Sliding mode control (SMC), which is one of active control algorithms showing remarkable control performance, requires the excessive control force for control of seismically excited civil structures. Therefore, controller saturation should be considered in design of SMC. In this study, a method for determining the maximum control force is developed in terms of the fraction of the lateral restoring force using a design response spectrum. Numerical analyses of MDOF structures with one or multiple control devices verify the effectiveness of the proposed method for the control of seismically excited civil structures with saturation problem.