Questions, answered plainly

Yes. Most clients start with one service, like a feasibility study or a set of books, and add others later if they need them.

Each discipline is led by someone who does that work every day. You get one point of contact, who brings in the right people and keeps one set of documents.

Across the Maldives, from Malé, Hulhumalé and Addu to local and resort islands. We plan site visits around ferry, boat and seaplane access.

A fixed fee per stage for projects, and a fixed monthly fee for ongoing work like bookkeeping or a care plan. Prices are in MVR, or USD where a resort or foreign client works in dollars.

Send us a short note on what you need, by email or through the contact form. We reply within a working day with questions or a proposal.

Yes. Many clients come to us for a single stage, like a BOQ for drawings they already have or inspections on a build that is under way.

Houses, apartment blocks, shops, offices, warehouses and mixed-use buildings in Malé, Hulhumalé and the islands, as well as resorts: beach and water villas, guest facilities and back-of-house buildings.

Across the Maldives. Send us the island and the plot, and we plan surveys and inspections around boat or seaplane access.

No. Since the 2019 constitutional amendment foreigners cannot own land in the Maldives; they can lease it, for up to 99 years. Resort islands are leased from the government under the Tourism Act. We work for foreign owners and investors on leased land all the time, and check the lease terms before design starts.

Email us the island and plot, any drawings you have and a rough budget in MVR. We reply with a fee proposal for the stages you need.

A fixed fee per stage, agreed before we start. Inspections are priced per visit. You only pay for the stages you hire us for.

Yes. The measured survey is part of the first stage and is priced into the fee proposal.

Usually two or three concept options. Once you pick one, we develop it rather than starting again, so changes stay quick and cheap.

It depends on the plot. Malé follows the Malé Planning Regulation, whose seventh amendment, from May 2024, allows up to 10 storeys (30.48 m) in Villimalé on qualifying plots. Hulhumalé's March 2026 regulation sets height by plot size, up to 10 storeys or 30.5 m on the largest plots; it requires a lift above 16.5 m, a ground floor given over to parking above 18.5 m, and no flats on the ground and first floors of buildings over six storeys. We read the rules for your plot before the first sketch.

The island council's land-use plan and building permit, the Construction Act's rules on registered designers and contractors, and the government's 2024 Resilient Housing Guidance, which recommends minimum construction standards for island houses. If you want rooms for guests, the plot has to qualify for a guesthouse licence from the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation: a residential plot can, while a council-leased plot must be marked for a guesthouse in the approved land-use plan. We check that first.

The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation's development rules set them. Its resort development handbook keeps buildings at least 5 m inland of the vegetation line and limits guest buildings to three storeys or 12 m, with 15 m for back-of-house. A 2023 revision raised the built-up allowance to 50% of the island's land area, counting overwater villas, and set at least 3 m of beach for every guest room. Water villas must stand on stilts that let water and sand move freely. We check the current figures for your island before the first sketch.

It depends on the land. In Malé the city council issues building permits, in Hulhumalé HDC does, and on other inhabited islands it is the island or city council, all within the land-use plans set under the Urban Planning and Management Act. On an island leased for tourism, the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation approves the drawings and then issues the construction permit. We prepare the drawings and forms, submit them and answer the authority's questions until a decision is made.

New resorts and many larger projects do, under the Environmental Protection and Preservation Act and the EIA Regulation; smaller projects are screened first. Since March 2026, housing projects and buildings over 10 storeys no longer need one. Cutting trees within 20 m of the shore needs a separate vegetation clearance permit. Where an EIA applies, we coordinate with your registered EIA consultant so the approval keeps pace with the design.

Yes. We can take a design from another architect or a sketch of your own and produce the permit and construction set from it.

Permit drawings must be signed and stamped by architects and engineers registered under the Construction Industry Practitioners Regulation, and in many cases reviewed by a registered architectural or structural checker before a drawing approval is issued. HDC applies its own drawing checks in Hulhumalé. Ours are signed by registered practitioners, and we arrange the checker's review.

