Abstract | An analytical formulation is offered for performance-based seismic design following a direct procedure based on code-like requirements. The approach builds upon the use of the yield displacement as a robust system characteristic. A new format for displaying seismic demands known as Yield Frequency Spectra is introduced to quantitatively link performance objectives with the base shear seismic coefficient, for a fixed value of yield displacement. The closed-form solutions developed in the SAC/FEMA project are inverted to provide analytical solutions for estimating the design base shear strength implied by typical code requirements, involving both strength and displacement limitation checks. It is shown that the consideration of aleatory and epistemic sources of uncertainty result in an increase of 30% or more in the strength required to achieve the stated performance objectives, depending on the site and structure characteristics. While the blanket safety factors embodied in the seismic code may cover this difference, they do so inconsistently. Instead, the simple expressions derived can offer uniform safety at no additional complexity.