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Buying guide

Choosing pipe

Six materials on one page, and the first decision is not the size — it is what the line carries and where it runs. Get that wrong and the size is irrelevant.

Buying guide

Choosing pipe

Six materials on one page, and the first decision is not the size — it is what the line carries and where it runs. Get that wrong and the size is irrelevant.

Start with what the line carries

Carbon steel, galvanised steel, stainless, PVC and HDPE are not grades of the same thing. They fail in different ways and they are jointed by different trades, so the material decides the labour as much as the material cost.

  • GI (galvanised) — zinc coated inside and out. Fence posts, scaffold, exposed or buried water. The default where steel has to live outdoors.
  • Carbon steel — bare. Structural and industrial lines that will be painted, lagged or run indoors. Left outdoors unprotected it rusts.
  • Stainless 304 / 316 — food, chemical, architectural and coastal. 316 is the one a marine or chemical exposure actually needs.
  • uPVC — gravity drainage and low-pressure water. Solvent-welded or rubber-ring jointed. Rigid, light, cheap.
  • HDPE — buried water and irrigation. Flexible, jointed by heat fusion rather than glue, and effectively immune to corrosion.

Nominal size is neither the bore nor the outside diameter

A “1 inch” steel pipe is not 25.4 mm anywhere on it. The inch figure is a nominal designation inherited from the bore of old wrought-iron tube; the outside diameter is fixed by the standard and the bore then depends on the wall thickness you choose.

This matters when a fitting has to go on. Threads, clamps and couplers are made to the outside diameter, so that is the number to quote when you are matching to something already installed.

NominalOutside diameterLight wallMedium wallHeavy wall
1/2 inch21.3 mm2.0 mm2.6 mm3.2 mm
3/4 inch26.9 mm2.3 mm2.6 mm3.2 mm
1 inch33.7 mm2.6 mm3.2 mm4.0 mm
1 1/2 inch48.3 mm2.9 mm3.2 mm4.0 mm
2 inch60.3 mm2.9 mm3.6 mm4.5 mm
3 inch88.9 mm3.2 mm4.0 mm5.0 mm

Galvanised tube to BS EN 10255 / IS 1239. Medium (Class B) is the common UAE stock for fencing and general use; heavy (Class C) where the line is pressurised or structural. PVC and HDPE are sized the other way round — the millimetre figure quoted for those IS the outside diameter.

Working out what a delivery weighs

Steel pipe is sold by the piece and delivered by weight, so the two have to be reconciled before a lorry is booked. The mass of a tube is its wall area times the density of steel, which comes out as a single workable formula.

  • Kilograms per metre = (outside diameter − wall) × wall × 0.02466, with both dimensions in millimetres.
  • A 1 inch medium GI pipe: (33.7 − 3.2) × 3.2 × 0.02466 = 2.41 kg per metre, so 14.4 kg for a standard 6 m length.
  • A 3 ton pickup carries roughly 200 such lengths by weight — but check the deck length before the tonnage, because 6 m pipe overhangs a short bed regardless of what it weighs.

Every size page does this arithmetic for you

Open any GI pipe size and it states the outside diameter, all three wall classes and the weight per metre and per 6 m length, so a take-off can be done from the page without a reference table.

What we need to quote

  • The material, or what the line carries and where it runs if you would rather we advised.
  • Nominal size, and the wall class or schedule if the specification names one.
  • Total metres or number of lengths — pipe is stocked in 6 m for GI, and 3, 6 or 12 m for carbon steel.
  • Plain end or threaded, and whether you want it cut to length.
  • The emirate and the access, because 12 m lengths need room to offload.
Questions

Straight answers.

What is the difference between GI pipe and carbon steel pipe?

The zinc. Both are steel tube; GI has been hot-dip galvanised inside and out, which is what lets it live outdoors or underground without painting. Bare carbon steel is the cheaper metal and the right choice where the line will be painted, lagged or kept indoors — outdoors and untreated it will rust.

Which class of GI pipe do I need — light, medium or heavy?

Medium (Class B) is the general stock and suits fencing posts, rails and ordinary water lines. Heavy (Class C) is for pressurised or structural duty. Light is thin-wall and is used where the tube is doing no real work. If a consultant has specified a class, use it — the wall thickness is what the pressure rating depends on.

Is 304 or 316 stainless worth the difference?

It depends entirely on the exposure. 304 is fine for general corrosion resistance indoors. 316 contains molybdenum and resists chlorides, which is what matters in a coastal, marine or chemical environment — and on the UAE coast that is most outdoor installations. Paying for 316 where 304 would do is waste; the reverse is a replacement in two years.

Can I use PVC instead of HDPE for a buried water line?

Sometimes, but they behave differently. uPVC is rigid and jointed with solvent cement or rubber rings; it is the usual choice for gravity drainage. HDPE is flexible, comes in coils at smaller bores and is joined by butt-fusion or electrofusion, which needs equipment but produces a joint as strong as the pipe. For a long buried run with ground movement, HDPE is the more forgiving.

Do you cut to length?

Yes, on request, for the steel lines. Tell us the cut list with the quantity and we will price it cut rather than leaving you with offcuts.

Now the prices

Pipes & Pipework

Carbon steel, galvanized, stainless, PVC and HDPE pipe, with square and round tube — sized by the inch or the millimetre, whichever your drawing uses.

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Get in touch

Ready to get your quote?

Tell us the size, quantity and delivery emirate — we'll come back with pricing and availability.

Mon–Sat, 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM · +971 54 303 3119 (Operations Director) · +971 54 241 0599 (Managing Director)