A building permit on approved drawings stamped by registered checkers and, for projects of MVR 1.5 million or more or any structural work, a project licence. Since June 2025 the project licence needs proof of third-party construction insurance. Malé City Council fines owners who build without a permit or without an engineer supervising, so we line all of it up before the contractor starts.

Tall buildings and some sensitive sites need a foundation system approval from the Ministry of Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development before work starts. We prepare the foundation design and soil report for it alongside the drawings.

Every issue comes as PDF for printing and site use, plus DWG files for consultants and the builder.

Yes. Send us the set and we will measure from it, and flag anything missing that would leave the builder guessing.

MVR by default, or USD where a resort or foreign client works in dollars. We agree the currency, the measurement rules and how GST is shown before we start measuring.

Whichever the job uses. Government works tenders follow the Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises' standard tender documents, and many use FIDIC general conditions; private houses, flats and resorts use anything from a short local contract to FIDIC. The bill's preambles match the contract so the rates value variations the way it says.

Contractors must be registered under the Construction Contractor Regulation, which sets a grade and a category for each firm, and need a project licence before starting work. We check both when we compare bids, so you do not award a job to a firm that cannot legally take it.

Within one working day of the visit, with photos and a clear list of anything that must be fixed before the next stage.

Yes. Send us the approved drawings and the permit and we will inspect against them.

We check the contractor's site safety arrangements against the safety rules made under the Construction Act, and we record anything unsafe we see. Day-to-day safety stays the contractor's legal responsibility.

Local businesses of every size, from sole proprietors, shops and cafés to contractors, traders, workshops and family companies, as well as startups, guesthouses, resorts and foreign investors.

Maldivians can trade as a sole proprietor, a partnership (including a limited liability partnership), a company or a cooperative society, all on the same Business Registry. Since the Companies Act 2023 a company can have a single shareholder, though it needs at least one director resident in the Maldives. We weigh liability, tax, financing and paperwork, and recommend one.

Business registration on oneGov, which also registers you with MIRA; confirmation that the premises can be used for the trade, where the council or HDC requires it; for food, an oil-trap letter from MWSC or the local utility and an MFDA food establishment licence after inspection; pension registration for staff and Xpat approval for any foreign staff; and GST registration once sales pass MVR 1 million, or from the start if you import goods or run a tourism business such as a guesthouse. We run the list with you in the right order.

A typical business review takes two to four weeks, including at least one site visit. Businesses with several branches or properties take longer.

Yes. Under the Foreign Investment Act (Law 11/2024) a foreign investor needs approval from the Ministry of Economic Development, Transport and Trade before the business is registered, and each activity has its own ownership limit. Resorts can be fully foreign-owned, for example, while guesthouses are capped at 49% foreign shareholding and new cafés, restaurants and bakeries are closed to foreign investment, under the entry requirements issued in October 2025. We check the current list for your activity before anything is signed.

Tourism businesses must add a service charge of at least 10%. Since January 2021 the Employment Act has let the employer keep up to 1% for administration and requires the rest to be shared equally among all employees. We check that payroll does exactly that, because it is one of the first things an inspection looks at.

Yes, if you want us to. Many clients keep us on for a few days a month to see the actions through.

Our reports follow the structure Maldivian lenders such as Bank of Maldives and SME Digital (formerly SDFC) look for: the market, the people, the cost, the cash flow and the security. We check the lender's own requirements before we start.

Yes. A café, a workshop, a fishing vessel or a small block of flats gets the same honest test at a smaller scale and fee. SME Digital and BML run financing schemes for small businesses, including women and young entrepreneurs, and some lend up to a limit without collateral, but every one of them wants a plan and a cash flow it can believe.

