Site preparation in Bali — from raw land to a build-ready pad
We take a raw Bali plot to a build-ready pad under one quote: old slabs broken out, land cleared, cut and fill balanced and compacted, an access road for trucks, trenches for services and drainage — one crew, one set of levels, one mobilization instead of three. Unit rates are the same as on each service page, from IDR 95,000/m³ for grading and 240,000/m² for site roads. Send the plot pin and photos on WhatsApp — combined quote in 24 hours.
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Inside the scope
The site prep sequence
Slab breaking & clearing
Old slabs and footings broken out, jungle cleared, roots grubbed, topsoil stripped — and stockpiled where it is still useful to you.
Cut & fill grading
Levels balanced on the plot so soil moves metres, not kilometres. Compacted in 20–30 cm layers, checked against grade stakes.
Access road
Geotextile and compacted sirtu, designed for a loaded concrete truck — and promoted to your permanent driveway later.
Foundation excavation
Footings, strip foundations and basements cut to the engineer's levels once the pad is ready to receive them.
Trenching & utilities
Water, power, septic and fibre lines opened, bedded and backfilled while the machines are already on site.
Drainage
French drains, U-ditches and soakaways that give the rainy season somewhere to go before it finds its own way.
What site preparation covers in Bali
Site preparation is everything between raw land and the day your builder can set out a foundation. On a typical Bali plot the chain runs: break out old slabs and foundations (slab and foundation breaking, from IDR 380,000/m³), clear vegetation and strip topsoil (land clearing, from IDR 1,200,000/are), cut and fill the levels into terraces or a single pad (site grading, from 95,000/m³), build the road that gets trucks in (access roads, from 240,000/m²), open the trenches for water, power, septic and fibre (utility trenching, from 120,000/m), and give rainwater somewhere to go (drainage, from 450,000/m). Where footings are deep or the design has a basement, foundation excavation (from 95,000/m³) closes the chain, and a pool pit dug in the same mobilization costs one flatbed less. Each of those pages carries its own detail; this page is about doing them in the right order, with one crew.
One contractor, one quote
Split those stages across three contractors and you pay three times for the same things. Every crew bills its own mobilization — a flatbed move in south Bali runs IDR 1.5–2.5 million — and every handover between contractors is a place where levels stop matching drawings and nobody owns the error. Run as one package, the excavator that cleared the jungle grades the pad the next morning; the trenches are dug while the machine is standing there anyway; and the spoil from the cut becomes the fill under the access road instead of being hauled off one week and bought back the next. Just as important: one contractor means one measured survey, one set of levels and one written quote where every line is a real volume — so when your builder arrives, the pad matches the drawing and the argument about who moved what never happens.
A typical site prep timeline
Every plot writes its own schedule — volumes, access and season set the pace, so we put dates against stages only after measuring. But the order barely changes. Access comes first, because nothing productive happens until a truck can reach the site; over firm ground a 100 m site road takes two to three working days. Clearing and slab breaking follow, then the big earthmoving: cut and fill, compaction in layers, and retaining structures where the slope demands them — our guide to building on a slope in Bali covers that trade-off in detail. Trenching and drainage go in while the machines are still on site: services under surfaces, never through them after. The one calendar rule we respect is the season — mass earthmoving belongs in the dry months, and a pad graded in June is compacted and settled long before the November rain tests it. What works in which months is in our rainy season guide.
Pricing
What's in a site prep package
| Stage | What's included | From (IDR) | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slab & foundation breaking | Old slabs, footings and buried concrete out, rubble sorted | 380,000–550,000/m³ | Slab breaking |
| Land clearing | Vegetation, trees, roots, topsoil strip | from 1,200,000/are | Land clearing |
| Cut & fill grading | Balanced levels, compaction in 20–30 cm layers | from 95,000/m³ | Site grading |
| Access road | Geotextile + compacted sirtu, culverts | from 240,000/m² | Access roads |
| Foundation excavation | Footings, strips, basements to engineer's levels | from 95,000/m³ | Excavation |
| Utility trenching | Water, power, septic & fibre lines | from 120,000/m | Trenching |
| Drainage | French drains, U-ditches, soakaways | from 450,000/m | Drainage |
Rates are the same as on each service page — a package changes the mobilization count and the sequence, not the unit prices. Full rate card on the pricing page.
Read the table as honest orientation rather than a public offer; the binding figure is set in the written quote that follows the free site visit.
One quote for the whole chain: send the plot pin, the plot size in are, photos of the land and your architect’s drawing if you have one — we visit free and send one combined, line-by-line quote within 24 hours.
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FAQ
Site preparation in Bali — FAQ
How much does site preparation cost in Bali?
It is the sum of measured volumes at published rates: land clearing from IDR 1,200,000/are, cut and fill grading from 95,000/m³, foundation excavation from 95,000/m³, access roads from 240,000/m², trenching from 120,000/m and drainage from 450,000/m. Two plots of the same size can differ by half — slope, vegetation, soil and haul distance decide it — which is why we measure first and quote line by line. The site visit costs nothing.
How long does site preparation take?
Volumes, access and season set the pace, so we put dates against stages only after measuring. As orientation: a 100 m access road over firm ground takes 2–3 working days, and clearing, grading, trenching and drainage each scale with the plot. The written quote comes with a stage-by-stage schedule, and mass earthmoving is planned into the dry season wherever the calendar allows.
Can I order single stages instead of the whole package?
Yes — every stage is its own service with its own page and rates, and plenty of clients bring us in for one thing only. The package exists because sharing one mobilization and one crew across stages is cheaper and faster than hiring them separately, not because you are locked into it.
When should site preparation start relative to design and permits?
Access and clearing can start as soon as the land is yours — they do not depend on the design. Grading to final levels wants the architect's levels fixed, and trenching wants the utility routes drawn, so most owners run clearing and the access road first, then grade once drawings are ready. Ideally the heavy earthmoving lands in the dry season before the build starts.
Can you prepare a sloped or terraced plot?
Yes — sloped plots are most of our work. Cut and fill is balanced on the plot so soil moves metres instead of leaving in trucks, terraces are compacted in layers, retaining walls go in with drainage behind them, and the water is managed from day one. Slope work is measured on site; the same free-visit, written-quote process applies.
Get a free site visit and a fixed written quote
Send us your location pin and a few photos on WhatsApp. We visit the site, measure what is actually there, and send a line-by-line quote — normally back with you inside 24 hours, and you owe nothing for it.
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