The maximum pressure borne by a pressurized polymer pipe is a fundamental factor in the applications. This paper is aimed at showing that this factor can be calculated using a minimum knowledge of the mechanical behavior of the polymer. According to previous works developed for metal pipes, ductile rupture proceeds by a plastic instability. This theory is reviewed in the paper. A close form equation provides the burst pressure or critical hoop stress as a function of initial dimensions of the pipe and tensile test data. The model is checked against burst experiments performed on plasticized polyamide 12 pipes. The agreement is good at room and elevated temperature. Finally, generalization to other polymers is discussed. This approach can be used as a rapid method of assessing the performance of new polymer compounds.