I think our ICF installer cut the ICF block too short. Our ceilings were to be 10ft. With the interior wall studs being 10ft tall the top of the ICF wall is about 2 inches too short. The ICF installer put 1inch strips of wood inside and outside the edge of the top wall so the concrete would be that much higher. Well now they are putting 1 inch plywood shims for the trusses to sit on, next to the hurricane straps. Is this normal? Did someone drop the ball?

When you say 10 ft studs do you mean 120" or 115 1/2". A 10 stud will be 10 ft minus the thickness of a bottom plate and double top plate. That way the finished wall frame is 120". Please clarify.

There are always problems with mixing SIP/ICF technology with standard framing. Mainly because, over the years, stick framing developed 'quarks' that do not extend to other segments of construction technology. Standard stick frame wall heights are not exactly an even foot. The solution that we most often use is to cut our stud heights to match the exterior wall height.
However, if your plans call for a 10' clear height, your builder should have provided some provision for that finish height. (Even if it were nothing more than to tell you how much you would have to fur up the wall to get your finish height.) Also, realize that if you are working with block ICFs the modular heights of the blocks can be somewhat restrictive as to the finish heights that are available with out wasting a lot of materials.

I would think your inspector would have a big problem with plywood shims sitting on concrete for your trusses.

Wood framing wise your 10' studs if precut should be 116 5/8", plus 3 plates puts a 10' ceiling plate height off the floor at 10' 1-1/8". Minus a 5/8" drywall ceiling puts the ceiling height at 10' 1/2" . The 1/2" is typically the space of the gypsum off the floor. I wouldn't call that a "quark", it's all to stay inline with 2' segments common to building products, the "quark" would be the popularity of 9' ceilings which spawned 54" drywall widths to become "unquarked". Much easier to precut studs than rip a housefull of drywall.

greentree beat me to it but since I added the ICF wall portion here's my post anyway:

A 10’ standard stud is 116 5/8” long or 3 3/8” shorter than one might logically expect.

Not that this makes all the sense in the world but then when you put down your bottom plate 1 ½ (2x material), add 116 5/8” standard “10 ft” stud” and a double top plate (for your interior walls) you will have a subfloor to ceiling joists height of 10’ 1 1/8” (this is 121 1/8”).

This allows for flooring and ceiling sheetrock to be added and depending on what you use a final height of very close to 10’ from finished floor to ceiling sheetrock.

Regarding the height of the ICF wall specifically, for a typical double top plate on top of the ICF wall you will need an ICF wall height of 10’ 1 1/8” (121 1/8”) minus the three inches of top plate or 118 1/8”.

BTW: This magic number (if you will) for an 8’ ceiling is 8’ 1 1/8” and 9’ 1 1/8” for a 9’ ceiling.

I can’t tell you how many times a builder has told me to build the walls 10’ high (120”) for a 10’ ceiling when he really means 118 1/8” (9’ 10 1/8”). If you don’t help step him through this he will have to cut each larger non-standard stud to fit and he won’t be happy. Regards.

Thanks for the correction. I've only gone through the process once and forgot to add the ceiling drywall thickness and the gap at the bottom for flooring thickness.

Thanks greentree. Our framer said the inspection will not be a problem but we'll see.