A nonlinear layered finite element procedure is presented for flexural and shear failure analysis of reinforced concrete slabs and flat plates. A degenerated shell element employing a layered discretization scheme is adopted. This provides a simple and effective means of accounting for the nonlinear behaviour of concrete and steel reinforcement over the thickness of the slab or flat plate. The procedure is capable of determining the load-deflection response, the ultimate load capacity and crack patterns of concrete slab structures, as well as computing the punching shear strength at slab-column connections of concrete flat plates. To verify the accuracy and reliability of the proposed method of analysis, comparative studies are carried out on a collection of reinforced concrete slabs, single slab-column connections and multi-column flat plates which were tested by other researchers. In general, good correlations are obtained with the published test results.