Abstract | Lifelines, such as pipelines, tunnels, and bridges are vulnerable to seismic-induced ground displacements caused by the activation of active tectonic faults. Lifelines are forced to follow the ground movement in fault crossings and develop excessive deformation. Safeguarding the integrity of such critical infrastructure is of paramount importance. Contrary to typical deterministic design approaches that discount fault productivity, a performance-based approach can achieve a balance between safety and economy. Towards this goal, a set of simplified expressions is developed for determining fault displacement at given return periods, developed by analyzing the outcome of probabilistic fault displacement hazard analysis (PFDHA) for European faults. The proposed methodology allows the computation of the design fault displacement with data available to the engineer and has been adopted as an informative Annex in EN1998-4.