Three labels, no legal definition
New apartments in Georgia are sold in stages of completion that the market calls black frame, white frame and green frame, with "turnkey" or "ready" for a fully finished flat. The words are everywhere: in listings, brochures, price lists and even in the analysts' reports, which quote Tbilisi's new-build prices for white frame and Batumi's for turnkey flats. What they are not is a legal standard. As a market guide published in August 2025 puts it, there is no single regulation in Georgia, and each developer decides what its own black, white or green frame includes.
That has one practical consequence that matters more than any definition on this page: the only description that binds the developer is the one in your contract's specification annex. The labels are useful as a first sorting tool; the annex is what you will be able to rely on at handover.
What each label usually means
The table below combines three published descriptions: a market guide, a listings platform and a developer. Where they agree, the cell says "usually included" or "usually not"; where they disagree, it says "varies", and the next section explains how.
| Element | Black frame | White frame | Green frame |
|---|---|---|---|
| Load-bearing structure and outer walls | Usually included | Usually included | Usually included |
| Interior partitions | Varies | Usually included | Usually included |
| Windows and entrance door | Varies | Usually included | Usually included |
| Plastered walls | Usually not | Usually included | Usually included |
| Floor screed | Usually not | Usually included | Usually included |
| Electrical wiring to each room | Usually not | Varies | Usually included |
| Water and sewage pipes inside the flat | Usually not | Usually included | Usually included |
| Heating pipes or system | Usually not | Varies | Varies |
| Interior doors, floor covering, tiles | Usually not | Usually not | Varies |
| Sanitary fittings and kitchen | Usually not | Usually not | Varies |
Where the descriptions disagree
The disagreements are not small. On black frame, one description has only the load-bearing outer walls, with no partitions and with utilities brought only to the door of the flat; another includes the partitions, the windows and the entrance door. On white frame, the listings platform says electricity, water, heating and sewage are installed, while the developer's own description says a white frame typically lacks heating pipes and complete electrical wiring. On green frame, two sources describe it as a flat prepared for finishing, with only painting, flooring and tiling left, while the third includes finishes such as tiles, wallpaper, laminate and interior doors.
None of them is wrong. They are describing different developers' practice, which is exactly the point: two flats sold as "white frame" in the same street can differ by the cost of a heating system and a full set of wiring. A buyer who compares two offers by label alone can easily compare unlike with unlike.
How long and how much to finish
The further from finished the flat is, the more time and money it needs after handover. One developer, describing its own green frame, says renovation from that stage takes about one to one and a half months, against three to five months from black frame, and costs 30% to 40% less than finishing a black frame. These are a seller's figures for its own product, so treat them as a direction rather than a promise. What the cost of finishing from each frame is in money per square metre depends on the specification you choose, and we will publish our own figures separately rather than repeat estimates we have not checked.
To be added by the team: typical finishing cost per m² from black, white and green frame in Tbilisi and Batumi, from quotes collected by our renovation team, with the date of each quote.
Why the frame changes the price you are comparing
Because prices are quoted per square metre for a particular stage, the frame decides what a price means. Galt & Taggart's average new-build price for Tbilisi, $1,398 per m² in February 2026, is for white frame; its Batumi figure, $1,960 per m² in June 2026, is for turnkey flats. A listings platform shows white-frame asking prices in Tbilisi ranging from about $1,156 per m² in Samgori to $2,238 in Chugureti. None of these can be compared directly with the price of a finished resale flat, or with each other, until the cost of finishing has been added to the lower-stage figure.
The same applies inside one building. A developer may offer the same flat in white frame at one price and in green frame or turnkey at a higher one. The difference is worth comparing with what you would pay a contractor for the same work, finish by finish.
Which frame suits whom?
| Buyer | Usually suits | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Wants to design every detail and has time | Black or white frame | Full control of layout, systems and materials |
| Lives abroad and wants to let the flat soon | Green frame or turnkey | Less work to organise from a distance, faster to the first rent |
| Buys for a residence permit | Any, but check the value | The assessor values the flat as it is, so a finished flat may value higher |
| Wants the lowest entry price | Black or white frame | Lower price per m², with finishing paid later |
| Has no contractor in Georgia | Green frame or turnkey | Fewer trades to hire and supervise |
Seven questions to ask about any frame
- Partitions. Are all interior walls built, and where exactly?
