Builders' hardware, or just builders hardware, is a group of metal

Metal

A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...

 hardware

Hardware

Hardware is a general term for equipment such as keys, locks, hinges, latches, handles, wire, chains, plumbing supplies, tools, utensils, cutlery and machine parts. Household hardware is typically sold in hardware stores....

 specifically used for protection, decoration, and convenience in buildings. Building products do not make any part of a building, rather they support them and make them work. It usually supports fixtures like window

Window

A window is a transparent or translucent opening in a wall or door that allows the passage of light and, if not closed or sealed, air and sound. Windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent material like float glass. Windows are held in place by frames, which...

s, door

Door

A door is a movable structure used to open and close off an entrance, typically consisting of a panel that swings on hinges or that slides or rotates inside of a space....

s, and cabinets

Cabinet (furniture)

A cabinet is usually a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors or drawers for storing miscellaneous items. Some cabinets stand alone while others are built into a wall or are attached to it like a medicine cabinet. Cabinets are typically made of wood or, now increasingly, of synthetic...

. Common examples include door handle

Door handle

A door handle is an attached mechanism used to open or close a door. In the United States, door handle can refer to any fixed or lever-operated door latch device, including on car doors. The term door knob tends to refer to round operating mechanisms.-History:The first documented invention of the...

s, door hinges, bolts

Deadbolt

A dead bolt or dead lock , is a locking mechanism distinct from a spring bolt lock because a deadbolt cannot be moved to the open position except by rotating the lock cylinder. The more common spring bolt lock uses a spring to hold the bolt in place, allowing retraction by applying force to the...

, latches

Latch (hardware)

A latch is a type of mechanical fastener that is used to join two objects or surfaces together while allowing for the regular or eventual separation of the objects or surfaces....

, numerals, letter plates, switch plates, and door knocker

Door knocker

A door knocker is an item of door furniture that allows people outside a house to alert those inside to their presence. A door knocker has a part fixed to the door, and a part which is attached to the door by a hinge, and may be lifted and used to strike a plate fitted to the door, or the door...

s.

Builders hardware is commonly available in brass

Brass

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...

, steel

Steel

Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

, aluminium

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....

, stainless steel

Stainless steel

In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass....

, and iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

.

Main suppliers in the world of builders hardware mainly exist in China, India, Mexico and some in the U.S.

Classifications

While builders hardware is classified by supplying at least one of the three attributes listed above, it is usually broken down by where it is used, or by usage.

Bathroom hardware

Bathroom hardware includes the products that are used in constructing and maintaining the bathroom

Bathroom

A bathroom is a room for bathing in containing a bathtub and/or a shower and optionally a toilet, a sink/hand basin/wash basin and possibly also a bidet....

 appearance and decoration. Bathroom products includes faucets, shower

Shower

A shower is an area in which one bathes underneath a spray of water.- History :...

s, holders, tubs, shelves, mirrors, etc.

Door hardware

All those products that are used either in door decoration, maintenance, or in any other function come under door hardware, such as door handles, fasteners, hinges

Hinges

Hinges may refer to:* Hinges, Pas-de-Calais, France* Hinges , an Andy Partridge album...

, hooks, number plates, knockers, etc.

Furniture hardware

Furniture hardware are those products that are used to support the furniture look, design and durability. Furniture hardware products include furniture frames, furniture legs, furniture arms, etc.

Safety & security hardware

Buildings, goods and their occupants needs protection from fire, intruders, and other external agents. Proper protection systems include fire safe security system, home monitoring, smoke detector

Smoke detector

A smoke detector is a device that detects smoke, typically as an indicator of fire. Commercial, industrial, and mass residential devices issue a signal to a fire alarm system, while household detectors, known as smoke alarms, generally issue a local audible and/or visual alarm from the detector...

s, locksets

Lockset

A lockset or alternatively lock set is the hardware and components that comprise the locking mechanism that can usually be found on a door or other hinged object but can also include sliding doors and dividers....

, window guards, etc.

Plumbing hardware

Plumbing hardware products are used for supplying water throughout the building using hose, pipes and tubes. These hardware products ensure that water is supplied properly and continuously. Since water runs or remains all the time in these products, it is needed that the materials with which these products are highly corrosion

Corrosion

Corrosion is the disintegration of an engineered material into its constituent atoms due to chemical reactions with its surroundings. In the most common use of the word, this means electrochemical oxidation of metals in reaction with an oxidant such as oxygen...

 resistant and ca withstand extreme temperatures. The most common materials are copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

, aluminum, and steel

Steel

Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

.

Cabinet hardware

The products that are used to make cabinets working come under cabinet hardware like cabinet fasteners, brackets, latches, hinges, pulls, locks, etc. Cabinet hardware are small components that make cabinets functional. These products are made of materials like plastic

Plastic

A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...

s, metal

Metal

A metal , is an element, compound, or alloy that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat. Metals are usually malleable and shiny, that is they reflect most of incident light...

s and may be glass

Glass

Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...

es.

Window hardware

Window hardware does not include window itself rather they are smaller components that are used to install, fix and protect windows, such as window extrusions, fasteners, handles, hinges, locks and many more.

Curtain hardware

Curtain hardware includes products like hooks, curtain rings, curtain finials, etc. These products are used to hang curtain at doors, windows, verandas, etc. Curtain hooks and poles are used to handle and move the curtains. Curtain hardware products are made of varieties of materials including metals and plastics. Mostly aluminum and iron are used for making rings, hooks, rods and poles.