The seismic performance of nonductile reinforced concrete frame buildi
ngs in regions of low to moderate seismicity is evaluated. Several sig
nificant aspects of nonductile detailing are modeled using rational si
mplifications of expected member behavior at critical sections to faci
litate a complete inelastic time history analysis of the system. The d
etailing configurations included in the analysis are: discontinuous po
sitive flexural reinforcement, lack of joint shear reinforcement, and
inadequate transverse reinforcement for column core confinement. Seism
ic evaluations of three-, six-, and nine-story buildings are carried o
ur under low- to moderate earthquake excitations. The essential parame
ters of the response are presented with a view to identifying vulnerab
ility of such buildings to a potential seismic design event.