourism business registration (TDUP) and to meet the tourism business standards. Every business that sells tourism services in Bali must also register on the province's tourism portal.

Breaking these rules is a minor offence. The regulation threatens up to three months in confinement or a fine of up to IDR 50 million, but since 2 January 2026 UU 1/2026 removes the confinement, and only the fine of up to IDR 50 million (category III) remains.

How this fits with national risk based licensing (PP 28/2025) is not settled. If you plan to rent out a villa, ask your notary which licences apply.

The 2023 Haluan, Bali's 100 year development charter for 2025 to 2125, obliges the heads of the province, kabupaten, kota and villages to build its directions into their plans. It sets no permit rules and no sanctions of its own.

Its annex states directions that matter to buyers: a moratorium on new tourism development, especially hotels, in Badung, Denpasar and Gianyar; tighter permits elsewhere; and that foreigners may not own or control land in Bali. These are policy statements. They show where future regulations may go, while foreign ownership of land is governed by national land law.