Brunei Darussalam

Getting Electricity in

Brunei Darussalam

Listed below are the procedures, time and cost required for a business to obtain an electricity connection for a newly constructed building.

The information appearing on this page was collected as part of the Doing Business project, which measures and compares regulations relevant to the life cycle of a small- to medium-sized domestic business in 183 economies. The most recent round of data collection for the project was completed in June 2011.

  • Name of Utility: Department of Electrical Services (at the Ministry of Energy)
  • City: Bandar Seri Begawan

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No. Procedure Time to Complete Associated Costs
1 An approved electrical contractor submits application for approval of the electrical layout and single line diagram to the Authority for Building and Construction Industry (ABCi)

The client needs to hire an electrical contractor registered with the Ministry of Development to carry out the internal and external wiring. In this case the contractor needs to have a license to provide E01 (wiring) and E02 (cable laying & external works) services to the customer.
The contractor will need to submit their electrical layout (both internal and external works) and single-line diagram to the newly-created Authority for Building and Construction Industry (ABCi). ABCi acts as a one-stop shop for the construction process. The utility (Department of Electrical Services, DES) has representative staff at ABCi that review the submitted documents.

Agency: Authority for Building and Construction Industry (ABCi) 		7 calendar days no charge
* 2 The client obtains external site inspection from the Authority for Building and Construction Industry (ABCi)



Agency: Authority for Building and Construction Industry (ABCi) 		1 calendar day no charge
3 The approved electrical contractor obtains excavation permit from the local authority



Agency: Local Authority 		21 calendar days no charge
4 The approved electrical contractor carries out the external works

The works consist of laying underground cables from the warehouse to the closest point of supply on the LV network.
For capacities larger than 215 kVA (300 Amp) a substation would be needed.


Agency: Approved electrical contractor 		21 calendar days BND 14,592.5
5 The client obtains inspection of the internal wiring, meter installation and final supply from the Department of Electrical Services

When the internal wiring has been completed the contractor will need to notify the Customer Services Section of the Department of Electrical Services (DES) so they come for an inspection to test the installation, install the meter, and turn on the electricity supply.
Submission of request to the Department of Electrical Services is done only upon issuance of the occupancy permit by the relevant authority, and after the single line diagram and survey form have been vetted through and approved by ABCi.


Agency: Department of Electrical Services 		7 calendar days BND 4,100.0
* Takes place simultaneously with another procedure.
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