Yes. Islands and lagoons for resorts are leased through open bidding announced in the Government Gazette, usually on 50-year leases. Bids are scored mainly on the lease acquisition cost offered, alongside criteria such as renewable energy and community benefit, and the resort normally has to be built within three to four years of signing. We model how much you can afford to offer and still pay back, and check every figure against the bid document.

Yes. Resort development and many larger projects need an environmental impact assessment under the Environmental Protection and Preservation Act (Law 4/93), approved before work starts; smaller projects go through screening, and some housing is now exempt. Buildings also need a permit from the council, HDC or the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation. We put the cost and time of each approval into the programme, so none of them is the thing that delays the build.

Yes. You receive the working spreadsheet as well as the report, so you can test your own assumptions.

Yes, and sometimes we do. A study that only ever says yes is no use to you or your lender.

Yes. Company conferences, AGMs, product launches, staff nights and government events in Malé, Hulhumalé and the atolls are a large part of our work. Events in public places in Malé need city council permission, booked through its Maavehi portal, and we handle that.

Six to nine months for groups over 80 flying in, especially in the December to April high season. Local events and smaller meetings can work with one to three months, though popular Malé venues book up around year end and before Ramadan.

Visitors of almost every nationality get a free tourist visa on arrival for up to 30 days, with a passport valid for at least a month, a return ticket, a confirmed and paid booking and enough money for the stay; Israeli passports are not accepted. Every guest must also file the free IMUGA traveller declaration online in the 96 hours before arrival, and again before departure. Speakers, exhibitors and anyone working at the event may need a different visa, so we check each of them with Immigration well before travel.

Most local suppliers and venues charge the general 8% GST. Resorts, hotels and guesthouses charge 17% Tourism GST (up from 16% in July 2025) and a service charge of at least 10%, plus a green tax for overnight foreign guests of USD 12 per night at resorts and larger hotels, or USD 6 at hotels and guesthouses of 50 rooms or fewer on inhabited islands. Maldivians and children under two do not pay it. Our budget shows every one of them line by line.

Visitors cannot bring alcohol into the Maldives; it is served only at licensed resorts, hotels and safari boats, not on inhabited islands. Drones need a permit from the Ministry of Defence and National Service, then Civil Aviation Authority approval, and a foreign film crew needs a permit from the National Centre for the Arts, through a local agent, applied for at least ten working days before the crew arrives. We handle the applications.

Yes, under Customs temporary import, with a guarantor in the Maldives who answers for re-export. Duty is waived in full if everything leaves within 90 days. The Maldives does not yet accept ATA carnets, so we arrange the paperwork with Maldives Customs before anything ships.

Every outdoor session has an indoor fallback and every transfer has a backup slot, agreed with the venue before contracts are signed. Seaplanes fly in daylight only, so international arrivals are planned to land early enough to reach the resort the same day.

No. We charge you a fee agreed up front, so our only interest is getting you the best landed price.

You do, directly, against invoices we have checked. We never hold your money.

Food and medicines go through the Maldives Food and Drug Authority, plants and animals through the Ministry of Fisheries, Agriculture and Ocean Resources, radio equipment through the Communications Authority, and ozone-depleting refrigerants such as HCFCs need a National Ozone Unit clearance under a yearly quota. Chemicals, fireworks, flares and anything explosive need approval from the Ministry of Defence and National Service, and alcohol and pork can only be imported with special approval. We check every line of the order before it ships, because a missing permit holds the whole container.

Yes, but the old import licence is gone: since 2019 a business registers once with Maldives Customs, and only controlled goods need a separate permit. Importers must also register for GST whatever their turnover. If you are not set up to import, we can bring goods in through a registered importer for you.

Some can. Exemptions are granted case by case through the Ministry of Economic Development, Transport and Trade: new tourism investment, resort building in less-visited atolls such as Haa Alifu, Thaa, Laamu and Addu, and capital goods for large Special Economic Zone projects. Most houses, shops and offices pay full duty, so we price every order with it from the start.

