White frame: the middle stage of a new-build flat
White frame (თეთრი კარკასი) is the Georgian market's name for a new-build flat handed over at an intermediate stage, typically with plastered walls, a floor screed, internal partitions, windows, an entrance door and the main utility runs in place, while every visible finish is left for the buyer to pay for.
No Georgian law defines it: we found no law, Government resolution or technical regulation that uses the term (searches of 28 October 2026), and Housebook's August 2025 market guide says each developer decides what its own white frame includes. What binds the developer is the list of works in your sale and purchase agreement or preliminary agreement, usually set out in a specification annex.
The only official user of the term is Geostat, whose quarterly price index shows Tbilisi new-build prices by condition. Those figures are median asking prices scraped from myhome.ge and ss.ge, and the condition is whatever the advertiser ticked: a flat is "white frame" in the national statistics because its seller said so.
The colour says nothing about the facade; it names a stage of interior works. Russian developers use "предчистовая отделка" or "white box" for a similar stage, but we could not confirm that either matches the Georgian label.
What named sources put inside a white frame
Three published descriptions disagree in useful ways. The listing portal Korter.ge writes: "In Tbilisi's new-build market, the term 'white frame' refers to an intermediate stage of apartment readiness." It lists electricity, water, heating and sewage as installed, with plastered walls, a rough screed, windows and a door.
Housebook agrees on plaster, screed and partitions, names gas rather than heating, and says the balcony is often finished. XO Development, a developer, wrote in March 2026 that a white frame "typically lacks heating pipes and complete wiring", in direct conflict with the portal on two whole systems.
| Element | Korter.ge | Housebook | XO Development |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plastered walls | Yes | Yes | Not stated |
| Floor screed | Yes, rough | Yes | Not stated |
| Internal partitions | Not stated | Yes | Not stated |
| Windows and entrance door | Yes | Not stated | Not stated |
| Electricity | Installed | Installed | Wiring typically incomplete |
| Water and sewage | Installed | Water installed | Not stated |
| Heating | Installed | Not stated | Pipes typically missing |
| Gas | Not stated | Installed | Not stated |
| Balcony | Not stated | Often finished | Not stated |
"Not stated" means the source is silent, not that the item is missing. For a white frame set beside the stages below and above it, read black, white and green frame.
The bill that starts at handover
Which items move from the developer's budget to yours when you sign the handover protocol? Korter says that even at green frame, one stage up, the owner still pays for painting or wallpaper, flooring, tiles, plumbing fixtures and interior doors. All of these are therefore yours in a white frame, and some systems may be too.
| Item | Usually paid by | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Paint or wallpaper | Buyer | Left to the owner even at green frame |
| Floor coverings and tiles | Buyer | Left to the owner even at green frame |
| Sanitary fittings and interior doors | Buyer | Left to the owner even at green frame |
| Kitchen | Buyer | Not part of any published white-frame description |
| Heating pipes and heating system | Check the annex | Korter says installed, XO says typically missing |
| Wiring beyond the distribution board | Check the annex | XO says wiring is typically incomplete |
| Balcony finish | Check the annex | Housebook says often, not always, finished |
Two rules apply to the work you then commission. Under Government Resolution No 255, Article 4, ordinary finishing, including non-load-bearing partitions, needs no building permit, while load-bearing openings or changes to engineering networks count as reconstruction (see construction permit). Work touching the building's shared networks may also need the agreement of the homeowners association or the developer.
Your builder's work falls under the Civil Code's rules on contracts for work: Article 655 allows one year from acceptance for defect claims, and five years for defects in structures. Defects in what the developer delivered belong to the purchase contract, where Article 129 sets six years for contractual claims about immovable property. Both points carry a lawyer's caution.
Why Tbilisi prices are quoted in white frame
Galt & Taggart quotes its Tbilisi primary-market prices for white-frame flats, the stage in which an off-plan Tbilisi flat usually arrives. From 2025 it moved its Batumi primary prices to a turnkey basis instead.
| Date | USD per m² |
|---|---|
| January 2022 | 902 |
| January 2023 | 1,066 |
| January 2024 | 1,266 |
| December 2025 | 1,373 |
We have not derived growth rates: the reports' annual figures and growth percentages do not reconcile, and we found no written definition of the white frame Galt & Taggart prices.
Geostat's median asking price for white-frame new flats in Tbilisi was GEL 3,703 per m² in the second quarter of 2026: a lari figure from listings that cannot be converted into the analyst's dollar average. Our page on which frame to buy to let has the full series.
On 28 October 2026 Korter.ge listed 191 Tbilisi developments with a white-frame option (192 on 13 October), against 248 with green frame and 24 with black frame. These are tagged projects on one portal, not flats, and we could not confirm whether a project with two tags is counted twice.
Where you will see the words in writing
Four kinds of paper use the term, with very different weight.
- Listings: Georgian portals have a condition field, მდგომარეობა, with the option თეთრი კარკასი; Russian listings say "белый каркас". We could not confirm that "white box" is used in Georgian listings in English. The advertiser chooses, and this field feeds Geostat's series.
- Lender pages: Terabank's list of partner projects gives each a "Condition upon handover", and some read "White frame": the bank records the developer's label without defining it.
- Analyst reports: Galt & Taggart's Tbilisi tables are white-frame prices; set beside a finished resale price, they compare two different products until finishing is added.
- The specification annex: the only one of the four that can bind the seller. A useful annex names the plaster, the screed, whether wiring runs to each room or stops at the distribution board, whether heating pipes exist, and the state of the balcony.
