The difference between pipes and tubes is simply in the way it is sized.
1/2" PVC on the other hand is not the same size as 1/2" tubing, and therefore requires either a threaded male or female adapter to connect them.
PeX and CPVC tubing also comes in rigid "joints" or flexible rolls.
Pipe wall thickness is denoted by various schedules or for large bore polyethylene pipe in the UK by the Standard Dimension Ratio (SDR), defined as the ratio of the pipe diameter to its wall thickness.
Thicker walled pipe generally implies greater durability and higher pressure tolerances.Źródło: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_pipe#Difference_between_pipes_and_tubes
Water systems of ancient times relied on gravity for the supply of water, using pipes or channels usually made of clay, lead, bamboo, wood, or stone. Hollowed wooden logs wrapped in steel banding were used for plumbing pipes, particularly water mains. Logs were used for water distribution in England close to 500 years ago. US cities began using hollowed logs in the late 1700s through the 1800s.8 Today, most plumbing supply pipe is made out of steel, copper, and plastic; most waste (also known as "soil")11 out of steel, copper, plastic, and cast iron.11 The straight sections of plumbing systems are called "pipes" or "tubes".A pipe is typically formed via casting or welding, whereas a tube is made through extrusion.
Pipe normally has thicker walls and may be threaded or welded, while tubing is thinner-walled and requires special joining techniques such as brazing, compression fitting, crimping, or for plastics, solvent welding.These joining techniques are discussed in more detail in the piping and plumbing fittings article.Źródło: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plumbing#Materials
The cause of such failures in the apartments are leaking hose from the washing machine or cracked seals in taps or faulty cam.
For similar accidents could occur in homes where often there are also problems associated with the lack of patency in the sewer pipes. Sometimes it happens that the hydraulic failures give rise to really serious damages mainly related to flooding different rooms.Thus, you can also select the appropriate plumbing materials and do the whole job at a reasonable price..