Tape is the cheapest line on the order and the first thing to fail. A membrane lap, a sarking lap, a duct or foam board join, holding a wrap on the frame, a wide seam on faced blanket and a fire rated flashing are six products, not one roll of foil tape. What decides it is the carrier, the adhesive, the width, the temperature window and what the maker excludes.
In short
- QuickTape is the only tape Ametalin name for sealing a permeable membrane lap. The Double Sided Fixing Tape is named for permeable membranes too, but for holding them to the frame, not sealing a join.
- Both Bradford tape sheets rule out Enviroseal. ULTRAtape is "Not suitable for use with Enviroseal Black Label wraps" and 493 is "Not suitable for use on Enviroseal products or other Spunbond/non-woven materials".
- Two tapes sold as reinforced foil sit 55 degrees apart at the top: Bradford 493 stops at plus 65 °C, Reinforced Ducting Tape runs to plus 120 °C.
- Every Ametalin sheet gives an application window of 10 °C to 40 °C. Only ULTRAtape (from plus 5 °C) and 493 (from 0 °C) are rated for a cold start.
- No NCC clause applies to adhesive tape, and Bradford say so outright. Three of the eight still publish AS/NZS 1530.3 results, and installation sits under AS 4200.2.
Our article on vapour permeable membranes and traditional sarking says the tape is not optional. This one says which tape, and picking the membrane is a separate question.
Six jobs and the tape for each
A lap in a vapour permeable wrap or an airtight membrane goes to Trade Select QuickTape, which Ametalin describe as suited to "demanding fabrics such as airtight vapour barriers and permeable membranes" and give a 30 N/25 mm peel, the highest in the range. Foil faced sarking goes to Sarking Tape at 48 mm. Duct and reflective foam board go to Reinforced Ducting Tape, or Bradford 493 on Bradford's foil faced HVAC insulation.
The other three are not interchangeable with those. Holding a membrane on the frame wants Double Sided Fixing Tape at 38 mm, a wide seam on faced blanket, soffit board or pipe insulation wants the 100 mm Aluminium Glass Foil Tape, and a non-combustible substrate wants the DtS flashing tape at 150 mm.
What each width is for
Elongation shows what the carrier will do around a contour: Sarking Tape 100 per cent, Reinforced Ducting Tape 25, QuickTape 15, the flashing tape and the Aluminium Glass Foil Tape 5.0. On width, Ametalin are specific: "Dress and seal around windows and door penetrations according to AS/NZS 4200.2 with 72mm Trade Select QuickTape."
| Width | What we stock at it, and what the width is for |
|---|---|
| 24 and 36 mm | Enviroseal SLS double sided tape, 24 mm x 50 m; Bradford 334 Double Sided Tape, 36 mm x 23 m. A lap join with no visible strip |
| 38 mm | Trade Select Double Sided Fixing Tape, 38 mm x 50 m. Holding wrap to the stud |
| 48 mm | Sarking Tape, QuickTape, Reinforced Ducting Tape, 400F Aluminium, Bradford 493 (20 m and 50 m). The general lap seal |
| 60 mm | Bradford ULTRAtape, Hightack Tape, Proctor air barrier tape, all 25 m; Enviroseal SLS flexible sealing tape 5 m. Bradford laps and penetrations |
| 70 mm | Embossed Aluminium Tape, 70 mm x 50 m. Foil facing seams |
| 72 mm | QuickTape, Reinforced Ducting Tape, Bradford 493, 400F Aluminium, Hdwh 2128W-72. Windows and doors, foam board, larger duct |
| 96 mm | 400F Aluminium, Bradford 493, Thermplast 990 Black Foil Tape (35 m). Wide seams |
| 100 mm | Aluminium Glass Foil Tape, 100 mm x 50 m. Faced blanket, soffit board, pipe |
| 150 mm | Ametalin DtS Non-combustible Flashing Tape, 150 mm x 25 m. Reveal, head and sill. Kingspan Thermakraft Thermaflash Window Flashing Tape, 150 mm x 23 m. Window flashing, not covered by the documents below |
Rhino Reinforced Foil Tape, from Thor Building Products, also comes in 48, 72 and 96 mm x 50 m. Its data sheet is not one of the eight this article was written from, so it does not appear in the tables below.
