In the design of mat foundations supporting columns (and/or walls) supporting levels above, the live load reductions need to be applied to the loads instead of the member forces. The loads need to be reduced instead of the member forces for two reasons: 1) there is a clear understanding of the tributary area for the loads while (in most cases) there is not a clear understanding of the tributary area for the design strips; and 2) the zero-tension soil reaction iterations need to be performed with the reduced loads.

For mat foundations, the live load reduction code should always be set to "None". Otherwise the live loads may be reduced twice.

Mat foundation loads that are imported from the RAM Structural System will be automatically reduced appropriately (by the RAM Structural System). User-drawn loads will need to be reduced manually.