There are three standard positions for pressure tappings (also called taps), commonly named as follows:
* placed immediately upstream and downstream of the plate; convenient when the plate is provided with an orifice carrier incorporating tappings
* or  placed one pipe diameter upstream and half a pipe diameter downstream of the plate; these can be installed by welding bosses to the pipe
* placed 25.4 mm (1 inch) upstream and downstream of the plate, normally within specialised pipe flanges.
These types are covered by ISO 5167 and other major standards. Other types include
* or  placed 2.5 pipe diameters upstream and 8 diameters downstream, at which point the measured differential is equal to the unrecoverable pressure loss caused by the orifice
* placed one pipe diameter upstream and at a position 0.3 to 0.9 diameters downstream, depending on the orifice type and size relative to the pipe, in the plane of minimum fluid pressure.
The measured differential pressure differs for each combination and so the coefficient of discharge used in flow calculations depends partly on the tapping positions.
The simplest installations use single tappings upstream and downstream, but in some circumstances these may be unreliable; they might be blocked by solids or gas-bubbles, or the flow profile might be uneven so that the pressures at the tappings are higher or lower than the average in those planes. In these situations multiple tappings can be used, arranged circumferentially around the pipe and joined by a piezometer ring, or (in the case of corner taps) annular slots running completely round the internal circumference of the orifice carrier.