Building material is any material which is used for a construction purpose. Building material, fixtures, furnishings, equipment and devices used in the field of architecture, engineering and construction to create buildings and structures. Just about every type of available material has been used at one time or another for creating various human and animal homes, structures, and technologies. Today the production and assembly of various building materials is a multibillion-dollar industry.

Historically, the term "glue" only referred to protein colloids prepared from animal flesh. The meaning has been extended to refer to any fluid adhesive. In the most general sense of the word, cement is a binder, a substance which sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The name "cement" goes back to the Romans who used the term "opus caementitium" to describe masonry which resembled concrete and was made from crushed rock with burnt lime as binder.

Putty is a generic term for a plastic material similar in texture to clay or dough typically used in domestic construction and repair as a sealant or filler. Painter's Putty is typically a linseed oil based product used for filling holes, minor cracks and defacements in wood only. Putties can also be made intumescent, in which case they are used for firestopping as well as for padding of electrical outlet boxes in fire-resistance rated drywall assemblies.

Tape refers to a strip of long, thin and narrow matter, usually rolled up. Most commonly. Taping, the medical procedure of attaching tape to the body

Especially precise threads are known as "dry fit" or "dry seal" meaning that no sealant is required for a gas-tight seal. Such threads are needed where the sealant would contaminate or react with the media inside the piping. The threads act as a labyrinth seal. While no gasket is needed, a coating is usually applied to the threads such as Teflon tape.