Bronze Plaques California

California gives families one of the strongest rights in the country when they buy a bronze marker. At a private, non-religious cemetery the law forbids a rule that the marker must be bought from the cemetery, and the foundation, setting and endowment care charges must be the same whoever sold it. Public cemetery districts go further in a different way: they are barred from selling markers at all, so every marker in a district cemetery comes from an outside maker. Catholic, Jewish and other religious cemeteries sit outside the private cemetery rule, and there you ask the office. This page sets out those laws, the sizes districts print, and dated setting fees from Orange County to Sacramento. We cast the bronze and ship it to any California address with shipping included; the base and the setting are arranged through the cemetery or a local monument dealer.

What California law guarantees at a private cemetery

Health and Safety Code 8300(b)(2) lets a cemetery regulate “the uniformity, class, and kind of all markers”, but it may not require, as a condition of erecting a marker, that the marker “be purchased from or through the cemetery authority”. Section 8276 requires charges for foundations, for setting or permitting the setting, and for endowment care to be “uniform whether the marker or monument sale was made by the cemetery authority or by another person”. The Cemetery and Funeral Bureau’s consumer guide adds that a cemetery cannot charge “A setting fee if the monument company sets it for you”. The Bureau enforces these sections under Business and Professions Code 7614.6, a licensed cemetery’s manager must keep it in compliance with the Health and Safety Code under 7653.6, and violations are a ground for discipline under 7703. The cemetery still sets the size, material and base, and often insists its own crew does the setting.

Religious, city and district cemeteries follow different rules

HSC 8250 and B&P 7612.2 exclude religious cemeteries and public cemeteries from the private cemetery part of the code, so the guarantee above does not reach a Catholic diocesan cemetery, a synagogue cemetery or a city cemetery. For those, ask the office whether an outside bronze marker is accepted before you order. Public cemetery districts are governed by Part 4 of the code, and HSC 9052(d) says a district and its staff “shall not engage in the business of selling monuments or markers”. In practice districts publish the clearest rules in the state, and nearly all of them set every marker with their own staff or approved companies, on concrete or granite, flush with the lawn.

Sizes and bases California cemeteries print

The Southern California single grave is 28 by 16 inches. The Orange County Cemetery District, Artesia, Pomerado and Rose Hills all print it, and Forest Lawn’s standard tablets are 16 x 28 and 20 x 28. On that base a 24 by 12 inch plaque leaves the classic 2 inch border; it is $1,697.45 in the designer, cast to order. Where the whole marker must fit 24 by 12 inches, as in Orange County’s standard casket spaces, the bronze goes on its own base at about 20 by 8 inches. Urn garden spaces are smaller: Orange County prints 20 by 10 by 3 inches and Los Alisos a 12 by 8 inch bronze, so a 16 by 8 inch plaque on a 20 by 10 base is $978.39. In Northern California the envelope is larger: Byron-Brentwood-Knightsen takes 30 by 20 by 3 inches in its newer sections and Roseville caps a single at 32 inches by 24 inches including its 2 inch concrete border. Orange County also caps any raised feature at 3/8 inch above the marker surface, so mention that limit when you order.

Setting fees across California, with their dates

These charges are paid to the cemetery, separate from our plaque price.

California cities

Los Angeles and Orange County: Forest Lawn reprints the Bureau’s outside marker language in its October 2026 price list, and the Orange County district publishes exact sizes and fees. San Diego: Mount Hope and the Pomerado district publish dated fees, and the private parks publish nothing. San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose: Cypress Lawn requires written approval before ordering, and the Brentwood district prints the Bay Area’s fullest rules.

Sacramento. The region shows three models. East Lawn (rules adopted April 18, 2024) lets memorials “be installed by cemetery or non-cemetery personnel”, charges its actual labor cost to locate, mark and inspect, needs at least thirty days’ notice for a foundation and $1,000,000 liability cover from an outside company, allows granite or bronze but no marble, and requires bronze on “a concrete foundation or a granite frame not less than 4″ thick”. Sylvan in Citrus Heights sets every marker with its own employees, $800 for a double (2026). Roseville (revised 8/14/2014) admits only previously approved companies; Elk Grove-Cosumnes (amended March 8, 2018) requires a licensed installer with $1,000,000 liability and caps a standard marker at 36 inches wide and 30 inches top to bottom including border. The Historic City Cemetery has no new plots.

