Pipe Fittings Attributes

Pipe fittings redirect, branch, reduce, join and terminate pressure and drainage piping. They are bought by plumbing and mechanical contractors, fire sprinkler fitters, industrial MRO and fab shops — usually mid-job, against a spec or a takeoff, with the pipe already cut.

The data is hard because pipe fittings are not one category. A 1/2 in 90° elbow exists in malleable iron to ASME B16.3, forged steel to B16.11, wrought copper to B16.22, PVC to ASTM D2466, and in lead-free brass — each with its own class system and its own pressure basis. Class 150 malleable and Class 3000 forged are both classes, and neither is a psi. PVC ratings are stated at 73 °F and derate from there. None of it reconciles into one number.

Then the variants multiply. Every fitting has two or three ends, each independently threaded, soldered, pressed, grooved or slipped, in every size combination — and suppliers spell the same end six ways. The specs that settle it (center-to-end, sealing element, rating basis, domestic melt) sit in the manufacturer's PDF, not in the feed.