Etabs Mass Summary By Story Better May 2026

The structural weight and mass distribution are the core pillars of seismic and dynamic analysis in ETABS. Understanding the Mass Summary by Story table is not just a matter of pulling software data—it is a critical step in verifying that your building will behave exactly as intended during a lateral event.

Open your ETABS model.
Go to the "Results" menu.
Select "Mass Summary" from the drop-down menu.
In the Mass Summary dialog box, select the "By Story" option.
Choose the desired output format (e.g., Table, Graph, or Both).

5. Sample Summary Table (Better Format)

| Story | UTotal (ton-s²/m) | RTotal (ton-s²-m) | Verification Check | |-------|------------------|-------------------|--------------------| | Roof | 125.4 | 8,420 | ✅ Cladding + roof live 20% | | 5 | 210.2 | 12,150 | ✅ Partition added | | 4 | 210.5 | 12,140 | ✅ Uniform | | 3 | 210.3 | 12,160 | ✅ Uniform | | 2 | 211.0 | 12,170 | ✅ Slight increase from stair infill | | Base | 0.0 | 0.0 | ✅ No mass at fixity | etabs mass summary by story better

are assigned to all floors to ensure the story mass is reported accurately CSI Knowledge Base The structural weight and mass distribution are the

for walls or slabs can sometimes lead to incorrect mass distributions. Many experienced reviewers prefer a Manual Mesh Open your ETABS model

Superstructure vs. Substructure: It helps you isolate the mass of specific parts of the building to calculate precise mass participation factors for complex structures. Key Columns & Interpretation Description Story The name of the specific floor level. Mass X / Mass Y