Key:building:material

The key building:material=* is used to describe the outer surface material of building walls, also know as the facade or façade.

This information can be used to model 3D buildings.
Some 3D renderers set the colour of a building based on this tag.

This tag should be used to determine what the external layer of building walls is made of or covered with, and not what the walls are made of.
For example: if the walls of a building are made of bricks, plastered and painted, then the appropriate tag would be building:material=plaster.

Values

Value	Short description	Example image	Count
cement_block	Concrete masonry unit or cement blocks, concrete blocks, breeze blocks (UK), concrete hollow blocks (Philippines)		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
brick	bricks		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
plaster	building coated in plaster (or stucco)		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
wood	wood		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
concrete	concrete, reinforced concrete		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
metal	metal		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
steel	steel, non-decorative metal, often seen on industrial buildings or tanks		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
stone	stones Similar values: limestone, sandstone		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
glass	glass		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
mirror	mirrored-glass		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
mud	dried mud Similar values: adobe, rammed_earth		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
masonry	Unspecified masonry - better use brick, cement_block See also building:structure=*		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
tin	tin		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
plastic	plastic		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
timber_framing	A half-timbered building facade. See also  Timber framing.		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
sandstone	sandstone Similar values: limestone, stone		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
clay	clay Similar values: loam, adobe		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
reed	reed		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
loam	loam Similar values: clay, adobe		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
marble	marble		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
copper	copper (see Copper in architecture on Wikipedia)		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
slate	slate		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
vinyl	plastic vinyl strips		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
limestone	limestone Similar values: stone, sandstone		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
tiles	generally ceramic tiles		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
metal_plates	metal plates See also: metal		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
bamboo	bamboo (see Bamboo construction on Wikipedia)		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
adobe	indicates  adobe, aka cob, wichert, puddled clay, bousille, etc. Similar values: clay, loam		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
rammed_earth	indicates  rammed earth		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
solar_panels	solar panels		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
tyres	tyres		$1% $1% $1% $1% More details at taginfo
user defined	See Taginfo for all common values.

Rendering examples

• 

  building:material=brick on OSM2World

• 

  building:material=plaster on OSM2World

• 

  building:material=concrete on OSM2World

• 

  building:material=glass on OSM2World

See also

• roof:material=* – roof material
• material=* – material
• Simple 3D buildings – overview of tags for mapping 3D buildings
• List of building materials on Wikipedia

Possible tagging mistakes

building:lateral:material=*

More details at taginfo

• building:lateral:material=*

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

building:facade:material=*

More details at taginfo

• building:facade:material=*

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!

facade:material=*

More details at taginfo

• facade:material=*

If you know places with this tag, verify if it could be tagged with another tag.
Automated edits are strongly discouraged unless you really know what you are doing!