Types of Building Materials and Their Uses in Construction

Building materials are easiest to understand by the job they do in a structure. This guide groups them into seven functional families: binding materials, aggregates and concrete, reinforcement and structural metals, walling and masonry units, roofing and waterproofing, openings and glazing, and finishing materials. This is the grouping used in this article for clarity, not an official or fixed classification — Indian standards specify materials product by product rather than under a single taxonomy. Most materials on an Indian construction site fall into one of these seven.

What Are Building Materials?

A building material is any substance used to form a permanent part of a structure — from the cement in a foundation to the paint on a parapet. The list runs to hundreds of products, which is why a flat list of ten is rarely useful.

Building materials or construction materials?

In Indian practice, the two terms are used interchangeably. Where a distinction is drawn, construction materials is the wider term and includes road, bridge and infrastructure inputs such as bitumen and pavement aggregates; building materials refers to what goes into buildings. This guide covers building materials.

Types of Building Materials At-a-Glance

The table below lists the materials in common use on Indian building sites, what each is for, and — the part most guides leave out — what each one cannot do well.

How Building Materials Are Grouped?

Most guides split building materials into natural (stone, timber, clay, sand) and synthetic (cement, steel, glass, plastics). It is a correct classification and a nearly useless one: it puts concrete and polythene in the same bucket and tells you nothing about where either belongs in a building.

Grouping by function — what the material does once it is in place — is more useful, because it matches the order in which decisions are actually made. You do not choose “a natural material”; you choose a walling material, then a roofing material, then a floor finish.

1. Binding Materials

Binders are the materials that set and hold other materials in position. Cement is the dominant one; lime and gypsum serve narrower roles.

A note on cement grade. A higher grade is not automatically better. OPC 53 gains strength quickly and generates more heat, which is unhelpful in large pours; PPC generally develops early strength more slowly. Its suitability for aggressive exposure depends on the cement properties and the project’s concrete specification.

Match the cement to the exposure condition, not to the highest number available.

2. Aggregates and Concrete

Aggregates are the inert bulk of concrete and mortar — roughly 60–75% of the volume. IS 383 divides them at the 4.75 mm IS sieve: material passing it is fine aggregate, material retained on it is coarse aggregate.

Concrete is designated by grade — M20, M25, M30 and upwards — where the number is the characteristic compressive strength in N/mm² at 28 days. IS 456:2000, Clause 6.1.2 sets the minimum grade for plain and reinforced concrete by reference to its Table 5, which ties the requirement to the exposure condition. M20 is the minimum for reinforced concrete in mild exposure only. As exposure becomes more severe, the minimum grade and the minimum cement content both rise — and the maximum water-cement ratio comes down.

Values are for reinforced concrete with normal-weight aggregate of 20 mm nominal maximum size, as set out in Table 5 of IS 456:2000. Cement content is independent of cement grade and includes the mineral additions permitted under Clause 5.2. Plain concrete has its own, lower set of values in the same table. The grade for any particular structure is set by the structural engineer, not by the minimum.

AEL produces aggregates at its own crushing operations in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, and supplies ready mix concrete through its batching plants.

3. Reinforcement and Structural Metals

Concrete is strong in compression and weak in tension. Steel supplies the tension capacity, which is why almost every concrete building in India is a composite of the two.

Values are as specified in IS 1786:2008. The letter D denotes the same specified strength with enhanced and additional ductility requirements. Which grade to use is not a general rule of thumb: reinforcement grade, quantity and detailing must follow the structural engineer’s specification for the project, together with the applicable seismic design and ductile-detailing requirements.

Structural steel (IS 2062) is used where spans are long or speed matters — industrial sheds, warehouses, mezzanines. It needs fire protection and a maintained coating system. Aluminium appears mainly in window, door and facade framing, where its corrosion resistance and light weight matter more than its structural capacity.

4. Walling and Masonry Units

Walling is where the widest genuine choice exists, and where the five  common options behave very differently.

Why AAC density is the number that matters: IS 2185 (Part 3) specifies minimum compressive strengths by density band and grade. Density alone does not guarantee strength. Thermal conductivity moves the same way, from about 0.21 to 0.42 W/m·K. A lighter block insulates better and carries less load. Specify both the density band and the compressive-strength grade — not just “AAC”.

5. Roofing, Waterproofing and Insulation

On low-rise buildings the roof is usually the largest single heat-gain surface, though in taller buildings the walls and glazing dominate — how much each contributes depends on building height, roof exposure, glazing area, orientation, insulation and shading. The roof is also a common source of long-term water damage. Materials here work as a system, not individually.

