This paper presents the influence of various flexural strengthening design criteria specified by three important design guidelines (ACI440, TR55, FIB14) on the resulting strength, ductility and conservativeness of FRP strengthened RC elements. Various generalised mathematical relations in non-dimensional form are presented that can be employed to develop design aids for the FRP-strengthening process. A design methodology is prescribed based on these equations enabling the designer to optimally and intuitively incorporate sufficient ductility while designing for strength. In order to better interpret conservativeness within design codes, four distinct levels of embedded conservativeness are identified, which cover the entire range of sources of conservativeness. Finally, a detailed parametric study is presented, using the proposed design equations and methodology, to determine the influence of each of these four levels of conservativeness on final design solutions. Specific criteria that are useful while calibrating design guidelines are also presented.