This paper addresses the possibilities of structural component models for the seismic assessment of masonry buildings using pushover analysis. The ultimate goal is to allow efficient design of new unreinforced masonry buildings in seismic areas. Different modelling strategies are presented and the implementation of a simple design tool based on structural component models is described in detail. The different approaches are applied to a two-storey building with regular plan and elevation, allowing for a comparison between them. The results indicate that macro-modelling using structural component models and pushover analysis are adequate approaches for the seismic assessment and design of unreinforced masonry buildings, as the tools require very low computational resources, allow easy interpretation of results and provide satisfactory accuracy. © 2011 Civil-Comp Ltd and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.