The acceleration of infrastructure development across Indonesia became one of the government's priority objectives in the wake of the election of President Joko Widodo over two years ago. Current top priority infrastructure projects include 621 miles of new toll roads, 35 megawatts of new power capacity, 2,024 miles of new railways, 163 new seaports and a whole wealth of other ventures.[1] Indeed, in August of 2016, the government declared the development of the country’s infrastructure to be one of five government priority sectors in the Amendment to the State Budget and Expenditure.
 
It is important though that these targets are supported by an adequate regulatory framework. With this goal in mind, several regulations have been issued recently which are aimed at easing the investment process as regards infrastructure projects, as well as accelerating their implementation. However, it will also be necessary to ensure that the development of any new infrastructure is undertaken by competent construction-service businesses and also that it meets certain working standards. After deliberating and analyzing 905 areas related to the construction industry, on 15 December 2016 the House of Representatives finally passed the Bill on Construction Services (“Bill”). Upon its enforcement, the Bill will repeal and replace the current Law No. 18 of 2009 on Construction Services (“Construction Law”).
 
The Bill redefines several basic matters which relate to the construction industry, including the scope of construction businesses, business classifications, the development of construction services, working standards, working health and safety and so forth. This edition of Indonesian Law Digest (ILD) will discuss several key provisions contained within the Bill, specifically: