Abstract: General rule for performance-based seismic design of buildings(General Rule),a probationary standard,is very important in the direction for modification of the current seismic code,and is of great promise for application to engineering.Because of the influence of the design custom and the lag of relevant software,ordinary designers are unfamiliar with the design system of General Rule.The principle of General Rule was introduced.After this,the way of calculating earthquake action was analyzed,and the design procedure was summarized,then the usage of popular design software applied the method of General Rule was discussed.Finally,example was analyzed.This paper may be implications for the application and popularization of performance based seismic design employed General Rule.