Est.

Completion Time: 40 mins

FRAMECAD STRUCTURE
TUTORIAL: 2 STOREY HOUSE
Follow this step-by-step tutorial to create a 2-storey house in FRAMECAD Structure. For
more help on using FRAMECAD Structure see ‘Help → Procedures Guide’ at the top of the
workspace.

This 2-Storey House Tutorial is based on:

o FRAMECAD Structure Tutorial: Frame Panels for Walls

o FRAMECAD Structure Tutorial: Inline Swaged Web Truss
o FRAMECAD Structure Tutorial: Webbed Floor Joists

Additional Learning Objectives:

o Dimension wall layout

o Learn about integrity checks for wall panels
o Insert bracing in wall panels
o Create a recessed floor
o Create stairwell opening in floor

2400

300

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PART 1: SETUP

1. Open FRAMECAD Structure. A new drawing is automatically created called

‘Drawing1.dwg’.
2. Structure will set the ‘Layouts’ tab as the default tab.
Setting borders is the most important step in a job. To set border parameters, enter
BSET into the command prompt (at bottom of workspace).

Next to ‘Company Name’ put your company’s name. For ‘Drafter’ put your name.
Type ‘Two Storey House Tutorial’ for ‘Project Name’. Set Quantity of borders as 4.
Set Row as 2.

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 This tutorial uses Metric Units, NASH AS 2010 as the Loading Design Code, AS/NZS
4600:2018 as the steel design code, No Loading Earthquake Code and N2 as the
Design Wind Speed. Review the other parameters.

Click ‘OK’.

3. Four borders should be visible.

2 4

1 3

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Tips for Moving Between Borders:

o You can quickly go to any of your views using the View_GoTo command. For
example, type V. Hit enter. Then type 1. Hit enter. This will centre your screen on
View 1.
o You can use your mouse wheel to zoom in and out. Press down on the mouse wheel
and drag to pan.
o VV stands for View Next. It will toggle between your different borders.

START

4. In Border 1, draw your building outline.

To begin, select the Polyline tool by typing P at the command line.
Steps for creating the building outline:

o Look at the bottom right of your screen. There is an icon for Toggling
Orthogonality On/Off. If it is off, click on the icon to turn orthogonality on.
Alternatively pressing F8 does the same thing.

o Next, click anywhere in the border. Then hover your mouse to the right (because
you want to draw a horizontal line in approximately that direction). Do not click.
Let go of the mouse. The length of your line should not be set yet.
o At the command line, type ‘12000’ for a 12m long line. Hit enter.
o Move your mouse down. You want to draw a vertical line. Type ‘11000’. Hit
enter.

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 o Move your mouse to the left for a horizontal line. Type ‘4000’. Hit enter.
o Move your mouse up for a vertical line. Type ‘3000’. Hit enter.
o Move your mouse to the left for a horizontal line. Type ‘8000’. Hit enter.
o Type ‘C’ to close your polyline. Hit enter.
Now you have a basic building outline

5. Type CTR. Hit enter. Select your shape. Hit enter. This centres your building outline
in Border 1.

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6. Using either the polyline tool or the line tool (either P or L), draw two extra lines.
Use midpoint, perpendicular and endpoint snaps for accurately selecting points 1
to 4.

1 2
(MIDPOINT)

7. Copy your shape to all four borders. Type C. Select all the lines in Border 1 by
drawing a fence. Hit enter. When prompted to specify a base point, select the upper
left-hand corner of Border 1 (with your endpoint snap on). Then, select the upper
left-hand corner of Borders 2 to 4 to copy the building outline.

2. SELECT 4. SELECT

1. BASE 3. SELECT
POINT

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Tips for Reference Points:

o Reference points are important for load transfer and the software’s engineering
calculations.
o Loads will transfer from borders with secondary reference points to the border with
the primary reference point.

SECONDARY REFERENCE POINT

8. Add a primary reference point in Border 1. Type REF. Hit enter. Select the upper left-
hand corner of the building outline.

SELECT

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9. Use REF to add secondary reference points to the same point on the building outline
in each of the other borders.

SECONDARY SECONDARY

PRIMARY SECONDARY

WELL DONE, NOW REMEMBER TO SAVE YOUR WORK!