Two items on our Insulation Foil and Joining Tapes page carry three dimensions rather than a width and a roll length: Foam Tape 4410 at 30 x 10 x 10000 mm and Thermalbreak Tape 4410 at 60 x 10 x 10000 mm. CSR publish no data sheet for either, so ask us what they are before ordering one as a joining tape.
What each maker excludes
The first cause of a callback is a general purpose tape on a membrane lap. Below is what each maker publishes, including the column no supplier site prints. Service range is what the tape survives once bonded. The application window is where the maker stands behind the bond forming at all, and at 6 degrees the whole Ametalin range is outside its own.
| Tape, and the widths we carry | Carrier and reinforcement | Adhesive | Application | Service | Fire data published | Named by the maker for | What the maker excludes or warns |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trade Select Sarking Tape, 48 mm | Metallised polyester, none | Acrylic, cold weather | 10 to 40 °C | minus 30 to plus 100 °C | None published | Roof sarking, wall wraps, floor insulation | Sends you to Reinforced Ducting Tape on thicker foam core products |
| Trade Select QuickTape, 48 and 72 mm | Woven PE fabric, no liner | Acrylic, 110 gsm | 10 to 40 °C | minus 20 to plus 80 °C | None published | Airtight vapour barriers and permeable membranes | "Do not over-stretch tapes by applying in long runs; keep to short applications at arm's length" |
| Trade Select Reinforced Ducting Tape, 48 and 72 mm | Aluminium foil, PE scrim | Acrylic, paper liner | 10 to 40 °C | minus 30 to plus 120 °C | 0, 0, 0, 1 to AS/NZS 1530.3 | Reflective foam insulation, ductwork closure | Durability affected by chemical and airborne pollutants in industrial or farm buildings |
| Trade Select Double Sided Fixing Tape, 38 mm | PET film, none | Acrylic both faces | 10 to 40 °C | minus 30 to plus 121 °C | None published | Fixing reflective foil insulation and permeable membranes to steel studs, garage doors | "Not recommended for direct fixing to the underside of hot metal roofs due to potential adhesive failure and thermal stresses" |
| Ametalin DtS Flashing Tape, 150 mm | Non-combustible foil, E-glass fabric | Polymer and solvent acrylic | 10 to 40 °C | minus 30 to 120 °C | DtS non-combustible backing, BCA Volumes One and Two | Windows, doors, penetrations, Type A and B | Cover within 120 days of outdoor exposure |
| Aluminium Glass Foil Tape AGFT100, 100 mm | Aluminium, glass cloth | Flame retardant solvent acrylic | Not published | minus 30 to plus 120 °C | Class 0, 25 / 50 to BS 476 and UL 723 | Faced blanket and soffit board joints, pipe seams | No exclusion, no 1530.3 data, no surface preparation clause, no shelf life |
| Bradford ULTRAtape, 60 mm | PE film, PET filament | Polyacrylate, solvent free | plus 5 to plus 40 °C | minus 20 to plus 90 °C | 13, 0, 2, 3 to AS/NZS 1530.3 | Sarking type laps, penetrations, fenestration flashings | Not suitable for Enviroseal Black Label wraps |
| Bradford 493, 48, 72 and 96 mm | PE film and foil, PE mesh | Synthetic rubber | 0 to plus 35 °C | minus 5 to plus 65 °C | 0, 0, 0, 0 to 1 to AS/NZS 1530.3 | Foil faced HVAC, foil or poly woven wrap and sarking | Not suitable for Enviroseal products or other spunbond and non-woven materials |
Read the two Bradford rows together. A builder putting a roll of 493 on a spunbond wrap is doing what the document forbids, and it will hold long enough to look fine at handover. Bradford 493 is also the only tape rated to apply at 0 °C and the only one that stops at plus 65 °C, so the words "reinforced foil tape" alone get you one or the other at random.
Dust, damp and what tape is not
Seven of the eight documents say the same thing: surfaces clean, dry and free from dust, oil and contaminants, and the tape pressed down over its full width with a plastic squeegee. The RM Industries sheet for AGFT100 is the exception, with no surface preparation clause at all, so treat the Ametalin and Bradford wording as the standard. Bradford name the cleaner, acetone or isopropyl alcohol. Ametalin give the reason: "poor surface preparation and moisture will reduce adhesion."
Both Bradford statements and four of the five Ametalin sheets also say tape seals joints and is not a substitute for mechanical fixing where there is stress or pressure on the join. The exception is the Double Sided Fixing Tape sheet, which never says it, though that tape is the one asked to hold a membrane on a frame. The mechanical answers, cap nails, staples, gas driven pins and washers, are compared in fixing insulation.