Yes. We consolidate smaller orders into shared containers to keep freight costs down.

We work in the cloud accounting package you already use, or set one up for you. You always own the file and the data.

Yes. We prepare GST, green tax, withholding and income tax returns from your books and file them through MIRAconnect for you, or hand them over for you to submit, before each deadline. Late filing and late payment both attract fines, so we work to the MIRA calendar, not the last minute.

When your taxable sales pass MVR 1 million in twelve months, or are expected to. Importers and tourism businesses such as guesthouses and dive centres must register whatever their turnover, and smaller businesses can register voluntarily. If your sales average MVR 1 million a month or more you file monthly; otherwise you file quarterly, by the 28th of the month after the period ends.

Yes. Maldivian employees pay 7% of their basic salary into the Maldives Retirement Pension Scheme and the employer pays at least 7%, by the 15th of the following month. In tourism, a service charge of at least 10% is shared equally among all employees by the end of the next month, after the employer keeps up to 1% for administration. Both are worked out in every payroll run.

Usually not. A business must file audited accounts with MIRA if its income is above MVR 10 million or its business assets cost MVR 30 million or more. Below both limits no audit is needed, and you can keep cash-basis accounts if you meet MIRA's conditions, which since August 2026 include the same MVR 30 million asset cap. We tell you which rules apply and keep the books to match.

At least five years from the end of the tax year, under the Tax Administration Act. We keep them organised and digital, so a MIRA query or an audit can be answered from the file.

Yes. We clear the backlog first for a fixed fee, then move you onto the monthly service.

Two to four weeks for most tenders. We have turned bids round in a week, but the score is usually better with more time, and some documents, such as a bank's bid security, take days to arrange.

Usually your business registration certificate, GST or TIN registration, a MIRA tax clearance report issued within a set period, your SME registration if you have one, and, for many tenders, a bid security. The amounts and date limits change from tender to tender, so we read them from each bid data sheet rather than assume.

Yes, on smaller contracts. Since amendments to the Public Finance Regulation in early 2026, government contracts below about MVR 5 million go to the highest-scoring registered SME where SMEs bid, and smaller construction jobs are reserved for lower-grade contractors on the National Contractors Registry. Keeping your SME and contractor registration current is the first step.

As announcements in the Government Gazette and on agency and council websites, with some larger procurements run through the Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises' e-procurement system. We watch them for the sectors you work in, if you want us to.

No one can. We guarantee a compliant, well-written and correctly priced proposal delivered before the deadline.

Yes. We interview your team and write from your experience and your projects, not from a template.

Yes. We set up an editor for the pages you change often and show your team how to use it.

Yes. We build online ordering and appointment booking for shops and services, or connect the booking engine or channel manager a hotel already uses. Card payments run through a local gateway such as BML Connect or MIB Global Pay, or another provider licensed by the Maldives Monetary Authority.

If most of your customers are Maldivian, yes, or in both languages. Dhivehi is written in Thaana from right to left, so the layout has to mirror properly and use fonts made for it. We design both versions together rather than bolting one on later.

MIRA requires prices shown to customers to include GST. If you add a service charge, you may show prices before GST and service charge, as long as you say clearly that both will be added. For tourist properties we show the rate with 17% Tourism GST, the service charge and the green tax clearly set out, and the full total before the guest pays.

Yes. Since August 2025 the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation's advertising regulation has covered websites and social media. Only licensed properties, or those under development with the Ministry's permission, may advertise, and only at the category on their licence; ads and sponsored posts must be labelled; and claims such as wellness benefits need evidence. We check the content against it before launch.

Not yet. The government's Data Protection Bill went to Parliament in May 2026 and was still in committee in November. We build to a good standard anyway, close to Europe's GDPR, which already protects many overseas guests: a clear privacy notice, consent for analytics and only the data you need.

You do: the domain, the code and the content. If you ever move on, everything goes with you.