An annex that says only "თეთრი კარკასი" gives you a label, not a specification. Check it against our guide to the developer contract and bring it to the apartment handover.
Worked example: two offers at the same price per m²
A buyer looks at a 75 m² flat in Tbilisi, bought off-plan. At Galt & Taggart's December 2025 white-frame average of USD 1,373 per m², it costs about USD 102,975 (our arithmetic). A second developer offers a flat of the same size at the same price per m², also called white frame.
The first annex follows Korter's description: heating, electricity, water and sewage installed. The second follows the pattern XO describes: no heating pipes, and wiring only part of the way. The contracts cost the same, yet the second buyer must also pay for a heating installation and the rest of the wiring before floors and paint can start.
We give no figure for that work, because we have no current, dated quote for it. Ask both developers in writing whether heating pipes are laid, whether wiring reaches every room and whether the balcony is finished, then have a builder price the difference. If the flat should support a residence permit, the valuation describes it as it stands; see our guide to the residence permit through property.
White frame and its neighbours
| Term | What it usually covers | Difference from white frame |
|---|---|---|
| Black frame | The earliest stage sold; sources disagree on whether partitions, windows and the door are included | No plaster or screed, and utilities at most brought to the flat; one stage below white |
| Green frame | A flat prepared for finishing, with the engineering systems distributed inside | Systems complete, and some developers add floors, tiles or interior doors |
| Turnkey or renovated (გარემონტებული) | A finished flat, ready to use | Finishes done by the seller; ask whether furniture and appliances are in the price |
| Facade colour | The outside finish of the building | Unrelated: "white" in white frame names an interior stage |
Each developer draws the borders between stages, so a heating system can sit inside one company's white frame and outside another's.
The term in five languages
| Language | Term |
|---|---|
| Georgian | თეთრი კარკასი |
| English | white frame |
| Russian | белый каркас |
| Hebrew | שלד לבן |
| Arabic | الإطار الأبيض |
In a Georgian contract or annex, look for თეთრი კარკასი, the wording of the portals' condition field; with a translated brochure, check the Georgian specification.
Mistakes buyers make with a white frame
- Reading Geostat or a portal as a definition. Both repeat what sellers tick on a listing; neither checks what is inside the flat.
- Assuming heating is included. One published description says it is installed, a developer says the pipes are typically missing. Ask.
- Comparing a white-frame price with a finished resale flat. The finishes, the kitchen and the sanitary fittings are still to buy.
- Moving a load-bearing wall during finishing. That is reconstruction, not finishing, and the permit exemption no longer applies.
- Letting the builder start before handover is recorded. Once new work covers the screed and pipes, it is hard to show which defects came from the developer.
To be added by the team: images for the team to add: photographs of a white-frame flat from one of our viewings showing the plaster, the screed and the distribution board, with the building, the date and the developer's permission; a redacted specification annex that describes a white frame item by item; and a screenshot of a listing's condition field showing თეთრი კარკასი.
How to pin down a white frame before you sign
Ask for the annex
The list of works, not the brochure.
Check heating and wiring
Laid in full, in part or not at all.
See a finished example
A white-frame flat in the same building.
Price the gap
A builder's quote for everything left to you.
Record the handover
Photographs and a signed protocol before any work.
Plan the works legally
No load-bearing changes without a permit.
Frequently asked questions
What does white frame mean in Georgia?
A new-build flat handed over at an intermediate stage: usually plaster, screed, windows, door and the main utilities, with all finishes left to the buyer.
Is white frame defined by law?
No. We found no law or regulation that uses the term, and each developer decides what its white frame includes.
Is heating included in a white frame?
It depends on the developer. Korter.ge describes heating as installed; XO Development says white frame typically lacks heating pipes.
What is Geostat's white-frame price?
A median asking price from listing sites: GEL 3,703 per m² for Tbilisi new flats in the second quarter of 2026.
Which frame do Galt & Taggart's Tbilisi prices use?
White frame. Its December 2025 primary-market average was USD 1,373 per m².
Is a building permit needed for white-frame finishing?
No, ordinary finishing and non-load-bearing partitions are exempt; load-bearing openings and network changes count as reconstruction.
How long can I claim for defects in my builder's work?
Under Civil Code Article 655, one year from acceptance, or five years for defects in structures.
How many Tbilisi projects offer white frame?
Korter.ge listed 191 developments with a white-frame option on 28 October 2026.
Sources
- How to choose an apartment in a new development: black, white and green frames, Housebook, 27 August 2025
- White frame new projects in Tbilisi, Korter.ge (accessed 28 October 2026)
- Green frame new projects in Tbilisi and black frame new projects in Tbilisi, Korter.ge (accessed 28 October 2026)
- What is green frame?, XO Development, 11 March 2026
- Residential Property Price Index, second quarter of 2026, Geostat, 23 July 2026 (accessed 28 October 2026)
- Tbilisi residential real estate, January 2024, Galt & Taggart
- Tbilisi residential real estate, December 2025, Galt & Taggart
- Green projects, Terabank (accessed 28 October 2026)
- Civil Code of Georgia, Articles 129 and 655, Legislative Herald of Georgia
- Government Resolution No 255 of 31 May 2019 on construction permits and commissioning, Article 4, Legislative Herald of Georgia
- Law of Georgia on Homeowners' Associations, Legislative Herald of Georgia
Change log
- - Glossary entry published from Housebook, Korter.ge, XO Development, Geostat, Galt & Taggart, Terabank, the Civil Code of Georgia, Government Resolution No 255 and the Law on Homeowners' Associations.