Frame Stage Inspection: what to check before the frame is covered
Start at your desk: get the frame inspection certificate, the truss layout and the bracing and tie-down plans.
Walk it in order: outside, every room, the roof space, then under a raised floor. Tick Fine, Later (not yet) or Issue.
Add it up and decide. Send the builder your issues in writing. Key checks say what to do if they fail. S14 lists what your builder should be doing: ask to see the records.
What it covers, in 9 groups
- S1–S2Before you go and the site walk-roundFrame inspection certificate, truss layout and bracing plans, sediment control, services, drainage, timber storage21
- S3Outside walk-roundBottom plate overhang and packing, brick clearance at the fascia, eaves, windows and doors, sill supports22
- S4–S5Walls and openingsNoggings, wall junctions, holes and notches, brace panel nailing, tie-down rods, lintel gaps, kitchen opening25
- S6–S7Wet areas and ceilingsBath framing, noggings 25 mm above the bath, fixture nogging heights, ceiling noggings and trimmers15
- S8–S9Floors, upper storeys and garageJoist holes, flooring nailing, stair trimmers, balustrade posts, garage door packers and noggings15
- S10–S11Roof spaceTrusses as laid out, girder supports, bow and plumb, tie-downs nailed 4 / 3 / 4, girder bolts, roof bracing23
- S12Plumb, straight and tidyWalls and corners within 4 mm in 2 m, plaster-ready frames, clean-up5
- S13Raised floors: under the houseClearance under the bearers, vents near every corner, ant caps on every pier, pier and stump sizes, bearer fixings, an access opening10
- S14What your builder should be doingSafety inspections, edge protection, the certifier's frame inspection, truss sign-off, timber grades and treatment, the framer's fix list10
Introduction
That’s where the C7 Timber Frame Stage Inspection Checklist comes in.
The C7 Timber Frame Stage Inspection Checklist translates the plans and the Australian Standards (like AS 1684) into a plain-English roadmap, so homeowners without a building background can check what's behind the walls before the plasterboard goes up. It covers everything from walls and trusses to tie-downs and bracing.
At the time, the company had no formal quality management system in place—no standardised stage checklists, no process for identifying or tracking defects, and no methods to manage or mitigate issues in the future.
Don’t let the absence of proper business processes or quality management systems compromise the frame quality of your new home. Keep reading to explore our detailed C7 Checklist and ensure top-notch results.
C7 - Frame Stage Inspection Checklist
$119.00 AUD
Last updated 28 Oct 2026 · Revision 5 · Free updates for life
Checklist Type: Major (Frame Stage)
Form Factor: Fillable, print-ready PDF (A4, 48 pages)
When to use: Frame stage: after the frame and trusses are up, before linings go in
A 146-point frame stage checklist. Check walls, openings, trusses, bracing and tie-downs against your drawings before the linings go in, while changes are still simple.
✓ Authorship verified on the blockchain · View certificate
What is the C7 Timber Frame Stage Inspection Checklist?
The C7 checklist helps you make sense of the structural elements going into your home at frame stage. Rather than trusting that everything's been done right behind the scenes, it gives you a hands-on way to check the framing matches the plans and meets Australian Standards.
Breaking Down the Basics
It's written for people without a construction background. It walks you through each component (walls, floors, ceilings, trusses, bracing and tie-downs) and explains what's right, what's questionable and what needs a closer look. You don't need to be a carpenter or an engineer.
Why Australian Standards Matter
AS 1684 is the Australian Standard for residential timber framing. It sets the timber sizes, fixings and installation methods. The C7 checklist is built on it, so you can confirm your builder is using the right sizes, fixings and methods.
Most homeowners rely on their builder or an independent inspector for quality control. The C7 checklist puts some control back in your hands. It's not about catching the builder out; it's about making sure everyone's on the same page about the structure before the plasterboard covers it up.
Anthony Painter
Anthony Painter
Why is the Frame Stage So Important?
The frame stage isn't as exciting as the kitchen going in, but if your home is a body, the frame is its skeleton. It gives the house its shape, carries the loads and makes everything else fit.
Durability:
A frame that's crooked, under-braced or built with the wrong materials causes problems long after the builders leave: doors that stick, bouncy floors and cracks.
Cost and time:
A misplaced structural member or a truss that isn't tied down might not be found until the plasterboard is up. Fixing it then means ripping out walls and paying for rework. Catching it at frame stage is quick and cheap.
Compliance:
Your home must comply with the National Construction Code (NCC 2022, Volume Two) and the Standards it references, such as AS 1684.2 or AS 1684.3 depending on your wind classification. These make sure the structure can handle your site conditions.
Everything else follows:
Wiring, plumbing, insulation and linings all go onto the frame. A straight, correct frame makes life easier for every trade after it and keeps the job moving.
