UmarMakhzumi

It is normal practice to test 10% of welds by NDT (Non-Destructive Testing).
This could be either by Magnet Particle Testing (MT) or Ultrasonic Testing (UT). MT is good for structural steel as the steel has magnetic properties to allow this.
All welds for structural elements should to be undertaken by trained and competent welder.
These welders are trained and tested (certainly in Europe & US, not so in South Asia i find),  and their work is checked regularly by Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) - i.e. visual inspection by someone who understands all aspects of welding, and is probably an experienced Welder who has re-trained to become a Weld Inspector., and is familiar with possible weld defects.
Destructive Testing (DT) which is undertaken on samples, and inspected microscopically, is done on sample pieces only, and verifies the welders compentencies etc.  
In most building projects non-destructive testing (NDT) is undertaken:
1.  The welder cleans and visually inspect his own welding;
2. Welding Inspector (QA) inspects all critical welds by visual inspection - 10% of critical members - say connections with high moments and tensile forces.
3. Standards: British (BS), European (EN), International (ISO) Standards:
a. BS EN ISO 17640:2017 - NDT  testing of Welds:
 
This is the international standard for manual ultrasonic testing of fusion-welded joints in metallic materials thicker than or equal to 8mm which exhibit low ultrasonic attenuation. 
The standard’s guidelines detail specific testing techniques for metals that show weakened ultrasonic levels at temperatures of up to 60⁰C. It’s primarily designed for full penetration weld joints where both the welded and parent material are ferritic. 
b. BS EN ISO 5817 Welding: 
BS EN ISO 5817 is an international welding standard that provides guidelines on quality levels of imperfections in fusion-welded joints (except for beam welding) in all types of steel, nickel, titanium and their alloys.
The purpose of this standard is to define dimensions of typical imperfections which might be expected in normal fabrication of fusion welded joints. It provides three sets of dimensional values to apply to a wide range of welded fabrication. They are designated by symbols B, C and D. Quality level B corresponds to the highest requirement on the finished weld. Several types of loads are considered, e.g. static load, thermal load, corrosion load, pressure load. The quality levels refer to production and good workmanship.
BS EN ISO 5817 applies to joints with a material thickness ≥ 0,5 mm. It covers fully penetrated butt welds and all fillet welds. Its principles can also be applied to partial-penetration butt welds.
 
 

Yes, if you are using insertion points, do not use rigid links. I am more comfortable at using rigid links. Having said that, it will not make notable difference in most situations. Unless the eccentricity is more than 9 inches and there are long spans (more than 30ft).

The posted video above by Ayesha answers the question.
Thanks.

W.s
Bayan, you should always model node to node. If you don't put beam end on the center of column and that distance is greater than merge tolerence for joints, you will have no load transfer. For cases where beams are placed eccentric to column locations, you can use cardinal points to account for the offset/ eccentricity.

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Regards

@Hussam Afifyyou can manually apply the overturning check,  multiply horizontal load (either from wind or seismic) with the distance from the bottom of the footing to get your overturning moment, and then check against the stabilizing moment i.e (weight of the structure + soil above footing multiplied with their respective lever arms.

3” spacing is very normal for ties/ stirrups.

This is the solution. Try to convince your architect. You never want your first mode to be in torsion even if it is within the allowable limit. 

Please see snapshot and the link:
https://docs.csiamerica.com/manuals/etabs/Concrete Frame Design/CFD-ACI-318-08.pdf
 

Short answer is NO!

That is correct. You just model slab to column like normally you would model. Analyse your ETABS model, get maximum shear and moment for the worst cases that would be max tension and max shear. Now you have to provide a mechanism to transfer that moment and shear from the slab to the column.
Which you can do by using weldable rebars. Provide an end plate to column. See the sketch. Sizes where shown are just for example as I have no idea what your loads are.
**Update**
I also edited my sketch to show concrete breakout that you will need to check per ACI Code. It is also a good idea to provide shear ties for that, but you will need to develop Ldh for ties too. Also added circle on weld symbol to show all around welding.
The break out line is show incorrect, as it should start from reinforcing bar,not end of plate. Sorry but hand markups using mouse are tough.

Dear Fazalarju, even though you have requested an answer from someone else, I feel, I should reply again.
 
The answer to the first part of your question is 'yes'. It was yes in earlier comment; May be, my earlier reply was not lucid enough.
 
Regarding second question, I would say that the assumption, inherent in your query, is so rigid that you are not able to comprehend the answer to the contrary.
 
I understand your query, and I am aware of the distribution of earth pressure.

Salam Osama,
Increasing reinf in columns or RCC members compromise ductility, it is not good to increase the steel to 4%. when you will use the 4% in column section, what will be the %age at lap?8%. Contractors and architects normally insist to decrease the column sizes but SE must consider the ductility and should not consider them blindly.
 
