definition
strict definition
frame assembly
Related terms: superstructure · structural frame · framing · steel erection · core rising · basement construction
The construction phase in which the framework rises above the base and takes shape, including the subterranean exception.
Frame assembly is the middle phase of a structure's construction, when the structure is rising above the ground until it is fully shaped.
The structure is considered to begin rising above ground level when the first columns or walls reach noticeably higher than the structure's base elevation. Only in the case of a subterranean structure does basement construction belong to this phase.
The first columns or walls rising noticeably above the base mark the ordinary beginning of this phase. The subterranean exception allows basement construction to constitute assembly of the structure's form.