Key Areas of the Checklist Explained
The checklist breaks the frame inspection into sections. Here's what each covers and why it matters.
1. Site Management Items
Before you get to the frame itself, it’s important to inspect the conditions on the building site. Is the site tidy, safe, and properly managed?
What to Look For:
- Sediment Fencing: Are temporary fences in place to prevent soil erosion and protect neighbouring properties?
- Signage and Safety Measures: Is the site clearly marked, with the appropriate warnings and safety notices displayed?
- Clean, Accessible Workspace: Is the area relatively free of obstacles, rubbish, or materials left haphazardly?
Why It Matters:
A well-managed site means fewer accidents, delays and damaged materials, and it shows the builder takes local regulations seriously.
Sediment & Erosion Control: A Homeowner’s GuideAbout to start new home construction works? Erosion and Sediment Control (ESC) planning is required to protect your site, saving money, and avoiding delays. This guide walks you through our Checklist C3 to help ensure compliance and mitigate risks, making your build process smoother and stress-free.
Essential Pre-Build Checklist for Australian HomeownersStarting construction on your new home? Our comprehensive pre-build checklist helps you identify issues, reduce delays, and manage costs effectively. Use this guide to ensure your project begins the right way!
Earthworks Inspection Guide for HomeownersLearn how to inspect earthworks effectively to save time, manage costs, and ensure quality in your residential construction project.2. Variations & Colour Read
Every build is different, even a "standard plan". You may request changes or upgrades along the way, and every site throws up differences from the standard allowances. These changes are called "variations".
Anthony Painter
What to Look For:
- Plan Consistency: Check if the variations you’ve agreed to with your builder (like upgraded timber grades or special window frames) are actually reflected on-site.
- Correct Materials: Ensure the right materials and finishes are being used, as specified in your updated plans.
Why It Matters:
If variations aren’t properly noted or followed, you might end up with unexpected changes to the look, feel, or long-term structural performance of your home. Confirming these details now helps avoid confusion and disappointment later.
3. General Timber Frame Quality
This is the heart of the checklist—ensuring that the main structural frame of your home is built to a high standard.
Some general items to look for include:
- Nail Sizes and Patterns: Are the correct nail sizes used, and is everything properly nailed off (fastened securely)?
- Skew Nailing and Corrosion Protection: Skew nailing (nails driven in at an angle) should be done correctly, and metal parts must have corrosion protection to suit the exposure category for your site location.
- Stress-Graded Timber and Sizing: Timber must be the right strength grade (e.g. MGP10, MGP12) and size. Ordering mistakes happen, especially when the scheduler hasn't had their 10th coffee.
Why It Matters:
Quality at this stage affects the strength and stability of your home. Correct nailing patterns and corrosion-resistant fixings ensure the structure remains safe and sound over time.
4. Cutting & Drilling Guidelines
Studs, beams and joists can only be cut and drilled within set limits, or the frame is weakened. When in doubt, read the manufacturer's installation guide. They're clear and concise.
What to Look For:
- Approved Holes and Notches: Holes drilled for services (like plumbing pipes or electrical conduits) must be placed in acceptable areas and kept within size limits.
- No Excessive Cutting: If a piece of timber looks overly cut or notched, it might compromise structural strength.
- No hacking or bashing: It sounds obvious, but not everyone on site treats your new home with care. Timber that's been hacked, bashed or split to make something fit is a defect, not a shortcut.
Why It Matters:
Services need holes and notches, but in the wrong place or at the wrong size they create weak spots that lead to sagging floors or creaking walls.
| Item | Limit |
|---|---|
| Hole size (wide face only) | 25 mm max |
| Spacing between holes or notches | 3 x stud depth min |
| Notch into stud breadth | 10 mm max |
| Notch into stud depth | 20 mm max, only for let-in diagonal bracing (or 1 stud in 5); none otherwise |
| Spacing of notches in stud depth | 12 x stud breadth min |
| Trenches in plates | 3 mm max |
| Line of notches for a bath | up to 25 mm allowed |
Summarised in our words from AS 1684 (holes and notches in studs and plates). Anything over these limits needs a fix approved by the frame designer.
5. Outside Items & Openings
This part covers areas where the frame interacts with windows, doors, and external features.
What to Look For:
- Window and Door Openings: Are they framed to the correct size, and are the windows and doors installed to the manufacturer's support and fixing methods (often printed on the product wrapping)? This makes sure they fit, open and close smoothly, and don't leak.
- Eaves, Fascia and Soffits: Check they're properly supported and fixed with the right fixing types and lengths, and with corrosion resistance to suit your site's exposure classification.
Why It Matters:
The external openings are points of vulnerability. When done right, they ensure weather-tightness, security, and structural integrity for features that connect your home’s interior to the outside world.
