Green frame: a flat prepared for finishing
Green frame (მწვანე კარკასი) is the label Georgian sellers use for a new-build flat delivered "prepared for finishing": partitions, plaster, screed and the engineering systems are in place inside the flat, and only the final finishes remain for the buyer.
It is market practice, not law. We found no statute, Government resolution or technical regulation that uses the phrase (searches of 28 October 2026), and Housebook's August 2025 guide to new developments says each developer decides for itself what its frames contain. The contract's specification annex is therefore the only binding description of a given green frame; see our entries on the sale and purchase agreement and the preliminary agreement.
Geostat does publish green-frame prices for Tbilisi, but it defines nothing. Its Residential Property Price Index takes offer prices from myhome.ge and ss.ge by web scraping and groups them by the condition each seller selected, so the statistical category is self-declared by the advertiser.
For a buyer from abroad the word "green" invites a second misreading. Elsewhere it often signals an energy-efficient or certified building. In Georgian listings it marks a stage of interior works and says nothing about energy, insulation or certification; the section on easily confused terms below explains the difference.
The condition most Tbilisi projects advertise
Green frame is the label a buyer browsing Tbilisi new builds meets most often. On 28 October 2026 the portal Korter.ge tagged 248 Tbilisi developments with a green-frame option, more than with white frame or black frame.
| Condition | Developments |
|---|---|
| Green frame | 248 |
| White frame | 191 |
| Black frame | 24 |
Three cautions go with these numbers. They count projects, not flats. They come from one portal. And a project can carry more than one label; we could not confirm whether such a project appears in two rows. The first page of Korter's green-frame results alone ran from USD 950 per m² (Bada Didi Dighomi) to USD 5,000 (Mziuri Park Plaza), so the label on its own tells you little about price.
Geostat's median asking price for green-frame new flats in Tbilisi was GEL 4,409 per m² in the second quarter of 2026, the highest of the three frames it reports. The quarter-by-quarter series and the gap to white frame are analysed on our page about which frame to buy to let. Geostat has no turnkey category, so for a flat sold finished there is no matching official median.
What "almost finished" means in practice
Korter.ge describes the flat as "fully prepared for finishing works" and says: "All engineering systems - electricity, water, heating, and sewage - are already distributed." In its words, "Only the finishing works remain: painting or wallpapering, laying flooring, and installing tiles", and the buyer also fits the plumbing fixtures and interior doors.
XO Development, writing about its own product in March 2026, is more concrete about the systems: screed often with heating pipes laid in it, electrical points in every room, water and sewage pipes brought to the kitchen and bathrooms, a metal entrance door and metal-plastic windows. Housebook goes further than both and counts finishes such as tiles, wallpaper, laminate and interior doors as part of green frame, often with plumbing and ceilings.
| Item | Korter.ge | XO Development | Housebook |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wiring | Distributed | Points in every room | Not stated |
| Heating | Distributed | Pipes often in the screed | Not stated |
| Water and sewage | Distributed | Pipes to kitchen and bathrooms | Plumbing often included |
| Floor covering | Left to buyer | Not stated | Laminate included |
| Tiles | Left to buyer | Not stated | Included |
| Wallpaper or paint | Left to buyer | Not stated | Wallpaper included |
| Interior doors | Left to buyer | Not stated | Included |
| Ceilings | Not stated | Not stated | Often included |
On the systems the sources broadly agree. On the visible surfaces they split: Korter leaves floors, tiles and doors to the owner, Housebook puts them in the developer's price. "Almost finished" can therefore mean a flat with bare screed and bare plaster, or one that needs little more than furniture. A stage-by-stage comparison of all three frames is in black, white and green frame.
The gap matters for time and money. XO claims that renovation takes about 1 to 1.5 months from its green frame against 3 to 5 months from black frame, at a cost 30% to 40% lower. That is a seller describing its own product. The remaining work is ordinary finishing, which under Government Resolution No 255, Article 4, needs no building permit as long as nothing load-bearing or any engineering network is altered; our entry on the construction permit covers the line.
Green frame on a bank page, a listing and an annex
A clear example of the term on a lender's document is Terabank's page of partner development projects, whose buyers can apply for the bank's "Simplified Mortgage Loan". Each project carries a line headed "Condition upon handover". Projects by Bildart Development in Dighomi, G2 Development in Temka and Rils Group in Makhata read "Green frame"; a project by MSZ Group in Gori reads "Green frame semi-finished"; others on the same page read "White frame" or "Black frame". The page footer is dated 2024, so check it is current before relying on it, and see our guide to a mortgage for foreigners and the mortgage entry for how lending works.
The qualifier "semi-finished" is telling. When a seller adds words to the label, the label alone was not enough to describe the flat, and the buyer should ask what the extra words cover.
- Listings: the condition field reads "მდგომარეობა: მწვანე კარკასი" on Georgian portals and "зелёный каркас" on Russian-language ones.
- Specification annex: a usable one answers five questions in writing: are heating pipes laid in the screed, how many socket and switch points are in each room, where are the sanitary connection points, are tiles included, and are interior doors included.
- Handover protocol: the state of each of those items on the day you accept the flat; our apartment handover guide explains how to record it.
Worked example: one label, two products
Two Tbilisi developers each offer a 60 m² flat in green frame at the same asking price per m². Developer A's annex follows Korter's description: systems distributed, surfaces bare. Developer B's follows Housebook's: tiles, laminate and interior doors already fitted.