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PART 2: WALL DETAILING (STAGE 1)

Wall detailing should be done in two stages. The first stage of wall detailing involves placing
wall panels and inserting openings. The second stage of wall detailing deals with transferred
roof and floor loads.

1. Type PSET for Panel Settings.

FRAMECAD_FT_m is the standard data file for metric units. This tutorial uses a M12
89S 0.95 G500 Model.
Review the other parameters and click ‘Save’.

DIMENSIONS OF CROSS SECTION

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2. Additional lines should be drawn in Border 1. We need walls on the first floor to
support the stairwell opening. Use L to draw the lines. You do not need to dimension
them.

3. Use C to copy the additional lines to Border 4 for the floor layout later.

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4. We will create the first-floor walls in Border 1 (with the primary reference point).
Type A and hit enter. Check that Panel Usage is set as ‘Load Bearing’. Floor type
should be set to Concrete because we assume the building is constructed on a
concrete slab foundation.
The wall height is 2400 mm.
Check that Creation Method is set as ‘By Lines’. Review the other parameters. Hit
‘Create’.

We will draw the external walls, then the internal walls.

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5. To draw the external walls, click on the Polyline as shown. Click inside the building
outline. Hit enter. Because it was made with the polyline tool, external walls will be
automatically inserted.

1. SELECT POLYLINE

2. CLICK ANYWHERE INSIDE

BUILDING OUTLINE

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6. To draw the internal walls, type A and hit enter. Change the Creation Method to ‘By
Points’. Click ‘Create’. Create internal walls by selecting a starting point, a finishing
point and a side to offset.
Where walls meet, check that the wall panels abut one another and do not intersect.
You do not need to insert dimensions.

WALLS SHOULD
ABUT ONE ANOTHER
LIKE THIS

7. To make the layout tidier, delete the white guidelines. Click on all the lines you want
to delete to select them. Then, right click and delete.
You can also use MF for member fillet at wall intersections to do more tidying up.
Member fillet changes the lap orientation of wall panels.

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 DIAGRAM OF FIRST-FLOOR WALLS WITH OPENINGS

INTERNAL DOOR

EXTERNAL DOOR

1200 x 1200 mm
ALUMINIUM WINDOW

8. Add an external door by typing A. Hit enter. Under ‘Opening → External Doors’
select Single Door. Click ‘Create’.
We want a door leaf width of 860 mm. At the command prompt type 860. Hit enter.
Type S for Side. Hit enter.
Click on the point indicated by arrow 1. Click on the wall panel to select Direction for
Opening Insertion as indicated by arrow 2. For the Distance for Offset, type 3000. Hit
enter.

1
2

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9. Change the settings to adding internal doors. Type A and press enter. Under
‘Opening → Internal Doors’ select Single Passage Door. Click ‘Create’.
For the door leaf width type 860. Hit enter. Type C for Centre. Hit enter.
Create three internal doors using the centre option.

DOOR 3

DOOR 2

DOOR 1

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10. Change the settings to adding windows. Type A and press enter. Under ‘Opening →
Openings’ select Aluminium Window. Click ‘Create’.
Type ‘1212’. Hit enter. Type C for Centre. Hit enter. Click on points indicated by
arrows 1 and 2. Next, type M to switch to the Multiple option. Hit enter. Click on
points indicated by arrows 3 and 4. Type 2 to insert 2 windows. Hit enter.

3 4

1 2

11. Now, we want to dimension the wall layout.

Type DH (for horizontal dimensions). Hit enter. Click outside building outline to
choose where you want the dimension aligned vertically. Then select points
indicated by arrows 2 to 11. Hit enter to complete the horizontal dimension.

10

1. CLICK HERE TO
11 9 5 4 3 SELECT LOCATION
8 6
FOR DIMENSION

7
2

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12. Using DH and DV, follow the same process to dimension all the walls and openings.
Note that DV is used for vertical dimensions.

DIAGRAM OF FIRST-FLOOR WALLS WITH

DIMENSIONS

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13. The first-floor walls are now complete!
We will create second-floor walls in border 2. Switch to Border 2. Type V. Hit enter.
Type 2. Hit enter.
Type A. Hit enter. Under ‘Walls’, some parameters need to be altered.
The floor type should be changed to ‘Steel’. The base level is now 2700 mm.
Check that Creation Method is set as ‘By Lines’ (to create external walls). Make sure
to review the other parameters, then hit ‘Create’.