Membrane laps, and the Enviroseal trap
Both Bradford tape sheets refuse the Enviroseal family, so an Enviroseal wrap is where the obvious roll on the shelf is wrong. Bradford's answer is built into the product: the CW, RW and HTS wraps all come in an IT version with the lap tape on the roll, which we cover in vapour permeable membranes and traditional sarking. That leaves the penetrations. Our catalogue also carries an Enviroseal black label sealing tape, CSR code 117687, with no width or length published anywhere, so confirm the size first.
Two Ametalin sheets name permeable membranes, for different jobs. QuickTape seals the lap. The Double Sided Fixing Tape is "Designed for installing reflective foil insulation and permeable membranes to steel frame stud work", which is holding the wrap on, not sealing it. Sarking Tape's document claims all roof sarking, wall wraps and floor insulation, and never excludes a permeable membrane.
Duct, foam board and fire rated flashing
Bradford's 493 sheet carries one warning the others do not: it contains aluminium foil which conducts electricity, so neither the tape nor conductive fasteners should come near electrical wiring. Bradford point installers at AS 4254.1 or AS 4254.2 for air handling ductwork. On reflective foam board, Ametalin route ThermalBreak joins to the Reinforced Ducting Tape at 72 mm, "applied as deeply as possible into the perpendicular angle". Where the R0.2 thermal break sits is covered in our thermal break article.
The flashing tape is a different class of product: non-combustible aluminium foil on non-combustible E-glass fabric, 0.32 mm thick, 10.2 kN/m tensile breaking strength. Ametalin cite BCA Volumes One and Two for the backing, while our own product page cites only the Volume One clause. Upper flashings must overlap lower ones, and the split liner lets the tape go on in two halves.
The Aluminium Glass Foil Tape is rated on a different scale again: Class 0 and 25 / 50 to BS 476 and UL 723 is British and American data, and it does not convert to an AS/NZS 1530.3 index or a Group number, which is the ground covered in our fire performance article.
Where the documents are thin
QuickTape's own data sheet contradicts itself. The front page bullet says minus 30 °C to over 80 °C, the Material Properties table says minus 20 °C to plus 80 °C, and our product page repeats the bullet. The table is the specification figure.
Our Double Sided Fixing Tape page is thin on the sequence. Ametalin put a continuous strip on the stud where the run starts, anchor the top and bottom corners with two screws, then run the tape "along every second stud and around windows". Our page gives the strip but not the frequency, and leaves out the hot metal roof warning.
Bradford publish no peel, tensile or elongation figure, so the two ranges cannot be compared like for like. Nobody publishes adhesion against a membrane face either: every figure in circulation is adhesion to steel, and spunbond polypropylene is not steel. Neither maker names the other's membranes. Bradford name CSR Bradford wraps plus concrete, steel, aluminium and timber, Ametalin the Trade Select range and sarking type materials, so a Bradford tape on an Ametalin wrap has no published answer.
Five of the eight publish no AS/NZS 1530.3 indices and none has a Group number. Our two Bradford tape pages carry twenty options between them and one document each: the ULTRAtape statement covers one option and the 493 statement covers five, so fourteen have no document at all. Ask us and we will chase the maker rather than invent a figure.
We supply it, and we install batts, wall wrap and sarking
AWBM keeps the Ametalin and Bradford tape ranges at Epping, alongside the membranes they are made for. Tell us which wrap or sarking is going on, and whether any of it is duct, foam board or a window to flash, and we will say which tape the maker names for that surface. Delivery in Victoria and New South Wales is $55 in metro Melbourne and metro Sydney, $99 in the outer suburbs and $149 anywhere else, set by postcode.
Or browse accessories, building membrane and Ametalin building membrane.
Frequently asked questions
Which tape do I use for which membrane, duct and joint?
A permeable or airtight membrane lap goes to Trade Select QuickTape. Foil faced sarking and wall wrap laps go to Sarking Tape at 48 mm, or ULTRAtape on Bradford wraps. Duct and reflective foam board go to Reinforced Ducting Tape or Bradford 493. Holding a wrap on the frame is Double Sided Fixing Tape at 38 mm, and a fire rated reveal is the 150 mm flashing tape.
What tape should I use on sarking?
