I first heard of “pre-rocking” when I joined the Gypsum Association in the early 1990s. Apparently the practice, what the contracting community sometimes called “rock above,” had been around since at least the 1980s, and was used mainly within the non-residential construction sector. At first, the concept of installing gypsum panels before the building was dried-in made no sense to me. Once I learned more, I quickly caught on.
Pre-rock is the practice of installing gypsum panel products as early as possible in the construction process. Installing the gypsum panels first allows other trades to cut through the properly applied, attached, and finished gypsum panels and partitions leaving only the penetrations to be protected and treated as necessary. This not only saves construction time, it also ensures a better quality, code compliant gypsum panel application.