14. Type A. Hit enter. Change the creation method to ‘By Points’. Click ‘Create’. Repeat
the process used to create first-floor walls to create second-floor wall panels.

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15. We will now create the openings. Type A. Hit enter. Centre two 860 mm internal
doors.
Type A. Hit enter. Create eight 1212 Aluminium Windows by using the Centre and
Multiple options.

MULTIPLE

CENTRE CENTRE
CENTRE

CENTRE CENTRE

CENTRE CENTRE

CENTRE

16. Using DV and DH, follow the process detailed in step 11 to dimension the second-
floor walls.

DIAGRAM OF SECOND-FLOOR WALLS WITH DIMENSIONS

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 17. Now that wall panels are complete, go to border 1 and type LA to label the wall
panels. Hit enter twice to label everything inside the border
Go to border 2 and use LA to label all wall panels in border 2.

Don’t engineer the walls using PPD until Wall Detailing (Stage 2). This is because loads
from the floor and roof are still unknown.

WELL DONE, NOW REMEMBER TO SAVE YOUR WORK!

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PART 3: INLINE TRUSS ROOF

1. Enter TSET at the command prompt to access Truss Settings.

In the ‘Model Name’ drop down list, select ‘89mm LE System’ for Inline trusses. Set
‘Roof Pitch’ to ’25’.
Set ‘Reduced Level’ to 5100 mm.
Select ‘Reinforced eaves’ under ‘Eave Options’. Review the other parameters. Hit
‘Save’.

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2. We will create trusses in border 3. Type V. Hit enter. Type 3. Hit enter.

3. To create the outline of eaves type OFFSET at the command line. Hit enter. Type 600
for 600 mm eaves. Hit enter. Select the building outline and click outside the original
shape (to create lines offset outside the shape, not inside).

4. Type SL and hit enter. Select the inner lines to code them as support lines. Hit enter.
These should turn an orange colour. Support lines indicate where the roof will be
supported by load-bearing wall panels.

SELECT

SELECT

SELECT

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5. Type RL and hit enter. Select outer shape to code it as a roof line. Hit enter. It should
become a blue dashed line.

SELECT

TRUSS BLOCK 1

HIP HIP

VALLEY
TRUSS BLOCK 2
GABLE

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6. Type CRL to draw central roof lines. Hit enter. Click on the corners of the blue shape,
as shown by arrows 1 and 2. A dashed line should appear. When you click on the 3rd
corner you should see a star.

1 3

7. You will be asked to select the type of roof on the side of the building as indicated
by the star. Type ‘h’ and hit enter. Then repeat ‘h’ and hit enter one more time to
select the hip roof feature for both sides of the building.

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8. Type CRL again. Hit enter. Click on the corners of the blue shape, as shown by
arrows 1 and 2 and 3. You should see a star.

1 2

9. You will be asked to select the type of roof on the side of the building as indicated
by the star. Type ‘g’ and hit enter. Then repeat ‘v’ and hit enter one more time to
select a gable roof and valley roof feature.

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10. Now that the central roof lines are drawn, enter TD to draw trusses. Click the corners
shown by arrows 1 - 3 on the orange lines. Feel free to zoom in and out to select the
points accurately. You should see a star.

1 3

11. Once again, enter ‘h’ twice. This selects the hip roof feature on both sides of the
building. Trusses should be aligned with the blue central roof lines.

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12. Enter TD to draw trusses. Click the corners shown by arrows 1 - 3 on the orange
lines. You should see a star.

1 2

13. Type ‘g’ and hit enter. Then repeat ‘v’ and hit enter one more time to select a gable
roof and valley roof feature.

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14. Type LA to label all trusses. Hit enter and hit enter again for a global selection.

15. Use DH and DV to add dimensions and show truss span and spacing.

DIAGRAM OF ROOF WITH DIMENSIONS

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16. Enter TTD in the command line to automatically engineer the trusses. It is common
for eaves to fail when inline trusses are used, however, a Reinforced Eave is used for
this tutorial. None of the trusses should fail.
Click ‘Select all’ and ‘To Cad’.
The drawings are created in their own tab named ‘Truss 1’.

