A parametric study was conducted on a model 7-storey reinforced concrete building as per the Indian code IS 1893: 2002 and the International Building Code IBC: 2006. Four different locations in India and USA were selected with different soil conditions to study the variations of the base shear, overturning moment and the member forces. The results of base shear and overturning moment are provided as bar charts for comparison. From the results it can be observed that the forces or moments can increase substantially when the local site effects are considered. Hence, it is important to include the latter in the code for seismic analysis.