The paper describes a new method of generating safety margins for general frame structures by taking into account the interaction of the applied load effects on a yielding section. For this purpose, the plasticity condition of a structural element is at first approximated by a linear surface, and then the corresponding reduced stiffness matrices and equivalent nodal forces representing the residual strengths of the yielded elements are derived for the plastic analysis by using a plastic deformation theory. Finally, safety margins for reliability analysis are formulated by using a matrix method.