Valve Tags

A valve tag has one job: to let somebody standing in front of a line of near-identical valves know exactly which one they are touching. That job is only done if the tag still reads years after it was fitted, which is why the material matters more than the engraving. We make valve tags in four material families, and we would rather ask what the line carries than sell you the cheapest blank.

Stainless steel valve tags, SS on most valve schedules, are the default for anything harsh. A stainless steel valve tag is the metal valve tag most schedules specify. We use 316 for marine, offshore and coastal plant where chlorides attack lesser grades, and 304 where the exposure is milder. Stainless valve tags are engraved or stamped rather than printed, so the character is cut into the metal and cannot wear off. This is the material to specify for steam lines, washdown areas and anywhere a tag will be handled repeatedly.

Anodised aluminium, written aluminum on US-specified projects and the same material either way, is lighter and cheaper than stainless and takes a very crisp engraved character, which makes it the practical choice for large valve schedules indoors. It suits general manufacturing, building services and utility plant. It is not the right answer for strongly alkaline washdown, where aluminium is attacked, and in that case we will steer you to stainless.

Brass valve tags are chosen for appearance as often as performance: plant rooms, heritage buildings and client-facing installations where a stamped brass tag looks deliberate. It marks cleanly and weathers to a stable finish.

Plastic engraving laminate is the low-cost, high-legibility option, and for many indoor schedules it is the sensible one. The laminate is engraved through a coloured top layer to a contrasting core, so the text is part of the material rather than printed on it. Colour-coding the tags by service, one colour for steam, another for chilled water, another for gas, costs nothing extra and is read faster across a plant room than any amount of text. Acrylic is available where a thicker, more rigid plastic tag is wanted.

Valve tagging is usually a schedule rather than a single item. Send us the valve list as a spreadsheet and we will engrave sequential numbers, service descriptions and line references straight from it, with no retyping and nothing lost in transcription. Runs from a single replacement tag to several thousand are handled the same way, and we keep the artwork so a later addition matches what is already hanging on the pipework.

Fixing is part of the specification, not an afterthought. Stainless steel ball chain is the usual choice for permanence, wire ties suit irregular or oversized valve bodies, S-hooks allow a tag to be lifted and read without unfastening it, and nylon ties are quick and cheap for temporary or commissioning work. Tags can be single or double-drilled depending on whether the tag should hang or sit flat against the body.

Send us a valve schedule, a photograph of an existing tag, or a marked-up P&ID and we will quote against it. Valve tags name the valve permanently. Where you also need to show the state of the valve, whether it is normally open, normally closed, or open, closed and locked right now, those are made here too and are described below. We have been producing valve tags in Singapore since 1979 for oil and gas, marine and offshore, pharmaceutical, semiconductor and general manufacturing plant, all in our own workshop.

Valve status tags: normally open and normally closed. A valve status tag answers a different question from an identification tag: not which valve is this, but what state should it be in. Most carry the design state from the process scheme, NORMALLY OPEN (NO) or NORMALLY CLOSED (NC), because that is what an operator has to know before touching a handwheel and what a walkdown checks against the P&ID. Supplied as a matched set and colour coded so the state reads across a plant room without stopping to read the words: red for normally closed, green for normally open, with the wording engraved rather than printed so it cannot rub off a handwheel that gets gripped every day. Double-sided tags carry the state on both faces, which matters on a valve approached from either direction.

Changeable status tags. Where the requirement is the current condition rather than the design state, open, closed, locked or under maintenance, those are produced to the same sizes and are meant to be swapped as the condition changes. Tell us whether you are marking the scheme or the current position, because they are different jobs and most enquiries turn out to be clearly one or the other.

Status tag sizes. Round at 40 mm and 60 mm diameter are the standard, with a 4 mm hole for a ball chain or cable tie, and 50 by 65 mm rectangular where more wording is needed. Tags are 3 mm thick, single or double sided, and made to other sizes on request. The state can carry the valve number, the line reference or the service alongside it, supplied as a numbered set straight from your valve schedule. Where a valve is isolated for work rather than showing its design state, that is a lockout tagout tag instead, and many sites fit both on the same plant.

A valve tag names the valve. For the line it sits on, our pipe markers and pipe identification carry the contents and flow direction, and most plants specify the two together so a technician can read the valve and the line in one look.