WELL DONE, NOW REMEMBER TO SAVE YOUR WORK!

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PART 4: FLOOR JOISTS

1. Return to the ‘Layouts’ tab. We will create floor joists in border 4. Type V. Hit enter.
Type 4. Hit enter.

2. Type JSET and hit enter.

Check that the ‘End Bearer Type’ is WJ89095. The ‘Member Height Override’ should
be set to 300 mm. The ‘Reduced Level’ should be 2700 mm. Set the ‘Bearers
Method’ to Blocking.
Review the other parameters, then click ‘Save’.

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3. Type SL and hit enter. Code all lines as support lines. Select all the lines by drawing a
fence around them. Hit enter. They should turn into orange lines.

DIAGRAM OF COMPLETED FLOOR LAYOUT

STAIRWELL OPENING

RECESSED FLOOR

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4. Use P, the polyline tool to draw guidelines to position the recessed floor. You can
delete extra lines later when tidying up.

5. Use the rectangle tool in the home menu of the Ribbon to trace the joist blocks.

RECTANGLE 2

RECTANGLE 4
RECTANGLE 1
RECTANGLE 3

RECTANGLE 5

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6. To draw the first block of joists:
o Type JD at the command prompt. Hit enter.
o You will be asked to select “Boundaries for Floor Outline”. Select Rectangle 1. Hit
enter.

o Then, you will be asked to choose a “Setout Point”. Click on the bottom left corner of
the rectangle.
o To choose the direction of joists, click on the line as shown.

CLICK TO
CHOOSE
DIRECTION OF
JOISTS

CLICK TO CHOOSE
SETOUT POINT

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7. Follow a similar process using JD to draw the other joist blocks.

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8. Type FR for floor recess. Hit Enter. Change the ‘setdown distance’ to 50 mm. Select
the outline of the floor recess and hit enter.
Note: if this step does not work, make sure the recessed floor outline is one entity. It
should be made using the rectangle tool or polyline tool.

9. Because of the floor recess, the joists need to be relabelled. Type LA and hit enter
twice.

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10. Enter JJD in the command line to automatically engineer the joists.
Click ‘Select all’ and ‘To Cad’.
The drawings are created in their own tab named ‘Floor 1’.

WELL DONE FOR FINISHING FLOOR JOISTS, NOW REMEMBER TO SAVE YOUR
WORK!

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PART 5: WALL DETAILLING (STAGE 2)

In stage 2 of wall detailing, we will insert bracing, perform the integrity check and create the
detail sheets for the wall panels.

1. Go to Border 1 for your first-floor wall layout.

Type IC for integrity check. Hit enter twice for a global selection. Note that some
walls are over the maximum length. Use MC, member cut to cut these wall panels.

2. After using member cut to modify your walls, you should have no warnings that
walls are over maximum length. Relabel walls using LA and hit enter twice.

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3. Next, check whether lateral bracing is sufficient with PCB. Values are highlighted in
red because the amount of lateral bracing is insufficient. We will insert K braces until
‘Shortage X and Y’ is zero.

4. Add K braces to the walls using PIB. Press return for setup. Change the ‘Brace Type’
to K Brace. Click on ‘Save’.

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Click on stud bays to insert bracing.

CLICK

When enough bracing has been added, use PCB to confirm that shortage in the X
direction and Y direction is zero.

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5. Repeat steps 1 to 4 to perform the integrity check and insert bracing for second-
floor walls in border 2. Remember to relabel walls using the LA command.

6. When you are finished, type PPD. Hit enter. Click ‘Select all’ and ‘To Cad’.

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VIEW THE HOUSE IN 3D!

1. To view the 3D model, type A3D at the command prompt to ‘create all 3D entities’
and press enter. The 3D model can be viewed in the ‘Model’ tab.

2. You can toggle through different views by typing VV and hit enter. Repeat this step
multiple times to see different isometric views and elevation views.
Alternatively, in the Ribbon at the top, select the ‘View’ menu. Under ‘Navigate’,
select ‘Constrained Orbit’.

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3. To try different visual styles. In the Ribbon at the top, select the ‘View’ menu. You
can select ‘Realistic’ or ‘Conceptual’.

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