Most new apartments in Georgia are sold and handed over as a shell: not a finished home, but not bare concrete either. The two terms you’ll meet most often are white frame and green frame. They’re widely used, but they aren’t defined by law, so what they include depends on your developer and your contract.
Black frame, briefly
A black frame is the most basic state: the structure, external walls and usually the windows, with little or nothing inside. It’s less common for apartments sold to private buyers.
White frame
A white frame usually means the apartment is ready for finishing work. Typically it includes:
- plastered walls and ceilings;
- a floor screed;
- windows and an entrance door;
- electrical wiring to the points, often with the distribution board;
- water and sewage pipes to the connection points;
- sometimes heating or gas connection points.
What it usually doesn’t include: final finishes, flooring, tiling, sanitary fittings, kitchen, interior doors.
Green frame
The term is used less consistently. Many developers use it for a state between black and white frame, for example with some partitions and rough work done, but not the full white frame. Others use it differently. Read your contract: it should list exactly what you get.
Why it matters at handover
An inspection checks two things:
- Is everything the contract promises actually there? For example, the plaster, screed, wiring and connection points.
- Is it built properly? For example, whether the walls are plumb, the screed level, the windows sealed, the sockets live.
A shell that looks finished can still have walls out of plumb, damp in the corners or a floor area smaller than the contract. These are much cheaper to fix before you renovate and cover everything up.
Before you sign
- Get the contract’s specification in writing, and bring it to the handover.
- Check each promised item against what’s there.
- Note anything missing or badly done in writing before you sign the act.
We check the shell, white or green frame, against your contract and report within 24 hours.