  The Framework is one of the subprojects of the Joint COntrols Project (JCOP),
which is collaboration between the four LHC experiments and CERN. By sharing
development, this will reduce the overall effort required to build and maintain
the experiment control systems. As such, the main aim of the Framework is to
deliver a common set of software components, tools and guidelines that can be
used by the four LHC experiments to build their control systems. Although
commercial components are used wherever possible, further added value is
obtained by customisation for HEP-specific applications. The supervisory layer
of the Framework is based on the SCADA tool PVSS, which was selected after a
detailed evaluation. This is integrated with the front-end layer via both OPC
(OLE for Process Control), an industrial standard, and the CERN-developed DIM
(Distributed Information Management System) protocol. Several components are
already in production and being used by running fixed-target experiments at
CERN as well as for the LHC experiment test beams. The paper will give an
overview of the key concepts behind the project as well as the state of the
current development and future plans.
