Key:material

material
File:Stapel bakstenen - Pile of bricks 2005 Fruggo.jpg
Description
Describes the main material of a physical feature.
Group: properties
Used on these elements
Documented values: 29
Status: de facto
material=* More details at taginfo
Tools for this tag
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material=* – describes the main material of a physical feature.

It is most commonly used to describe the material of monuments, memorials, statues, walls, fences, but can be used for any other physical object except those listed below, which use other tags:

• Building façade → building:material=*
• Roof of a building → roof:material=*
• Insulation of power lines → insulation:material=*
• Main surface of roads → surface=* for values such as surface=asphalt or surface=mud
  • material=* can be still used as an extra detail – for example surface=unhewn_cobblestone material=granite is fine
  • surface=granite and similar should ideally be avoided.
  • For surface=paving_stones there is paving_stones:material=*, which can also be used.
  • Some mappers use surface:material=* instead.
• What is inside, for example in a storage tank → content=*.

If multiple values are used, combine them with ";" (not the word "and", a comma, spaces, slash, or plus sign).

Common values

Key	Value	Description	Photo
material	wood	Wood.
material	concrete	Concrete.	File:Concrete fence.jpg
material	metal	Unspecified metal. It is better to use a more accurate value if you know what metal it is.	File:Galvanized metal wall.jpg File:Chain-link-Fence.jpg
material	steel	Steel.	File:HK Central Murray Road Hutchison House entrance stairs stainless steel fences Nov-2012.jpg File:Stainless Steel Railings and the Pier, Teignmouth - geograph.org.uk - 646827.jpg Error creating thumbnail:
material	stone	Stone. Use a more precise value if you know which stone it is (see the following lines).	File:Bumthang - Mauer aus Rundsteinen.JPG
material	reinforced_concrete	Reinforced concrete.	Error creating thumbnail:
material	plastic	Plastic.	Error creating thumbnail: File:JiminyPicketVinylFence.jpg
material	brick	Brick.	Error creating thumbnail: Error creating thumbnail:
material	bronze	Bronze.	File:Pomnik Anonimowego Przechodnia.JPG
material	granite	Granite.	Error creating thumbnail: File:Marktplatz, aurich.jpg
material	brass	Brass.	Error creating thumbnail:
material	glass	Glass.	File:HK IFC Roof Podium Garden Glass Sculpture purple tile mosaics.JPG File:Cove Fort County Cork Titanic Memorial Garden Main Glass Memorial.JPG
material	sandstone	Sandstone.	File:Abdeckstein.jpg File:The sandstone gate of Galgotias University..JPG File:Typical local red sandstone wall - geograph.org.uk - 228300.jpg
material	rock	Rock. To avoid, prefer material=stone	File:PTK Monument Poznan.JPG
material	aluminium	Aluminium.	Error creating thumbnail:
material	copper	copper.	File:Hermannsdenkmal 2012 040.jpg File:Sangerhausen, Spengler-Museum, Kupferkanne.jpg
material	soil	Soil, earth. Often used in combination with man_made=embankment.	File:Stagnogley.JPG
material	marble	Marble.	Error creating thumbnail: File:Detail of carved marble column base - Maharani Ki Chhatri, Jaipur (4609882817).jpg
material	limestone	Limestone.	File:Jerusalem Western Wall stones.jpg Error creating thumbnail:
material	tufa	Tufa and/or travertine - a soft sedimentary rock formed by the chemical precipitation of calcium carbonate minerals from fresh water, typically in springs, rivers, and lakes, especially in karst around waterfalls	Error creating thumbnail: Error creating thumbnail:
material	dry_stone	Dry stone, stones laid without any mortar to bind them together.	File:Dry stone globe.jpg
material	andesite	Andesite.	Error creating thumbnail: File:Bolivia-72 - Back view - Gate of the Sun (2217309605).jpg
material	adobe	Adobe, mudbrick. Material made from earth and organic materials.	File:Milyanfan-adobe-bricks-8038.jpg
material	iron	Iron.	File:PikiWiki Israel 9971 iron sculpture garden in ganei-tikva.jpg
material	cast_iron	Cast_iron.	File:Bremer Schachtdeckel.jpg
material	wrought_iron	Wrought_iron.	File:Wrought iron railing.jpg Error creating thumbnail: Error creating thumbnail:
material	sheet_metal	Sheet_metal.
material	ceramic	Ceramic.
material	terracotta	Terracotta.
material	sand	Sand.
material	plaster	Plaster.	File:Sculpture, plaster (AM 53811-1).jpg
material	slate	Slate.	File:Slate garden wall Blackwell House - geograph.org.uk - 930728.jpg
material	bamboo	Bamboo.	File:Construction maison bambou.jpg
material	metal_grid	Metal grid (depending on the model also called wire mesh or wire grid, comparable is also perforated metal) is a specific type of material=metal. It is often used for seats and backrests of benches, sometimes also for outdoor tables.
material	basalt	Basalt.	File:Базальтове.jpg
material	weathering_steel	Weathering steel, sometimes called COR-TEN steel, are steel alloys that obtain a distinctive stable rust-like exterior when exposed to the weather. Typically used as building cladding and in abstract sculptures.	File:Stadtarchiv Essen.jpg
material	tyres	Tyres.
material	rammed_earth	Rammed earth.	File:Paderne Morrish Castle 26 Nov 2007 (6).JPG
material	trachyte	Trachyte.	File:Selters-Trachyt.jpg
material	greywacke	Greywacke.	File:Moehnesee wall 05.JPG
material	fieldstone	Fieldstone.	File:Feldsteinmauerwerk Giesensdorf.jpg
material	muschelkalk	Muschelkalk.	File:Relief von Christus als Weltenrichter an der Christuskirche Flensburg-Mürwik, Oktober 2011, Bild 02.JPG
material	palm_leaves	Arecaceae.	File:Palmera001.jpg
material	epoxy	Epoxy, a family of resins that may replace wood or concrete to mould or cast several industrial, urban, or domestic appliances
material	gabion	Gabion, is a cage, cylinder, or cube, typically mesh, filled with solid material.	Gabion_retaining_wall_-_geograph.org.uk_-_7571148 Gabion_retaining_wall_-_geograph.org.uk_-_7571148
material	masonry	Masonry is not a material. Please use other values.
material	user defined	All commonly used values according to Taginfo

This table is a wiki template with a default description in English. Editable here.

Using material tag for detailing surface info

surface=granite and similar should ideally be avoided as it fails to distinguish between surface=sett and surface=unhewn_cobblestone and surface=paving_stones

But, if someone wants to provide a detailed info for a surface, material=* can be used as an extra detail. This is friendly both for data consumers looking for extremely detailed info and for more general-purpose ones. For surface=paving_stones there is paving_stones:material=*, which can also be used.

surface=sett material=granite or surface=paving_stones paving_stones:material=granite are completely fine and much more useful tagging than surface=granite that loses useful info.

For example, the distinction between surface=unhewn_cobblestone and surface=paving_stones is very important for bicycle routing, while distinguishing between marble surface and granite surface and concrete surface is of lesser importance.

surface=metal material=steel is preferable over surface=steel as it allows more general-purpose data consumers to process data without failing as soon as someone will add even more detailed info about surface.

Possible tagging mistakes

More details at taginfo

More details at taginfo

• material=Ag🔎 ‒ undefined or abbreviated value

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!

More details at taginfo

More details at taginfo

• material=woodhighway=path_lit=no_surface=concrete🔎 ‒ mixup

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!