How much does it cost to build a villa in Bali?

Why one number cannot answer this

A per-square-metre rate is a shorthand for a specification, and two builders quoting the same rate can be describing very different houses. One is costing local hardwood, terrazzo and locally made fittings; the other is costing imported stone, European sanitaryware and joinery built to millimetre tolerances. Both are honest. Neither number transfers to your project without knowing which one it describes.

The second reason is the plot. The same house costs measurably more on a clifftop in Uluwatu than on flat land in Umalas, because the ground has to be cut rather than dug, the water has to be stored rather than tapped, and the trucks that deliver it are smaller. A rate quoted before anyone has walked your site is a guess wearing a decimal point.

What a per-square-metre rate usually leaves out

This is where budgets break. Ask any quote to state explicitly whether these are in or out, and get the answer in writing before you compare it with another.

• The pool, its plant room, and its own excavation.
• Landscaping, boundary walls, gates and the driveway.
• Furniture, fittings and equipment, which on a rental villa is a serious line of its own.
• Permits, professional fees and the surveys the permits depend on.
• Connections: power capacity, water bore, septic system, drainage to a legal outfall.
• The land itself, and the due diligence on its title and zoning.

What actually moves your number

In our experience the largest swings come from the site rather than the finishes. Ground conditions decide how much of the budget disappears below floor level, and that part never appears in the photographs. Access decides truck size, and truck size decides how many trips every delivery becomes. Water decides whether you are connecting a pipe or building a supply.

Specification matters too, but it is the part you control. You can choose a simpler kitchen. You cannot choose a flatter plot after you have bought it, which is why we would rather look at the land with you before you commit than price a design onto a site that will fight it.

• Slope and ground: retaining, terracing, and rock excavation.
• Groundwater: pool construction and drainage on flat coastal land.
• Access: lane width, turning space, and distance from a sealed road.
• Services: bore depth, water storage, power capacity at the boundary.
• Specification depth: imported versus locally made, and how bespoke the joinery is.

How we price a build

We survey before we quote. That means walking the plot, checking its zoning and permitted use, looking at access and services, and only then pricing a design against what we found. It takes longer than sending a rate card, and it is the only way the first number and the final number resemble each other.

If you already have a plot or are choosing between two, send us the locations. We will tell you what we would check first and what we would expect each site to demand, before anybody talks about a fee.