Stepped building' frames, with vertical geometric irregularity, are now increasingly encountered in modern urban construction. This paper proposes a new method of quantifying irregularity in such building frames, accounting for dynamic characteristics (mass and stiffness). The proposed regularity index' provides a basis for assessing the degree of irregularities in a stepped building frame. This paper also proposes a modification of the code specified empirical formula for estimating fundamental period for regular frames, to estimate the fundamental time period of the stepped building frame. The proposed equation for fundamental time periods is expressed as a function of the regularity index. It has been validated for various types of stepped irregular frames. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.