Study Notes — CPCCCA3005 Construct ceiling frames

1Plan and prepare

Read the paperwork first. Work through the drawings, specifications and work instructions before you pick up a tool, and plan the sequence of work — what gets set out, cut and fixed, and in what order.
Plan the whole job to comply. Your work has to line up with laws and regulations, the National Construction Code (NCC), Australian Standards, WHS and environmental requirements, manufacturers' specifications and your workplace's own requirements — as well as the drawings and specs for that job.
Tools and equipment: select what the task needs, check everything for serviceability (leads and guards on power tools, sharp blades, tags on electrical gear) and report any faults — don't quietly put a damaged tool back on the truck.
PPE: select and wear the right personal protective equipment for each part of the task — eye and hearing protection when cutting, gloves for handling rough sawn timber, hard hat and appropriate footwear on site.
Inspect the work site before starting. Locate services (power, water, gas), assess the hazards, and put risk controls in place — including any signage and barricades needed to keep others clear of your work area. This ties into your SWMS and the site's toolbox talks.
Materials: select the ceiling frame materials the task calls for, calculate the quantities from the drawings, handle them safely (team lifts, mechanical aids, correct stacking) and position them ready for use so you're not double-handling.

Assessment reality check: to be signed off in this unit you must plan, set out, construct and erect a timber ceiling frame for a structure with at least three rooms and a minimum area of 30 m².

2Set out the ceiling

Rafters first, joists follow. Identify the rafter positions for the roof type and mark them on the top plates — the rafter set-out determines where the ceiling joists go, because joists are normally fixed alongside rafters so the two can be nailed together.
Space joists to suit the lining. Set out the ceiling joist locations on the top plate to the specifications and the spacing requirements of the ceiling lining — typically 450 mm or 600 mm centres so that sheet edges land on a joist.
Design the support members to AS 1684. Where joists can't span the room in one go, design and set out the supporting members — hanging beams, counter beams, strutting beams — using the AS 1684 span tables for the timber species, stress grade, size and spacing you're using.
Cut and install the ceiling joists, trimmers, hanging beams, counter beams, strutting beams — and combinations of these — exactly as AS 1684 requires: members on edge where specified, correct fixings, joists properly connected to their supports.

Build order: set out on top plates → joists in → hanging beam over → trim openings. Press play to watch the sequence.

The support members — get these straight

Member	What it does	Where it sits
Ceiling joist	Carries the ceiling lining; ties opposite walls together against rafter thrust	On top plates, beside rafters, at lining spacing
Hanging beam	Supports ceiling joists mid-span so smaller joists can be used	On edge, at right angles over the joists
Counter beam	Supports hanging beams that can't span the full distance themselves	At right angles to the hanging beams it carries
Strutting beam	Carries roof loads down through struts — clear of the ceiling frame so it doesn't load the joists	Spanning between load-bearing walls, above joists
Trimmer	Frames openings (access holes, flues) and carries the cut joist ends	Between joists, around the opening
Combined members	e.g. combined strutting/hanging beam doing both jobs — sized to AS 1684 for the combined load	As designed per AS 1684

3Clean up

Clean up to the rules, not just "tidy enough". The clean-up must meet legislative and workplace requirements for safety, waste disposal and materials handling — sort and dispose of offcuts and packaging correctly, and stack reusable material safely.
Look after the gear. Check, maintain and store tools and equipment properly, and report any faults found during or after the job so the next person doesn't inherit a dangerous tool.

✦Know this cold

These are the knowledge points an assessor expects you to explain without hesitation:

NCC and Australian Standards compliance for ceiling frames — above all AS 1684 Residential timber-framed construction: member sizes, spans, spacings, fixings and how to read its span tables.
Workplace quality policies and standards — tolerances, straight and level frames, what your employer's quality checks look like for ceiling work.
Working at heights safety — the big hazard in ceiling framing. Safe use of platforms, trestles and edge protection; never working off unsecured joists; falls through open frames are a leading cause of serious injury on housing sites.
Waste disposal requirements — separating timber offcuts, treated timber (never burn it, never leave it where it can be reused as firewood), packaging and general waste per site and council rules.
Materials handling — safe manual handling of long, heavy members: team lifts, mechanical aids, lifting to plate height safely, correct stacking and support so timber stays straight.
Correct use of tools and equipment — saws (hand, circular, drop), drills, nail guns, levels, string lines, measuring gear; used per manufacturers' instructions and kept serviceable.
Set-out and calculation processes — how to set out and measure members for a ceiling frame, and how to calculate material quantities: joist counts from room length ÷ spacing (+1), beam lengths from spans, plus sensible allowance for cuts.
Materials — types of timber (seasoned/unseasoned, softwood/hardwood, stress grades like MGP10, F-grades) and engineered timber products (LVL, glulam, I-joists) — their structural properties and where each is used, e.g. LVL for long hanging or strutting beams because of its consistent strength and straightness.

!Where people slip up

Setting out joists before thinking about rafters.

Fix: identify the rafter positions for the roof type first and mark them on the top plates — joists sit beside rafters so they can be fixed together. Joist set-out follows rafter set-out, not the other way round.

Ignoring the ceiling lining when spacing joists.

Fix: the lining spec drives the spacing. Check the sheet sizes and the manufacturer's maximum support spacing (usually 450 or 600 mm centres) so every sheet edge lands on a joist or trimmer.

Guessing beam sizes — "that looks about right".

Fix: hanging, counter and strutting beam sizes come from the AS 1684 span tables for the exact species, stress grade, spacing and span. If the span table says no, the member is undersized — full stop.

Mixing up hanging beams and strutting beams.

Fix: a hanging beam supports the ceiling joists; a strutting beam carries roof loads through struts and must stay clear of the ceiling frame. A combined strutting/hanging beam does both and is sized for both loads.

Treating clean-up as an optional extra.

Fix: clean-up is a performance requirement in its own right — waste sorted and disposed of legally, materials handled safely, tools checked, maintained, stored and faults reported. Assessors watch for it.

A–ZMini-glossary

AS 1684: Australian Standard for residential timber-framed construction — the rulebook for member sizes, spans, spacings and fixings in this unit.
NCC: National Construction Code — Australia's building code; ceiling framing must comply with it, usually by following AS 1684.
Top plate: The horizontal member on top of a wall frame that ceiling joists and rafters sit on and are set out along.
Ceiling joist: Horizontal member spanning between walls that carries the ceiling lining and ties walls together.
Hanging beam: Beam fixed on edge across the top of ceiling joists to support them mid-span.
Counter beam: Beam that supports hanging beams which can't span the full distance on their own.
Strutting beam: Beam spanning between load-bearing walls that carries roof loads through struts, kept clear of the ceiling frame.
Trimmer: Short member fixed between joists to frame an opening (e.g. access hole) and carry cut joist ends.
Centres (crs): The spacing between members measured centre to centre, e.g. joists at 450 crs.
Span table: Table in AS 1684 giving the maximum allowable span for a member size, species/grade and spacing.
LVL: Laminated veneer lumber — an engineered timber product with consistent strength, common for long beams.
SWMS: Safe work method statement — the documented plan for controlling risks in high-risk construction work, including work at heights.
Serviceability: Whether a tool or piece of equipment is safe and fit to use; faulty gear must be reported and taken out of service.

That's the whole unit. If you can explain each section above in your own words, you're ready for the practical: a three-room, 30 m²-plus ceiling frame, set out and built to AS 1684.