Abstract | Modern structures are designed to trade strength for damage through the stable accumulation of plastic deformations in predefined “energy-dissipating” sacrificial elements. Logistically, this is taken into account by the use of the ubiquitous behavior (or strength reduction) factors that incorporate the effects of both ductility and overstrength to allow a simple and essentially elastic process of design. Despite the importance of such factors, their estimation is not subject to any rigorous rules, leaving large margins of uncertainty, especially for newly introduced lateral-loading systems where experience is lacking. In the US, the estimation of behavior factors has been largely standardized by the introduction of the FEMA P695 guidelines. On the other hand, Eurocode 8 has not been paired with a similar compatible document to allow the seamless introduction of new systems. As an attempt to investigate the potential for introducing such a set of guidelines, an investigation of concentrically-braced frames is undertaken. The aim is to evaluate the currently offered margin of safety against collapse and discuss the possible basis one could use to found a reliable estimation for behavior factors, while accounting for issues of spectral shape, record selection and intensity measure sufficiency.