The seismic performance of a non-seismically detailed reinforced concrete (RC) beam-column joint with column pinned and fixed at the base is experimentally investigated in this paper. Six half-scale RC beam-column specimens were tested to study the effect of inflection point on the cyclic behaviour of beam-column sub-assemblages. The specimens were separated into two groups. The shape of specimens in the first group was cruciform; the size of the column in those specimens was varied while the size of beam was kept nearly constant. The dimensions and reinforcing detail of specimens in the second group were identical to those in the first one except that the column was extended to the footing and fixed at the base. The main variable in this study was the relative stiffness between beam and column, which affects the position of the inflection point. The test results demonstrated a significant effect of inflection point position on the load capacity, joint shear stress and failure mode. © 2012 Thomas Telford Ltd.