Structural Health Monitoring Systems are currently required in specifications within the tendering process of new singular bridges. The successful design and implementation of the SHMS require a holistic oversight of the structural dynamic characteristics of the bridge, possible damage conditions, instrumentation to capture possible damage scenarios, data management, signal processing techniques to transform sensed data into structural diagnostics and proper communication interface with authority for decisionmaking. The aim of this work is to present a framework for SHMS design, acknowledging the need for interdisciplinary collaboration and definition of clear decision stages and later overview that allows interaction to achieve performance objectives. The framework makes distinctions regarding instrumentation and diagnostics in a SHMS. The framework is described as a process in which one has to evaluate a series of technical and decision aspects to achieve desired performance attributes for the whole system configuration and specific objectives for instrumentations and diagnostics.