Waterproofing performance depends on the whole system rather than the membrane alone. Junctions are a common failure point — parapets, drain outlets and pipe penetrations — but failures also arise from unsuitable material selection, poor substrate preparation, workmanship during application, later damage from other trades, and structural movement. The specification should cover substrate preparation, application and junction detailing, not just the membrane and the area it covers.

6. Openings and Glazing

Windows and doors decide how a building performs on heat, noise, dust and rain. The frame material and the glass are separate decisions.

Not all glass performs the same way. Thermal and acoustic performance depend on the glass configuration, the cavity width and fill, the quality of the seals, the frame and the installed window as a whole — not on the fact that a unit is double-glazed. Ask for the performance figures for the specific configuration, tested as a system.

Safety glass — toughened and laminated — is specified as a product under IS 2553 (Part 1):2018. Where it is required is governed separately, by the application codes: IS 16231 (Part 4):2014, Use of Glass in Buildings — Safety Related to Human Impact, and the National Building Code of India 2016, which covers glass and glazing in Part 6, Section 8. For horizontal, sloped or overhead glazing, where the risk is glass falling, those codes call for laminated safety glass rather than toughened glass on its own. Confirm the requirement for the specific location and configuration with the project’s design team.

AEL manufactures uPVC windows and doors and aluminium windows and doors, and its roll-formed steel channels reinforce uPVC profiles from the inside.

7. Finishing and Surface Materials

Finishes are the materials most occupants actually see and touch, and they have a large influence on how much a building costs to maintain.

For flooring, the practical choice is usually between vitrified and ceramic tile — see vitrified vs ceramic tiles for the full comparison. AEL manufactures vitrified tiles and delivers facade systems as a designed and installed package.

Which Materials Are Used for Walls, Roofs, Floors and Elevations?

Choosing Materials for Indian Conditions

The same material list performs very differently across India. Three conditions change the answer.

Weight is a structural cost. A lighter wall system reduces the load on frame and foundation, which is why AAC blocks are common in framed multi-storey buildings and rare in load-bearing single-storey construction, where the wall itself has to carry the roof.

Choosing Materials by Building Type

Building Repair Materials

Repair uses a different set of materials from new construction, because everything has to bond to something already in place. The main categories are polymer-modified repair mortars for spalled concrete, low-viscosity injection grouts for structural cracks, corrosion-inhibiting primers for exposed reinforcement, and protective anti-carbonation coatings applied after the repair. Compatibility with the substrate matters alongside headline strength: a repair mortar substantially stiffer than the parent concrete can crack at the interface, so stiffness, thermal movement and bond should be considered together with the repair product’s own strength.

Indian Standards for Common Building Materials

Every material below is governed by a published Indian Standard. Asking a supplier which standard their product is tested to — and for the test certificate — is the fastest way to separate a specified material from an unspecified one.

How to Check a Material’s Quality Before You Buy?

Five checks, in the order they are worth doing.

1. Ask which IS code the product is made to — and get it in writing on the invoice or delivery challan, not just verbally.
2. Ask for the batch test certificate, not a generic company brochure. A real certificate carries a batch or lot number and a test date.
3. Check the BIS mark where the product falls under mandatory certification, and check that the licence number is current.
4. Check the manufacturing or packing date — cement in particular loses strength in storage, and site-stored bags absorb moisture.
5. Match the grade to the exposure, not to the price list. Choosing a material that does not meet the required exposure and design specifications can lead to higher repair and maintenance costs.

Sustainable and Modern Building Materials

Sustainable materials. Fly-ash bricks, AAC blocks, manufactured sand, blended cements and recycled aggregate can reduce the environmental cost of a build, though the actual benefit depends on sourcing, transport distance, mix design and the specific product. Several are governed by the same IS codes as their conventional equivalents. IS 383 sets out exactly how much recycled aggregate is permitted in each type of concrete work. See sustainable building materials for the detail.

Modern materials. Precast systems, engineered facade panels, insulated glazing units, fibre-reinforced concrete and self-compacting concrete are moving from specialist to routine on Indian projects, mostly because they cut site time.

Disclaimer: This article provides general information, not project-specific engineering advice. Material selection, grades, structural design and installation should follow a qualified engineer’s recommendations, applicable Indian Standards and local building requirements, and manufacturer specifications. Verify current standards, amendments and product test reports before use.