Veterans in California

VA national cemeteries in California order and set the government marker themselves. Sacramento Valley National Cemetery says the marker “will be furnished free of charge” and set, if possible, within 60 days; Los Angeles National Cemetery is closed to new casket burials; Fort Rosecrans is closed to new interments except in existing gravesites. In a private or district cemetery placement is at private expense; Sylvan charges $300 to set a veteran flat bronze (2026). Our bronze serves the family around that marker: a spouse’s plaque, a companion design, or a private marker with emblems and a VA medallion. See veteran bronze grave markers.

What we supply to California families

We supply the bronze. Every plaque is cast in solid LG2 statuary bronze (85 percent copper, 5 percent tin, 5 percent zinc, 5 percent lead) with raised polished lettering on a textured background, a hand applied color and a clear protective coating. Cemetery markers are cast with lugs and fitted with 3/8 inch brass all thread studs, nuts and washers for bolting to a granite or concrete base; columbarium plates use 1/4 inch fittings. We publish the alloy openly and can supply a certificate of authenticity stating it, so a cemetery that has its own alloy rule can check our figures against it before you order; a few cemeteries specify a higher copper or lower lead content than LG2, and where a page knows of one it says so. The granite or concrete base and the setting are arranged through the cemetery office or a local monument dealer; we do not pour bases or install.

Where a district wants the bronze attached to granite before delivery, as Orange County does, the monument dealer who supplies the granite fixes it with the studs we fit.

Our bronze plaque prices for California, shipping included

Here is what the plaque costs from us. These are the design tool’s own prices on 21 October 2026 for a plain rectangle with the default border and background, in US dollars, and delivery anywhere in California is already included in each one.

The cemetery fees described above are paid to the cemetery office and are not part of these prices, so the full cost of a finished marker is our plaque price plus the cemetery’s setting, permit or foundation charges. Enter your cemetery’s size in the design tool and it shows the price for that exact size straight away.

How to order

1. Ask the cemetery office for its written marker rules: the size it allows for your space, the base it requires, who may set the marker and the fee. Most offices email the sheet the same day, and several states require the cemetery to keep it in print for you.
2. Open the free design tool, pick the shape and type the width and height in inches. The price in US dollars updates as you go, shipping to any address in the continental United States included.
3. Add the names, dates and wording, choose a border and background, and add an emblem, motif or photo if you want one. Choose lugs with studs if the plaque will be bolted to a granite or concrete base, or a flat back for adhesive mounting on a wall or niche.
4. Save the design and order it from My Account. We send a written proof you can forward to the cemetery for approval, and nothing is cast until you approve it. Need the full 24 by 12 inch marker size? Tell us when you order; it is cast to order at the same price as the 22 1/16 by 12 inch size in the tool.

Allow six to eight weeks from payment to delivery. Casting, hand finishing and shipping from our foundry take most of that time, and we send a free written proof before anything is cast. If your cemetery sets markers only in certain months, order early enough for its next installation window.

Frequently asked questions

Can a California cemetery make me buy my marker from it?

A private, non-religious cemetery cannot; HSC 8300(b)(2) bars that condition. Religious and public cemeteries are outside that section, and public cemetery districts may not sell markers at all, so district families always buy from an outside maker.

Will I pay more to set a marker I bought elsewhere?

Not at a private non-religious cemetery. HSC 8276 requires uniform foundation, setting and endowment care charges whoever sold the marker.

Can I set the bronze marker myself?

No cemetery we found allows it. Orange County says families cannot install or witness a setting, and Sylvan, Artesia and Pomerado use district staff.

What size bronze marker fits a California grave?

Most Southern California single graves take a 28 by 16 inch marker, which holds a 24 by 12 inch bronze with a 2 inch border. Northern districts often allow more; check your cemetery’s sheet.

Does California law cover Catholic and Jewish cemeteries?

No. HSC 8250 excludes cemeteries run by a religious body, so ask the office whether it accepts an outside bronze marker before ordering.