balivillacareEnvironmental approval for a Bali villa: SPPL, UKL-UPL and wastewater
Key takeaways
- Environmental approval is a prerequisite of the business license (PP 22/2021 Pasal 3) — one of AMDAL, UKL-UPL or SPPL.
- For a villa the site decides: under 1 ha of built land and under 5,000 m² of building: SPPL; larger sites need a UKL-UPL or an AMDAL.
- An SPPL is integrated into the NIB, through OSS, and its holder must treat wastewater before it is discharged (Pasal 140).
- The 2016 wastewater standard P.68 was revoked in September 2025; existing businesses have 2 years from the regulation's start to adjust.
- A small villa's septic tank must be watertight, and its effluent may not soak into the ground, emptied by a licensed hauler with records.
Environmental approval is usually treated as a box ticked somewhere inside a villa's licensing. It is a box, but it carries obligations that last as long as the villa trades — above all on wastewater, where the national standard changed in September 2025. This page reads the 2021 environmental regulation, the 2021 list of which activities need which document, and the 2025 wastewater regulation.
Seven words in environmental approval
The terms in the regulations and in OSS.
| Term | What it is | What it means for a villa |
|---|---|---|
| Persetujuan Lingkungan | Environmental approval. | A prerequisite of the villa's business license. |
| AMDAL | Environmental impact assessment. | For significant impact, or a protected area. |
| UKL-UPL | Environmental management and monitoring plan. | For mid-sized sites. |
| SPPL | Statement of commitment to manage and monitor. | For small sites; made in OSS. |
| Air limbah domestik | Domestic wastewater. | What every villa produces. |
| Tangki septik | Septic tank. | Must be watertight under the 2025 rules. |
| Pemisah minyak dan lemak | Grease trap. | Required where wastewater carries oil and grease. |
Why a villa needs environmental approval
PP 22/2021 Pasal 3(1) requires every business or activity with a significant or non-significant environmental impact to hold environmental approval, and ayat (3) makes it a prerequisite of the business license. Pasal 4 sets the three forms: AMDAL, UKL-UPL or SPPL.
Which form
- AMDAL for activities with significant impact, and for any located inside or directly bordering a protected area (Pasal 5).
- UKL-UPL for activities without significant impact that meet the UKL-UPL criteria (Pasal 6).
- SPPL for activities outside both, including micro and small businesses without significant impact (Pasal 7).
Where it fits in the villa's licensing
Environmental approval sits before the business license, alongside the land-use approval and the building permit. The permit sequence, KKPR, PBG and SLF.
Which document a villa needs
Permen LHK 4/2021 lists villas (KBLI 55193, now 55203 under KBLI 2025) in the tourism sector with no threshold of their own: each column reads “as the scale in the multi-sector list”. The multi-sector list sets it by built land and floor area, and separately for commercial groundwater.
| SPPL | UKL-UPL | AMDAL | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built land | Under 1 ha | 1 to 5 ha | 5 ha or more |
| Building floor area | Under 5,000 m² | 5,000 to 10,000 m² | 10,000 m² or more |
| Groundwater, commercial | Under 1 l/s | 1 to 50 l/s | 50 l/s or more |
| Inside or bordering a protected area | — | — | AMDAL (PP 22/2021 Pasal 5(2)(b)) |
What that means for most villas
A single villa or a small cluster on less than a hectare, with under 5,000 m² of building, is an SPPL case. A resort-style development of 1 to 5 hectares is a UKL-UPL case. Location can override size: a site inside or directly bordering a protected area needs an AMDAL. The OSS data for KBLI 55203 maps the same thresholds; where OSS and the regulation disagree on other rows, the regulation governs.
The SPPL in practice
For a business the SPPL is integrated into the NIB, through OSS (PP 22/2021 Pasal 65-66) — a statement made in the licensing system. The commitment in it is real: Pasal 140 requires the person responsible for an SPPL activity to treat wastewater before discharging or reusing it.
Licensing a villa, or checking one you bought?
Tell us where the villa is and what it has. Five questions, and your details are the last step.
Wastewater: the 2025 rules
Permen LH/BPLH 11/2025, signed on 4 September 2025, revoked P.68/2016 (Pasal 14) — the standard still quoted in most villa guides. It requires every business that produces domestic wastewater to treat it before release (Pasal 2), unless it goes to a government or business sewer or to a licensed hauler or treater (Pasal 5).
