Structural reliability analysis provides a prediction of the structural probability of failure against some behavior mode and the design sensibility with respect to the random variables evaluated at the design point. In this research the reliability analysis is applied to design the carbon fibres reinforced polymer shear strengthening of reinforced concrete beams. First, models and code recommendations, available in literature, to verify the shear strengthening are implemented in MathCad. Further, a structural reliability- based software, using the First Order Reliability Method (FORM), is implemented in C programming language. This software provides the evaluation of the shear reliability of reinforced concrete beams cross-sections, either strengthened or not by CFRP, and the shear reinforcement ratio for a target reliability index. The target reliability index is established as defined by Eurocode EN 1990 (2001). The random variables probabilistic models are based upon code`s recommendations available in specialized literature. The shear reinforcement ratio is designed by two approaches: semi-probabilistic, as the current design practice, and the probabilistic, reliability-based design. The results are compared. In the probabilistic approach, the shear reinforcement ratio design aims to obtain a series system reliability index value larger than a predefined target value. The reliability index values, their corresponding failure probabilities and the percentages of total uncertainty associated to which random variable arise from reliability-based design, developed for either strengthened or not reinforced concrete beams cross-sections. For the strengthened cross- sections, the design point and the partial safety factors are also obtained.