As it is well known in literature, infills modify the behaviour of framed structures under lateral loads. Nevertheless, infills are generally neglected in structural analysis, and this, in many cases, may lead to unreliable evaluations of structural response. Although several theoretical and experimental researches express the necessity to take into account the infills, today reliable models of infilled structures do not exist, due to the difficult interpretation of experimental results. The aim of the proposed approach is to evaluate the effect of infills in the global and local response of a building under earthquake loads, identifying the most significant parameters that influence its behaviour. In this paper a convenient tool for the evaluation of the effects of the infills is suggested, in order to reach acceptable results in global and local analyses. The attention is focused on the most used typology in Italy: reinforced concrete structures infilled with masonry panels, realized in contact with the frame after its hardening and without connectors nor joints.