The embedded file below isn't strictly about timber framing. It's about external framing and it's an older document, but it's worth reading for context on material classification, durability and what affects performance over time.
Anthony Painter
Glazing - windows and doors, their material and installation has a huge effect on the livability of your new home.
6. Floor Framing & Ceiling Framing
Your home’s floors and ceilings rely on strong framing to remain level and stable.
What to Look For:
- Bearers and Joists: These are horizontal beams that carry floor loads. They must be correctly spaced, level, and securely fastened.
- Ceiling Joists and Noggings: Ceiling joists carry the overhead load. Noggings brace the studs and give a fixing point for the internal linings, which in turn help brace the structure against racking forces. Check everything is plumb, straight and properly fixed so the finishing trades can do their best work.
- Change of Direction: Where trusses change direction (often at girder or truncated girder trusses), the ceiling framing must be fully nogged out to the Gyprock Redbook guidelines, so the ceiling sheets have solid backing where they change direction.
Why It Matters:
If floor and ceiling framing is off, you'll see it in the finishes.
7. Timber Trusses & Tie-Down
Roof trusses are an integral part of your home's structure, and tie-downs fix them to the wall frame so they resist wind uplift.
What to Look For:
- Correct Truss Installation: Trusses must be installed as per the design, without unauthorised modifications.
- Tie-Downs: Metal straps or brackets that tie the roof structure down to the walls. Check they have the correct number of fixings, located through the punched holes, not blasted wherever the nail gun lands. That's non-compliant every day of the week.
Why It Matters:
Poorly secured trusses can lead to roof failures in storms, and insurance headaches after. Proper tie-downs keep your roof over your head and not in your neighbour's front yard. There's a huge difference in uplift capacity between a rushed install and one done to the manufacturer's instructions, and it takes hardly any extra time.
Page 7 onwards in this document is worth a look 👇️
8. Bracing & Speed Bracing
Bracing stops your walls racking (being pushed out of square by sideways forces like wind). Speed bracing is a metal strap brace; sheet bracing (plywood or fibre cement sheets) does the same job.
What to Look For:
- Correct Placement and Tension: The right number of braces must be in the right locations as shown on the bracing and tie-down layout. It's not hard: the layout tells you what goes where, and if you have a tape measure that reaches 1200 mm, you're in business. Braces must be at the right angle, tensioned correctly, and have the correct number and type of fixings at the designed spacings.
Why It Matters:
Without proper bracing, your home’s frame could shift under wind loads or general settling, potentially causing cracks and structural issues later.
9. Garage Framing & Special Features
Garages might have different framing needs due to larger doors and unique load requirements.
What to Look For:
- Garage Door Supports: Lintels and extra framing around the large garage door opening must be solid.
- Noggings for Fixtures: The garage door motor, track and tension bar need solid timber blocking in the right locations, per the manufacturer's set-out diagram for your door width, type and motor. They're all similar but vary with head height, door weight and wind rating.
Why It Matters:
Missing blocking means extra call-out costs and patching the wall linings so the door can be installed.
10. Plan Walkthrough & Features
Take a final pass through your home’s layout.
What to Look For:
- Check Room Dimensions: Make sure walls are placed where they should be, corners are at right angles, and everything matches your floor plan.
- Shelves, Niches, and Bulkheads: If you’ve planned custom features, confirm that the framing accommodates them properly.
Why It Matters:
This final once-over ensures you won’t have surprises later, like a niche that’s too narrow or a room that isn’t quite the size you expected.
11. Reference Area & Technical Drawings
Look at the reference drawings and technical details from your builder or architect.
What to Look For:
- Comparing On-Site Work to Plans: Cross-check what you see on-site with the drawings. Does everything align with the approved plans?
- Clarifying Confusing Details: If something doesn’t match the plans, note it down and ask your builder to explain.
Why It Matters:
It means your questions are based on evidence, which keeps everyone accountable.
Identifying Issues & Taking Action
Say you've found a few things that concern you: a tie-down strap that isn't where it should be, or a truss that doesn't match the plans. Take photos and note the image reference next to each item on the checklist. Or, if you're super motivated (and I'm sure you are), use our CINS numbering system to tag the elements on site and link them to your photos and checklist items. No rocket science here.
Anthony Painter
Early Detection is Key
Spotting issues now, before the plasterboard goes up, means they're still simple and cheap to fix, which keeps your budget and timeline under control.
Open Communication with Your Builder
If something doesn't match, don't panic. Ask your builder or supervisor a clear, specific question, for example: "The ceiling joists in the living room don't look evenly spaced. Could we check the plans together?" Calm, direct and polite gets a far better result than a confrontation.
