The design moments for the column are the unbalanced moments , including the effects of skip loading the live load, split between the column above and column below based on the split factors described in the previous section. There are some special conditions which are dealt with differently.

The top column gets the full unbalanced moment at the top since there is no column above to split the moment with.

When a cantilevered beam is supported by a column it is assumed that the beam is not continuous with the column, that the connection of the beam to the column is a pin. This means that when a column is a cantilever support no unbalanced moment in either axis is applied to the top of the supporting column nor to the bottom of the column above. This is not the case for stub cantilevers; stub cantilever moments are applied to the column.

When there is a change in Shape (e.g., from wide flange to pipe) it is assumed that the splice connection is a pin, and the column below takes the full moment.

At the lowest level of a column, including columns supported by transfer girders, the connection is assumed to be pinned, and hence no unbalanced moment is applied in either axis to the base of the column.

In cases where there is a stub cantilever at a level at which the column is not braced and there are significant moments induced by other stub cantilevers or large eccentric reactions at adjacent levels, the assumptions made in the determination of the column design loads may be inadequate. In such cases the design produced by the program should be investigated for adequacy. Similarly, if a level with eccentric moments from beams framing in has been assigned as unbraced by the user (overriding the program's assumption that beams that frame in brace the column), the correctness of the design moments should be verified.

When the column above the joint has a K‑factor (Le/L) of 2.0 in a given axis (i.e., the column acts as a "flagpole"), the full moment is applied to the top of the column below the joint.