Bali's construction boom has a fraud problem, and 2025–26 made it impossible to ignore: 48 non-compliant buildings demolished at Bingin Beach, customary land documents losing their standing as proof of ownership, villas without verified permits disappearing from booking platforms. Nearly every one of those stories could have been avoided with about 90 minutes of checking — before signing anything. This is the checklist we give every prospective client. Run it on every builder on your shortlist. Including us.
Ask for the builder's PT (company) name and NIB business registration number, then look it up yourself on Indonesia's OSS system. You are confirming the company exists, is active, and is licensed for construction.
Red flags: "we operate through a partner's company" · invoices to a personal bank account · a CV (small-enterprise vehicle) behind a multi-billion-rupiah build.
Ours, so you don't have to ask: PT Paradigma Oase Desain. Our NIB comes printed on every proposal — look it up yourself at oss.go.id before you sign anything.
A PT is not automatically licensed to build. Ask for the SBU construction licence classification and verify it in the public LPJK/PUPR registry. The classification also caps the project scale a company may legally take on.
Red flag: "the licence is being renewed."
Ours: SBU construction licence, classification and number included in every proposal — verify at the public LPJK registry (lpjk.pu.go.id).
Renders can be bought. Photos can be borrowed. An active construction site with workers who know the company cannot be faked. Ask to visit one — agree the day, not the hour. Look for: the permit board at the gate, safety equipment in use, organised material storage, whether the site team can answer basic questions about the build.
Red flag: every site "just finished," or viewable only in videos the builder controls.
Ours: we run a standing weekly site walkthrough in Uluwatu — in person or live video call. Ask for the next slot.
Two or three past clients, ideally your nationality, whose numbers you get and call alone. Only two questions matter: "Was the final price the contract price?" and "When something went wrong, what happened next?" Something always goes wrong on a construction site; you are buying the response, not the absence.
Red flag: written testimonials only, no callable humans.
Ours: we offer references unprompted with every proposal — clients who have agreed to take your call.
Read one page before any other: how money moves. You want payments tied to completed milestones, with photo/video evidence delivered before each payment; a retention amount held until the snag list is closed; explicit exclusions; and a written change-order process.
Red flags: more than 20% upfront · payments on calendar dates rather than milestones · "variations" as an open-ended category — that word is where budget blowouts live.
A serious builder interrogates your plot before quoting: zoning designation, land title class, the PBG permit pathway for what you want to build. If a builder is relaxed about starting without those answers, you are looking at how demolition stories begin.
Red flag: "permits are easy here, we know people."
Ask directly: "If the budget slips or a wall cracks in month eight, who am I talking to — the person in this meeting, or an account manager?" There is no single right answer, but you must believe the honest one you get. We're founder-run and that's the model we sell; the big-brand machine model is legitimate too. Know which you're buying.
| Check | Our evidence | Verify it yourself |
|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | PT Paradigma Oase Desain · NIB on every proposal | Look it up at oss.go.id |
| Licence | SBU construction licence, details on every proposal | Verify at lpjk.pu.go.id |
| Live sites | Active builds in Uluwatu; weekly walkthrough slot | Book a visit — in person or video |
| References | Past clients on call, offered with every proposal | Ask, and call them alone |
| Payment mechanics | Fixed price · milestone evidence before payment · retention · written change orders | Sample contract on request |
| Land & permits | Zoning + title-class + PBG pre-check before any contract | Free pre-check |
| Who answers | Rio — founder, on our sites weekly, on your WhatsApp | Meet him on the walkthrough |
| Track record | 135+ completed projects since 2016, incl. 5 hotels · 5.0★ on Google | Search "PT Paradigma Oase Desain" on Google Maps · project ledger available on request |
We'll map them line by line, free — even if you don't pick us.
Get the free quote review →Take this checklist to every builder you're considering. If it saves you from one bad contract, it did its job — whoever you build with.