After handover, buyer A still has to buy and lay the flooring, tile the bathroom and kitchen, hang the interior doors and fit the sanitary ware, then paint. Buyer B mostly needs paint, light fittings and furniture. Both flats are "green frame" in the listing and in Geostat's statistics, yet the works left to do are of a different order.
We do not put a lari figure on the difference: the published finishing costs per m² date from 2024 and are discussed on our investment page linked above. The practical rule is to compare annexes before prices, and to price buyer A's extra list with a builder before deciding that the two offers cost the same.
Not a green building: easily confused terms
The confusion buyers from abroad are most likely to make is with green building certification. EDGE is a certification system of the IFC, the World Bank Group's private-sector arm, for resource-efficient buildings. A BM.ge news headline announces a green building finance programme at ProCredit Bank, which also writes about EDGE on its own site. We could not confirm the programme's terms, nor whether any Georgian bank currently gives a rate discount for an EDGE-certified flat, so ask the lender directly. None of this has anything to do with a green-frame flat, which may sit in a building with no energy rating at all.
Terabank's page adds a naming trap of its own. It lists "green" development projects, yet some of the projects on it are handed over in white or black frame. A "green project" in a bank's list and a "green frame" in a listing are separate labels.
| Term | What it describes | Relation to green frame |
|---|---|---|
| Green building, EDGE certificate | A building's use of energy, water and materials | None; a finishing stage carries no energy rating |
| White frame | The stage below; systems may be partial | XO says white frame usually lacks heating pipes and full wiring |
| Black frame | The most basic stage sold | Two stages below; the least listed of the three on Korter |
| Turnkey or renovated (გარემონტებული) | A finished flat, ready to use | Green frame still needs floors, paint, tiles on Korter's reading, sanitary ware and usually a kitchen |
The term in five languages
| Language | Term |
|---|---|
| Georgian | მწვანე კარკასი |
| English | green frame |
| Russian | зелёный каркас |
| Hebrew | שלד ירוק |
| Arabic | الإطار الأخضر |
The Georgian phrase to find in a contract or annex is მწვანე კარკასი, as in the portals' condition field. In Hebrew or Arabic material, "green" can be read as an environmental claim, so a translated brochure should spell out the finishing stage next to the term.
Warning signs with a green-frame offer
- The annex repeats the label. "მწვანე კარკასი" with no list of items lets either party argue later about floors, tiles and doors.
- A qualifier with no definition. An addition such as "semi-finished" needs its own written list of items.
- Heating not mentioned. One developer describes pipes as "often" in the screed, which also means sometimes not.
- Reading "green" as eco. A green-frame flat earns no energy certificate and no green-loan terms by its label.
- Choosing from photographs of a furnished unit. Ask to see a flat at the exact stage you are buying, not one finished for marketing.
- Assuming green frame is ready to let. On Korter's description the flat still lacks floors, tiles, sanitary ware and doors.
To be added by the team: images for the team to add: photographs of a green-frame flat from our own viewings showing socket points, sanitary connection points and the screed, noting the building and date and with the developer's consent; a redacted green-frame annex; and a screenshot of Terabank's "Condition upon handover" line for one partner project.
How to check a green-frame offer
Get the item list
Floors, tiles, doors, sanitary ware: in or out.
Confirm the systems
Heating pipes, socket points, water and sewage outlets.
Decode any qualifier
Ask what "semi-finished" or similar adds.
See the real stage
A unit in the same building, unfurnished.
Price the remaining works
A builder's quote against the annex.
Check the lender's terms
Ignore the word "green" until the bank explains it.
Frequently asked questions
What does green frame mean in Georgia?
A new-build flat prepared for finishing: partitions, plaster, screed and the engineering systems are in place, and the final finishes remain.
Is green frame a legal term?
No. It is market practice; each developer sets its own content, so the specification annex decides.
Does green frame include floors and tiles?
Sources disagree. Korter.ge leaves flooring and tiles to the buyer; Housebook counts tiles and laminate as included.
Is a green-frame flat an eco-certified building?
No. Green building certification such as EDGE is a separate system with no link to the finishing stage.
How common is green frame in Tbilisi?
Korter.ge tagged 248 Tbilisi developments with it on 28 October 2026, more than white or black frame.
What do green-frame flats cost in Tbilisi?
Geostat's median asking price was GEL 4,409 per m² in the second quarter of 2026.
How long does finishing take from green frame?
One developer, XO, claims about 1 to 1.5 months; treat it as a seller's estimate.
Can a green-frame flat be bought with a mortgage?
Terabank lists green-frame partner projects for its Simplified Mortgage Loan; terms differ by bank, so ask each lender.
Sources
- Green frame new projects in Tbilisi, Korter.ge (accessed 28 October 2026)
- White frame and black frame new projects in Tbilisi, Korter.ge (accessed 28 October 2026)
- What is green frame?, XO Development, 11 March 2026
- Black, white and green frames in new developments, Housebook, 27 August 2025
- Residential Property Price Index, second quarter of 2026, Geostat, 23 July 2026
- Green projects and Simplified Mortgage Loan, Terabank (accessed 28 October 2026)
- ProCredit Bank launches green building finance programme, BM.ge
- EDGE certification, ProCredit Bank Georgia (accessed 28 October 2026)
- Government Resolution No 255 of 31 May 2019, Article 4, Legislative Herald of Georgia
Change log
- - Glossary entry published from Korter.ge, XO Development, Housebook, Geostat, Terabank, BM.ge, ProCredit Bank and Government Resolution No 255.