Requesting Corrections and Follow-Ups
Reputable builders fix genuine issues promptly. If a problem looks significant or the explanation doesn't satisfy you, get an independent building inspector or structural engineer for a second opinion.
Document Everything
Keep notes, photos, emails and records of phone calls. If there's a dispute later, that record is your evidence, and it shows you expect accountability.
Plan for Future Assurance
Use the checklist more than once: when the frame is about 97% finished by the carpenter, and again after the carpenter's "write-up" (their list of fixes) is done. Re-checking confirms the problems were actually fixed.
Common FAQs About the C7 Timber Frame Stage Inspection Checklist
1. What if I don't understand a term on the checklist?
That's normal. Ask your builder or an independent inspector, look it up, or check our builders' jargon guide.
2. Do I need a professional inspector, or can I do this myself?
The checklist is designed for everyday homeowners. A professional building inspector or structural engineer adds peace of mind, especially for anything that looks significant.
3. How often should I use the checklist during construction?
At least once when the frame is up and before the plasterboard goes on. More if you find issues and want to confirm they've been fixed.
4. What if my builder is resistant to following the checklist?
A good builder welcomes transparency. Raise it calmly and explain you just want everyone on the same page. If you're still not satisfied, get an independent inspection or contact the QBCC (or your state's building regulator).
5. How does this checklist differ from final building inspections?
A final inspection happens when the home is nearly finished. The C7 checklist is for the frame stage, so you catch structural problems while they can still be seen and fixed. Prevention, not a post-mortem.
6. Does this checklist align with the National Construction Code (NCC)?
Yes. It's built from AS 1684, which the NCC references, plus manufacturers' installation guides. It doesn't replace your certifier's frame inspection. It's based on the checklists we've developed and improved over 25 years in construction, and we've recently re-read the relevant Standards and manuals to bring it up to date.
7. Can I customise the checklist based on my home's design or material changes?
Absolutely. Add or change items for any special features or agreed variations.
8. Is it normal to find issues during the frame stage?
Yes, some minor issues are common. What matters is how they're fixed. The most common are walls out of plumb or straight, and service trades removing noggings, or over-cutting or over-notching framing timber to make their installation easier.
9. How do I know if something is a minor fix or a major problem?
Minor fixes don't affect the structure. Major problems usually involve load-bearing elements or critical connections like tie-downs and bracing. If you're unsure, ask your builder or an independent inspector.
10. Why So Many Checklist Items?
Because it's the last chance to see what's inside your walls. A detailed list tells you exactly where to look and what to ask before you pay the frame stage progress claim.
The Bottom Line
Check the frame before you pay the frame claim. Once the plasterboard's up, it's too late to see what's behind it.
Further Reading
Timber Framing Guide | Key Elements & CodesLearn the fundamentals of timber framing for residential construction in Australia. In this guide we cover sub floor, wall, and roof elements, bracing systems, and building code references.
Timber vs Steel Framing: Choosing for Your HomeExplore the choice between timber and steel for lightweight framing in home construction. This guide compares their benefits, from environmental impact to cost and durability, helping you make an informed decision for your sustainable, efficient, and aesthetically pleasing home design.
Exploring Popular Wood Types for Home Frame ConstructionWood remains a staple material in home frame construction, appreciated for its strength, flexibility, and aesthetic appeal. But with a wide variety of types available, knowing which one to choose can be daunting. Buckle up and prepare to get your wood on.
10 Steps for Quality Control in Frame Carpentry ExplainedEnsuring quality control in framing carpentry is pivotal for residential construction. From choosing a licensed carpenter to verifying bracing & tie-down, delve into 10 general areas that can make a significant difference.
Ultimate Guide to Treated Pine for Your ProjectsThis comprehensive guide covers everything about treated pine, from its advantages and applications to selecting the right type and maintenance tips, ensuring your next project is a success.Understanding Treated Pine in Residential ConstructionAs structural pine timber isn’t naturally durable, it’s susceptible to fungi, insects, and weathering. Adding preservative chemicals increases its durability, making treated pine timber ideal for various applications like pergolas, decks, and retaining walls.
Complete Guide to Building a Timber Retaining WallThinking of building a timber retaining wall? Constructor’s comprehensive guide covers everything from choosing the right timber to design considerations and maintenance tips. Learn how to ensure your wall’s longevity and effectiveness. Don’t miss out on expert advice!
Protect Your Home: The Power of Site PhotosUncover how taking site photos during construction can be a game-changer for homeowners. Learn about the subsidence policy and how documenting your build can save you from costly repairs and legal headaches.Pro Tip: Mitek and Pryda installation guides are invaluable at the frame stage, as they detail the proper methods for installing and bracing frame elements. Seek out these documents—they’re often stored in the meter box inside a ziplock bag, along with a pencil that, admittedly, may not be the carpenter’s favorite.
