By assembly required it means you need to put the legs on and plug it in. The frame is heavy so be ready for a struggle up stairs but the frame is worth it. My husband has back problems and it makes it so much easier for him to get in amd out of the bed, he can not sit up on his own. Its has two engines, one for the feet and one for the head so it can take a lot of weight. A bare goes at the foot of the bed and it keeps coming out when I change the bedding, that is a bit of a pain. Wish I did go cordless for the remote, we do not lose the remote but it gets to be a pain switchimg the remote back and forth. When you set up the frame make sure to put the remote cord at the top of the frame, that way the cord does not have to reach over the other person.