There is a mark at 16 inches on a meter tape and similarly at 32, 48 ... inches. What this mark indicates for?

Question

There is a mark at 16 inches on a meter tape and similarly at 32, 48 ... inches. What this mark indicates for?

Answer 1

When framing walls, studs are placed on either 24 or 16 inch centers.

The marks are to make it easy to find the spacing of studs on 16 inch centers.

Answer 2

Good question. Only just become aware that those marks are there.

You might have noticed that every 24" on the tape measure are marked with a contrasting black background and every 16" is marked with a red background. The marks are used by construction workers for spacing wood studs in a wall or joists in a floor/roof. 16" spacing is used most commonly for load bearing walls and 24" for non-load bearing walls. The small black diamonds represent a less common spacing scheme.

Not universal. Varies depending what the local code is.