While there are differences of opinion and names do vary from place to place it is increasingly common to define a shade sail as…. “a fabric membrane tensioned between three or more anchor points”.  This is about the simplest description possible for something that can get quite complicated.

A shade structure is now regarded as something like a shade sail insofar as it has a fabric membrane but it is tensioned over or supported by a frame of some sort.  For instance an ordinary umbrella one carries could fit this definition of a shade structure and it would be apt.  Shade structures can also be quite complex and come in very many forms.

Sometimes a shade sail will be described as a “shade structure”, more often than not by those in the halls of officialdom.  There are a number of reasons for this, the main one being that they see a shade sail as a “construction” therefore the reasoning goes ..if it is constructed it must be a “structure”.  However sometimes it is a simple case of mistaken identity or ignorance.  To us in the shade industry it is like saying a racing car is a “motor vehicle” and also calling a truck a “motor vehicle”.  Misleading technical veracity.  True but does not convey sufficient information in most situations.  We suggest the more accurate shade sail and shade structure be used for better clarity.