In order to assure safety and serviceability, structural responses are kept within certain limits by active control methods. Control forces as well as responses (displacement and velocity) are considered constraints in an optimal control system. The exact solution of the optimal control system under the aforementioned constraints is derived in the first part of the paper. An approximate solution is also suggested in the paper. An example dealing with a six‐story building is presented in the last part of the paper to demonstrate the application of the approximate approach.