The level of safety associated with the ACI Standard 318-83 design criteria for torsional reinforced concrete members is evaluated. Advanced first-order, second-moment reliability analysis is used to compute the reliability index. Reinforced concrete beams, subjected to both equilibrium and compatibility torsion, are analyzed. The uncertainties associated with the various torsion design parameters are included in the reliability-based formulation. For beams designed to carry equilibrium torsion, reliability indices ranging from 3.10 to 3.65 are obtained. The reliability indices for the compatibility torsion designs, analyzed in this study, vary from 1.88 to 2.09. For a given beam section, the reliability index is found to decrease with an increase in beam reinforcement. When the live load is reduced for members having a load influence area greater than 400 ft 2, the reliability index is found to increase with increase in basic live load to nominal dead load ratio. / M.S.