A new construction method of wooden dwelling houses, Platform Technique of Wood Frame Construction Systems has been introduced from North America in 1974 and the notification No. 1019 (see, Appendix A) was issued by the Ministry of Construction on 27th July 1974. This building systems are divided some structural elements such as floors, bearing walls, roof trusses which are framed by the dressed lumber, however, the basic structural properties of the framing lumber and the testing methods of structural performance for these elements have not been established completely.

The purpose of this study is to obtain the practical data which could apply the lumber and the building boards to the construction of wood frame residential buildings and is to establish the testing and evaluation methods of bearing walls in order to introduce the simple check system for the design requirements of the conventional houses in Japan (see, Appendix B) to resist the lateral forces caused by winds and earthquakes.