| Term | Definition |
| Z | A numerical coefficient used in the design of earthquake forces and that is dependent upon site location. |
| Z Bar | A Z-shaped steel or sheet metal strip used for light framing or furring. |
| Z Tie, Wall | See Wall Z Tie. |
| Z-Axis | One of the axes in a three-dimensional system, that is not the x- or y-axis. |
| Z-bar flashing | Bent, galvanized metal flashing that's installed above a horizontal trim board of an exterior window, door, or brick run. It prevents water from getting behind the trim/brick and into the home. |
| Z-Furring Channel | A Z-formed metal channel for mechanically attaching gypsum board and insulation material on masonry walls. |
| Zaffer | An impure oxide of cobalt used as a blue ceramic coloring. |
| Zax | An implement used for splitting and installing slates; a kind of hatchet with a sharp point on the head for perforating the slate to receive a nail or pin. |
| Zebrawood | The mottled or striped wood of several trees, such as various leguminous African timber trees with pale golden heartwood uniformly striped with dark brown or black. |
| Zenith | The highest or culminating point. |
| Zero Ice | Trade name for dry ice. See DRY ICE. |
| Zero Slump Concrete | A concrete mixed with so little water that it has a slump of zero when tested. |
| Zeta | A closed or small chamber; a room over a church porch where documents were kept. |
| Ziggurat | A stepped pyramid, as in the sacred architecture of Western Asia in antiquity. |
| Zigzag | Making short and sharp turns; in architecture, especially in the moldings in arched door heads of Romanesque style. |
| Zinc | 1. A bluish white crystalline metallic element of low to intermediate hardness that is ductile when pure but in the commercial form is brittle at ordinary temperatures and becomes ductile on slight heating. 2. Zinc, as galvanizing, is widely used as a pro |
| Zinc Chromate | Metal priming pigment with important rust-inhibitive properties; Zinc Yellow. |
| Zinc Dust | Finely divided zinc metal, gray in color; used primarily in metal primers. |
| Zinc Oxide | A compound of zinc used as a white pigment in many types of paint. |
| Zinc Phosphate Coating | Treatment used on steel to improve adhesion of coatings. |
| Zinc Silicate | Inorganic zinc coating. |
| Zinc Sulphide | Compound of zinc used as white pigment in paints. |
| Zinc Yellow | Commercial zinc chromate pigment. |
| Zinc, Leaded | See Leaded Zinc. |
| Zincky | Containing or resembling zinc. |
| Zincoid | Relating to or resembling zinc |
| Zip Tape | In gypsumboard bundles, a reinforcement paper strip to facilitate the removal of end bundling tapes. |
| Zippers | See Paper Rollers. |
| Zircon Porcelain | A vitreous ceramic whiteware for technical application in which zircon (ZrO2SiO2) is the essential crystalline phase. |
| Zirlon | High quality brand of vertical blind track made by Louver Drape and Levolor. |
| Zone | 1. In space heating or air conditioning, a specific area in a building that is kept at the same temperature. 2. A defined area of land that is limited in use to some particular purpose, such as residential, commercial, or industrial; see Zoning, 2. |
| Zone valve | A device, usually placed near the heater or cooler, which controls the flow of water or steam to parts of the building; it is controlled by a zone thermostat. |
| Zoning | 1. Government regulation of the use of privately owned land. 2. The official designation of parts of a municipality or other governmental territory to be used only for certain specified land uses. |
| Zonolite | A lightweight insulating concrete composed of portland cement, vermiculite aggregate, and water. |
| Zoophoric Column | A pillar supporting the figure of an animal. |