The Earthquake can be considered as a natural phenomenon or a disaster based on the seismic response of structures during a severe earthquake that plays a vital role in the extent of structural damage and resulting injuries and losses. It is necessary to predict the performance of the existing structures and structures at the design stage when it subjected to an earthquake load. Also, it is needed to predict the repair cost required for the rehabilitation of the existing buildings that is insufficient in seismic resistance, and the construction cost and the expected repairing cost for the structures at the design stage that designed to have a ductile behavior with acceptable cracks. This study aims to propose a method for seismic performance evaluation for existing and new structures depending on the width of cracks resulted from the seismic exposure. Also, it assesses the effect of building performance during earthquakes on its life cycle cost. FEMA 356 criteria were used to predict the building responses due to seismic hazard. A case study of seven-story reinforced concrete building designed by four design approaches and then analyzed by static nonlinear pushover analysis to predict its response and performance during earthquake events using Sap 2000 software. The first design approach is to design the building to resist gravity loads only by using ECP code. The second one is to design the building to resist gravity loads and seismic loads by using static linear analysis according to ECP code. The third one is to design the building to resist gravity loads and seismic loads by using static linear analysis according to the regulations of the Egyptian Society of Earthquake Engineering (ESEE). Finally the fourth one is to design the building as the second approach but with ground acceleration greater by five times than it or by using ductility factor R = 1. The methodology followed in this study provides initial How to cite this paper: Fayed, Y., Sobaih, M.E. and El Hakem, Y.