This paper proposes an approach for the verification of the ultimate limit state of a masonry vault when failure occurs by the formation of a hinge mechanism. This verification is intended for finite element models in continuous medium. It is assumed that failure occurs when the rotation at one of the hinges exceeds a maximum rotation \({\theta }_{\text{max}}\) . The determination of \({\theta }_{\text{max}}\) is proposed here on the basis of a simplified geometry of the hinge and the hypothesis of the strain and stress distribution at the cross-section. Then, we stablish that if the modeling results show that the hinges’ rotations are inferior to \({\theta }_{\text{max}}\) , the vault is potentially stable and its load admissible. To validate the proposed approach, two examples are introduced: a theoretical one and an experimental one. The order of magnitude of \({\theta }_{\text{max}}\) found here is between 250 m° and 400 m°. Despite the simplicity of the approach, it shows good results.