Regards

PS: I would model the connection same way you would a concrete column/slab connection and then "detail" the connection by hand to achieve the connection behaviour assumed in the analysis.

Pointers: exercise your due diligence so that you have reinforcement to transfer tensile forces, resulting from rotational effects, between connecting members for foreseeable union of loading scenarios.

Culverts - first determine bending moment (tensile surfaces) and reinforce either one of two ways:
See hand sketch below - once you know moment and effective depth of tension reinforcement you can design the joint.
1. U-bars coming in from slab and wall and connecting in corner.
2. or, Top/outer bar bent around the joint.
3. Option 3 is to use L-bars at joint, 
- see sketch below for all three ways you can detail a culvert corner - your engineering judgement is determine which detail best suits your design!
Spacing of reinforcement tend to be closer to limit serviceability stress and hence crack width in concrete to <2mm - for reinforcement durability, and to stop water corroding the reinforcement, and to have a watertight structure; Movement joints are tricky in culverts. Make sure the concrete (or cement) selected is ok for, (i) against corrosive soils and (ii) chemicals in (waste) water.

The project I am working on is kind of an assessment. It is my first time so I want to explore different options and alternatives to expand my engineering knowledge. I am very thankful to all of you for your guidance and deep insights. I am very happy to find you guys who can guide me regarding the problems faced by structural engineers in Pakistan. I hope to benefit from you guys in the future.
I am using ACI. Slab thickness is 6" and fc' is 3000psi.

Designing buildings via such forums can lead to engineering failures - its a dangerous thing.
This forum is for general advise, and then you as the engineer need to make the necessary engineering judgement based on your knowledge and experience.
However, as rules of thumb:
1. Which code are you designing the concrete to? American or European?  Follow the rules given in the code!!
2. Here is general advice, based on European Codes.
For say 30N/mm2 concrete strength, and straight ribbed bars:
ANCHORAGE:
Good concrete/rebar bond conditions, good quality control: 40 x bar diameter;
Poor concrete/rebar bond conditions, poor quality control: 60 x bar dai
 
LAPS: 30 N/mm2 conc
Bar laps, good bond, good conc quality control on site: 60 x bar dia
Bar laps, poor bond, poor quality control on site: 90 x bar dia
 
Below are defined "good" and "poor bond" conditions. If your slab is less than 250mm thick, then you have good bond condition, provided there is good concrete quality control regime on site. Quality is not something Pakistan construction sites are renowned for from my limited experience.

 
 
 
 
 

WALEKUM SALAM!
Dear Khurram,
After running the model go to file menu >Print tables > Input menu and select load options and select all load cases then print the summary, it will show the automatic lateral load calculations
 

Membrane does not  have bending stiffness, so it is useless to apply m11 and m22. As per my knowledge, ACI 318 or other codes that I know does prescribe any modifiers for this situations. I would use 0.35 for tension and 0.7 for compression to be applied to f11 or f22. Even 0.5 is not a bad choice 

There is no correlation between these parameters. Maps in UBC are based on 500 year return period (10% in 50 years), whereas as in latest codes maps are for risk-targeted earthquake having 2% probability of exceedance in 50 years (2500 years return period). UBC maps are in terms of PGA whereas now the correlation parameter is spectral acceleration.
However, people have done work on this and you can get these parameters from their papers. Please get these values from following studies. 
 
Bhatti et al. 2011 Probabilistic seismic hazard analysis of Islamabad, Pakistan.pdf Ahmed 2019 Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis Based Zoning Map of Pakistan.pdf

Etabs considers the rebar area that it suggests in calculating the capacity ratio. How else do you think one can calculate the moment capacity without considering reinforcement in members.
Yes, you need to check it manually based on the reinforcement prescribed in structural drawings.

I came across this today and thought it would be good to share. 
Problem: 
While connecting 2 different elements, using links with Fixed end conditions would not report any forces in the link elements. 
Solution:
 

and it is beacuse when a section is large it attracts higher forces leading to higher reinforcement, leading to higher Mpr, leading to higher end shear at the time of hinging due to earthquake (short span is a major reason of high shear beacuse Vp=(Mpr1+Mpr2)/Ln). and this Probable shear, Vp when becomes higher than 50% of combined shear due to gravity loads and Vp, concrete Vc has to be taken 0, and required steel shear reinforcement to tackle the shear beacomes insufficient, as maybe shear reinforcement cannt be higher than 8*sqrt(f'c)bd.

It was later on found that, short beams under SMRF fail in shear when the section is large. Reducing the section iterativly to reach the optimum section, make things ok. Thanks all for your valuable comments.