Design of base plates is non‑interactive and currently can only be performed for a single vertical column. The base plate sizes are determined using the criteria specified by the user, the currently selected column sizes, and the axial loads.

The criteria are specified using the Criteria - Base Plates command in the Column Design module. Criteria to be set include: plate Fy (fy or py), concrete f'c (fck or fcu), minimum edge distances, plate dimension increments, minimum footing size and an option to make all base plates square. The minimum footing size only impacts the design if the base plate is on a foundation. Base plates located on a wall or concrete column will use the respective member cross section dimensions for the footing size. Base plates (columns) rotated at different axis from a support (concrete column) will use the maximum size the plate could grow without projecting beyond the support, as the footing size. Making changes to the base plate criteria does not require sizes to be cleared from the database.

The design of individual base plates is obtained using the Reports - Base Plates - Single or Reports - Base Plates - All commands. A summary of all base plates is obtained using the Reports - Base Plates - Summary command. Base plate designs can be refined by refining the base plate criteria.