Small villas: 3 m³ a day or less
- Septic tank. An SNI-certified package septic tank or one built to SNI, which must be watertight, and its effluent may not soak into the ground (Lampiran III).
- Sludge. desludging by a licensed hauler, with records (Pasal 7).
- Kitchen water. Where wastewater carries oil and grease, a grease trap (Pasal 8).
- Paperwork. The Pasal 7 and 8 duties are written into the environmental approval or SPPL (Pasal 9).
A soak-away pit behind the septic tank, common in older villas, is the arrangement Lampiran III rules out.
Discharge limits by volume
Where treated wastewater is discharged to a water body, the limits depend on the daily volume (Lampiran I A.2). Blank cells are blank in the regulation.
| Under 3 m³/day | 3–50 m³/day | Over 50 m³/day | |
|---|---|---|---|
| pH | 6–9 | 6–9 | 6–9 |
| BOD, mg/l | 75 | 50 | 30 |
| COD, mg/l | — | 100 | 100 |
| TSS, mg/l | — | 50 | 30 |
| Ammonia (NH3-N), mg/l | — | 20 | 10 |
| Oil and grease, mg/l | 10 | 10 | 5 |
| Faecal coliform, MPN/100 ml | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
Discharge to drainage or irrigation channels has tighter limits: BOD 12, COD 80, TSS 30 mg/l, faecal coliform 200 (Lampiran I A.3). Existing businesses must comply within 2 years from the regulation's start (Pasal 12(3)).
Bali's own standards
Pergub Bali 16/2016 sets provincial standards for domestic and hotel wastewater in its annexes, requires monitoring reports every six months, to the Governor (Pasal 5), and lets regents set stricter standards (Pasal 7). Its annex tables were not in the published file, and it predates the 2025 national regulation; which prevails where they differ we did not establish.
The building itself
Separately from environmental approval, PP 16/2021 Pasal 38 requires every building to have a water management system, wastewater included: drinking water supply, wastewater management and rainwater management, to health standards. The wastewater system is part of what the building's technical inspection covers (Pasal 224(5)) — which is how it reaches the SLF.
What this page does not cover
- Solid waste and Bali's single-use plastic rules.
- How an AMDAL or UKL-UPL is prepared and assessed.
- Whether PP 28/2025, which replaced the 2021 licensing regulation, changes any environmental step.
- Groundwater licenses and tax. Covered here.
Common questions
Does a Bali villa need an environmental permit?
Every business with environmental impact needs environmental approval, as an AMDAL, a UKL-UPL or an SPPL, and it is a prerequisite of the business license (PP 22/2021 Pasal 3-4). For a villa, the size of the site decides which.
Which document does a small villa need?
The villa row in Permen LHK 4/2021 points to the multi-sector scale: under 1 ha of built land and under 5,000 m² of building is SPPL; 1-5 ha or 5,000-10,000 m² is UKL-UPL; larger is AMDAL.
What is an SPPL?
A statement of commitment to manage and monitor the environment, for activities that need neither an AMDAL nor a UKL-UPL. For a business it is integrated into the NIB through OSS (PP 22/2021 Pasal 65-66).
Can a villa septic tank drain into the ground?
Under the 2025 domestic wastewater regulation, a septic tank for 3 m³ a day or less must be watertight and its effluent may not be soaked into the ground; sludge goes to a licensed hauler with records.
Is P.68/2016 still the wastewater standard?
No. Permen LH/BPLH 11/2025 revoked it in September 2025 and set new limits by daily volume. Existing businesses have two years to adjust.
Sources cited on this page
- PP No. 22 Tahun 2021 — Pasal 3-7, 65-66, 140
- Permen LHK No. 4 Tahun 2021 — Lampiran I D.9, Lampiran II A.1-A.2
- Permen LH/BPLH No. 11 Tahun 2025 — domestic wastewater
- Permen LHK P.68/2016 — revoked, for reference
- Pergub Bali No. 16 Tahun 2016 — environmental quality standards
- PP No. 16 Tahun 2021 — Pasal 38
- OSS — KBLI 55203 Vila
Every figure above links to the source it was read from. This page was last changed on 9 October 2026. How we check this.