Frame stage is the first time your home stops being a drawing and starts being rooms. You can walk through doorways, stand where the kitchen bench will go and look out through window openings. It's also the last time you'll see inside the walls before they're lined, which makes it one of the most useful site visits of the whole build.
Here's what an owner can usefully check at frame stage, what should be left to professionals, and the photos worth taking before the plaster goes on.
Who checks what at frame stage
- Your building surveyor or certifier usually carries out or arranges any mandatory frame inspection required in your state, checking the frame against the approved plans, engineering and building code (in NSW, the frame is one of the principal certifier's critical stage inspections). Ask your builder for confirmation when it has passed.
- An independent building inspector, if you engage one, checks workmanship: things like bracing, tie-downs, straightness, roof trusses and slab edges. Builders can move quickly from frame to lock-up, so book early.
- You, the owner, are best placed to check the layout and the things you chose: room sizes, openings, upgrades and variations.
Always arrange site visits with your builder and follow their safety rules. Frame-stage sites have trip hazards, open edges and overhead work.
What owners can check at frame stage
Layout and room sizes
- Walk every room with your floor plan. Does each room look the size and shape you expected?
- Doorways are where the plans show them and swing the way you expect. A door opening onto a light switch location is easy to fix now and annoying forever
- Wardrobe, pantry, linen and storage spaces are where they should be
- Any bulkheads, niches or nooks you agreed to are framed in
Windows and doors
- Window openings are in the right walls, at roughly the right heights and sizes for your selections
- Any window or door changes from signed variations have been picked up
- Sliding door, stacker and cavity slider openings are where they should be
Upgrades and variations
- Ceiling height matches what you paid for, if you upgraded it
- Every variation that affects the frame (a wider opening, a moved wall, an extra window) is visible on site
Think about what goes on the walls
Before plaster is the easiest time to raise anything that needs extra timber support (often called noggings or blocking) behind the wall, such as a wall-mounted TV, heavy shelving, grab rails or a heavy mirror. Whether your builder will add it, and whether it's a variation, depends on your contract, so raise it in writing early if it matters to you.
Photos to take before the walls are lined
This is the only time you'll see inside your walls until a renovation. Take:
- A photo of every wall in every room, from a consistent position, with the room identifiable in the frame
- Close-ups of plumbing pipes in walls, especially in bathrooms, the kitchen and the laundry
- Close-ups of any electrical cabling and data runs, if they're in by the time you visit
- The roof space from below, if it's visible and safe to photograph
Label them by room and date. Years from now, when you want to hang a shelf without hitting a pipe, you'll be glad you did.
If something doesn't look right
Email your builder or supervisor the same day with the room, the issue, the plan or variation reference and a photo. Ask for a written response before the walls are lined. Structural questions, such as bracing, straightness or whether something is adequately fixed, are for the builder, the surveyor or certifier, or an independent inspector to answer.
Frame stage questions
Is frame stage a progress payment stage?
Often, yes, but it depends on your contract. Check your contract's definition of frame stage before paying the claim. Our guide to checking a progress claim walks through it.
Is it too late to move a power point at frame stage?
Electrical rough-in usually happens around or after frame stage, so it may still be possible, but any change is likely to be a variation with a cost. Ask your builder in writing as early as you can.
What comes after frame stage?
Usually lock-up, when the external walls, roof, windows and external doors are on and the house can be locked. After fixing comes the practical completion inspection.
Official sources
Rules differ between states and territories. These official pages explain the parts of this guide that depend on the law in each state; check the equivalent body where you build.
- NSW Planning Portal: the build phase and critical stage inspections: critical stage inspections, including the frame (NSW)
- Consumer Affairs Victoria: building progress: owner site access and written inspection outcomes (Victoria)