Trade Select Sarking Tape: 48 mm x 50 m, metallised polyester, cold weather acrylic, 15 N/25 mm peel, minus 30 °C to plus 100 °C. Ametalin say it suits all roof sarking, wall wraps and floor insulation. On a Bradford sarking type material, ULTRAtape at 60 mm is the equivalent, except on Enviroseal Black Label wraps.
Is all reinforced foil tape the same?
No. Bradford 493 is rated minus 5 °C to plus 65 °C, Trade Select Reinforced Ducting Tape minus 30 °C to plus 120 °C. That is 55 degrees of difference at the top between two products sold under almost the same words, and it decides whether the tape survives a hot duct.
Which Ametalin tape works on a vapour permeable wall wrap?
QuickTape for the lap. Ametalin describe it as suited to demanding fabrics such as airtight vapour barriers and permeable membranes, and list it for VapourTech wraps and Passivhaus sealing. Woven carrier, no release liner, 30 N/25 mm peel, and 72 mm around windows. Holding the same wrap to a steel frame is the Double Sided Fixing Tape.
Can I use foil tape on an Enviroseal wrap?
Not Bradford 493, whose data sheet says plainly that it is not suitable for use on Enviroseal products or other spunbond and non-woven materials. ULTRAtape suits the spunbond family but is excluded from Enviroseal Black Label wraps. Our catalogue also lists Bradford's Enviroseal SLS tapes, though CSR publish no technical statement for those.
What is Ametalin flashing tape for?
Flashing windows, doors, penetrations and wall transitions where the construction is fire rated, particularly Type A and B buildings. It is 150 mm x 25 m of non-combustible aluminium foil on non-combustible E-glass fabric, and Ametalin state the backing meets BCA Volume One C2D10(6)(g)(i to iii) and Volume Two H3D2(1)(g)(i to iii). Cover it within 120 days.
What is lagging tape, and what do you stock for that job?
Lagging tape is the trade name for the foil tape used on pipe and duct insulation seams. Two products in our range are named for that work: the Aluminium Glass Foil Tape at 100 mm, for pipe seams and faced blanket and soffit board joints, and Bradford 493, for foil faced HVAC products.
Can I tape in cold or damp weather?
Not inside most manufacturers' windows. Every Ametalin sheet gives 10 °C to 40 °C, so a winter start below 10 degrees is outside it. Only ULTRAtape, from plus 5 °C, and Bradford 493, from 0 °C, are rated lower. Damp is worse: Ametalin state that poor surface preparation and moisture will reduce adhesion.
Sources
- Ametalin TDS TPM-45937-1, Sarking Tape, copyright 2025, no issue date. Construction, peel, elongation, temperatures
- Ametalin TDS TPM-45937-2, QuickTape, no issue date. Carrier, peel, the two contradicting temperature figures, the window detail
- Ametalin TDS TPM-45937-3, Reinforced Ducting Tape, copyright 2025, no issue date. Construction, temperatures, the 1530.3 indices
- Ametalin TDS TPM-45937-0, Double Sided Insulation Fixing Tape, no issue date. The permeable membrane scope line, the framing sequence, the hot metal roof warning
- Ametalin TDS APM-45757-0, DtS Non-combustible Insulation Flashing Tape, copyright 2024, no issue date. Construction, the BCA citations, the 120 day limit
- CSR Bradford Product Technical Statement PTS078_B, ULTRAtape, Issue B, no date. Temperatures, indices, the Enviroseal exclusion, the substrate list, the NCC position, and the single code it covers, 471825
- CSR Bradford Product Technical Statement PTS126_B, 493 Reinforced Foil Tape, Issue B, no date. Temperatures, indices, the spunbond exclusion, the conductivity warning, and the five codes it covers: 17367, 17366, 17370, 17369, 17371
- RM Industries TDS, AGFT100, no revision number or date. Backing, adhesive, service range, the BS 476 and UL 723 rating, the absence of a surface preparation clause
- AWBM product catalogue, queried 23 September 2026. Variant titles, SKUs and custom.datasheet fields. Bradford sizes and codes from the CSR price catalogue of 28 May 2026
General information about the tapes we stock and what their makers publish. It does not set lap widths, fixing centres or penetration details, which are governed by AS/NZS 4200.2 and the membrane maker's instructions, and it certifies no assembly. No maker publishes adhesion against a real membrane face, so test for fitness of use on an unfamiliar substrate. Data sheets are reissued without notice.