- Wiring. Is it run to every room, with sockets and switch points marked, or only to the distribution board?
- Water and sewage. Are the pipes brought to the kitchen and to every bathroom position?
- Heating. Are heating pipes laid in the screed or to the radiator points, and what heating system does the building use?
- Gas. Is the flat connected, and who pays the connection charge?
- Windows, door and balcony. Which make and type, and is the balcony finished and drained?
- Surfaces. What tolerance does the developer accept for level walls and floors?
Ask for the answers in writing, attached to the offer. A developer who answers every question clearly has usually written a specification annex worth reading; one who answers with the label again has not.
Frames, letting and resale
For an investor, the frame also decides when the flat starts to earn. A white-frame flat cannot be let until it is finished, so the weeks or months of finishing are weeks without rent on top of the construction period. A turnkey flat can be let soon after handover, but you pay for the developer's choice of finishes, which may not be the ones tenants in that district prefer. At resale, buyers compare your flat with finished flats nearby, so the quality of the finishing, not the frame you bought, decides the price you can ask. Keep the invoices for all finishing work with your purchase papers.
Putting the frame into the contract
Whatever the label, ask for the specification annex and check that it names each element in the table above: what the walls, floors and ceilings are finished with, which systems are installed and to which point, which make and type of windows and entrance door, whether heating pipes are laid, and what is done on the balcony. Ask for photographs or a visit to a finished flat of the same frame in the same building, and attach the photographs to the contract if you can. If the annex says only "white frame", it does not say enough. Our guide to the developer contract sets out the specification clause with the other protections a buyer should ask for.
Checking the frame at handover
- Compare with the annex, item by item. Not with the brochure and not with the show flat.
- Walls and floors. Plaster and screed are level enough for the finish you plan; uneven surfaces cost money to correct.
- Systems. Wiring, pipes and, if promised, heating are where the annex says; ask for the plans showing where they run.
- Windows and door. Open, close and lock properly, with no damage to frames or glass.
- Balcony. Finished as described, and drained.
- Record everything. Photographs and a signed handover protocol listing any defects.
To be added by the team: photographs of a black, a white and a green frame flat from our own viewings in Tbilisi and Batumi, with the building and date of each photograph and the owner's or developer's permission.
Risks and exceptions
- Comparing labels instead of annexes. The same word covers different work.
- Forgetting the finishing cost. A lower price per m² may not be a lower total.
- Trusting the show flat. It is often finished beyond the frame you are buying.
- Accepting the flat without a protocol. Defects found later are harder to claim.
Frequently asked questions
What is white frame in Georgia?
An intermediate stage: usually plastered walls, floor screed, partitions, windows and the main utilities, with the finishing left to the buyer. What exactly is included differs between developers.
Is there a legal definition of the frames?
No. There is no single regulation; each developer defines its own frames, so the contract's specification annex is what counts.
What is the difference between white and green frame?
Green frame is closer to finished: systems are usually complete, and some developers include floor coverings, tiles or interior doors.
Is black frame cheaper overall?
It is cheaper per m² at purchase, but you pay for all the systems and finishing afterwards, so compare the total.
Are Galt & Taggart's prices for finished flats?
For Tbilisi they are white-frame prices; for Batumi they are turnkey prices.
Can I change the layout in a white frame flat?
Often more easily than in a finished one, but load-bearing walls and shared systems cannot be moved; agree any change with the developer in writing.
Before choosing a frame, choose the developer: see how to check a developer and, for the investment side, off-plan investment.
Sources
- How to choose an apartment in a new development in Georgia: what are black, white and green frames?, Housebook, 27 August 2025 (accessed 13 October 2026)
- White frame finishing in new residential complexes in Tbilisi, Korter.ge (accessed 13 October 2026)
- What is green frame?, XO Development, 11 March 2026 (accessed 13 October 2026)
- G&T: Tbilisi residential market has a strong start, Georgia Today, 31 March 2026 (accessed 12 October 2026)
- Batumi Residential Real Estate, 2Q26 overview, Galt & Taggart, 14 August 2026 (accessed 12 October 2026)
Change log
- - Explainer published from market, listings and developer descriptions and Galt & Taggart's price data.