Three 12 storey frame-shear wall buildings with varying wall size were designed according to capacity design principles. Their response to the El Centro NS 1940 and Pacoima Dam S15°W 1970 accelerograms was investigated using a 2-dimensional nonlinear dynamic analysis program. Particularly significant observations were the high levels of wall shear forces and generally low levels of column bending moment encountered. Wide spread 
beam flexural yielding involving moderate levels of inelastic deformations and interstorey drifts controlled by the walls indicate the potentially desirable inelastic performance of these hybrid structures. Design schemes are proposed whereby improved estimation of maximum inelastic actions can be made using the traditional elastic analysis for equivalent lateral static loading on the structure.