The use of formwork support materials has gone through many changes, from wood materials to metal materials with high strength. The history of templates began in Finland. In the 20th century, Finland began to use templates.

Before the 20th century, the earliest templates were made of wood. Wood plywood has also been used for more than 100 years, and has been used in Europe and the United States for a long time. Around 1912, Finland was the first to use wood plywood. In 1934, the United States began to use wood plywood, and Japan introduced it from the United States after the Second World War.

Steel formwork was first used in the United States in 1908 and was soon introduced to other countries. After the 1930s, steel formwork was introduced to Japan and began to be widely used in the 1950s. There are several types of steel formwork, such as all-steel large formwork, light steel formwork and composite steel formwork.

In the early 1960s, the United States developed the aluminum alloy template. In the 1970s, the United States International Housing Co., Ltd. produced a set of cast aluminum alloy template system. This template has the characteristics of good rigidity, multiple turnover times, and decorative patterns on the surface. It has been applied in more than 50 countries and regions.

After the 1980s, the United States and other countries have generally used aluminum alloy profiles to produce aluminum alloy templates, and many template companies in the United States also produce decorative aluminum alloy templates. In Korean construction projects, light all-aluminum alloy formwork is widely used, while in Europe, all-aluminum alloy formwork is rarely used, and aluminum frame plywood formwork is widely used as floor formwork.

In the mid-1960s, Japan began to use resin to make plastic templates, and German Plastic Template Company began to research and develop plastic templates that can replace wood templates in 1985. Since the 1990s, plastic formwork has developed rapidly in developed industrial countries abroad, and the variety and specification of light plastic formwork, plastic mold shell, plastic liner mold, etc. are also increasing.

In addition, there are also templates made of glass fiber reinforced plastics, water-resistant paper, rubber, textiles and other materials, as well as decorative templates made of resin mortar, transparent templates, permeable templates, flexible inflatable templates, dense mesh steel templates, etc.

In China's buildings, steel back ribs are generally used for wood formwork support and aluminum formwork support for reinforcement.