Bronze Plaques Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania registers its cemetery companies but has no statute on markers, outside dealers or setting charges, so the rules that decide a bronze order are the cemeteries’ own. In Philadelphia and Pittsburgh those rules are unusually open to outside work. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s cemeteries, now managed by an Everstory Partners affiliate, let a qualified contractor build foundations at uniform charges; Laurel Hill tells outside contractors to set their own markers; and Pittsburgh’s Catholic Cemeteries Association lets independent dealers work to its specifications for a cost based inspection fee. This page covers the state framework, both cities in full, and the two national cemeteries. We cast the bronze and ship it anywhere in Pennsylvania with shipping included; the granite base and the setting are arranged through the cemetery or a local monument dealer, and the bronze specification comes from the cemetery office.

Registration, not marker law

A Pennsylvania cemetery company must hold a registration certificate from the State Real Estate Commission before it sells lots, and cemeteries owned or controlled by a bona fide church or religious congregation are excluded from that system (49 Pa. Code 35.202). Title 9 of the consolidated statutes, Burial Grounds, covers permanent lot care funds (at least 15 percent of lot sales or $1 per square foot under section 303, as amended in 1993), registration, transfers of ownership and a right of reasonable access to visit a grave. It has no provision on monuments, markers, memorial dealers or installation charges. The Future Interment Law of 1963 requires 70 percent of advance merchandise payments to go into trust, but it is not a marker rule either. No statute gives an outside marker right or caps a setting fee; each cemetery’s written rules decide.

Archdiocese of Philadelphia cemeteries under Everstory

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s cemeteries are “managed by an affiliate of Everstory Partners” under rules effective September 2023. Markers are “purchased from and installed by either the cemetery or an approved and qualified contractor”, staff must approve items “supplied by outside vendors”, and “Bronze markers are subject to separate rules and regulations”, so ask a team member for that sheet. Bronze is “installed on a rectangular base made of granite approved by the Cemetery”, the cemetery may ask for “a manufacturer affidavit”, foundations are built “by the Cemetery or a qualified Memorial Service Contractor”, and charges must be “reasonable, non-discriminatory and uniform”. Reasons for a rejected plan go to the contractor within ten working days, and installation dates are set “after considering weather and soil conditions”. The inspection fee follows the schedule on file in the office; no amount is published.

Laurel Hill and West Laurel Hill

Laurel Hill’s rules, revised October 2025, give the plainest outside marker policy we found in Pennsylvania: “Outside contractors are responsible to set their monuments and markers”, and “If a family wishes to purchase their memorial from a supplier other than Laurel Hill, the supplier should contact our offices for foundation and installation charges.” Flush markers are “no wider than 24″” unless approved, single graves take flush memorials only, and every marker needs Laurel Hill’s approval. At Laurel Hill West in Bala Cynwyd, the Garden of Memories and Telford sections “are restricted to flush-mounted bronze markers”, with veterans’ markers allowed at head and foot. Laurel Hill installs a government flag holder for $100 (2025 rules). Call East at 215-228-8200 or West at 610-668-9900 for foundation charges. A 24 by 12 inch plaque, cast to order at $1,697.45, sits inside the 24 inch width limit.

Pittsburgh’s Catholic Cemeteries Association

The Catholic Cemeteries Association of the Diocese of Pittsburgh (rules posted December 2024) does most work with its own staff, but “Independent monument dealers or contractors who install memorial foundations” may work to management’s specifications, which “will not be unreasonable” and must match those for its own foundations. Its layout and inspection fee is “based on actual costs and overhead … including a reasonable profit”. A Christian symbol must appear prominently, detailed size and material rules come “under separate cover”, raised memorials are barred on “non- monument or flush plots”, and some sections allow only flush memorials. The Association sells its own bronze line, so ask for the size sheet for your section and the inspection fee in writing.

Other Pittsburgh cemeteries, and both cities at a glance

Allegheny Cemetery sells flush bronze itself and keeps “full discretion in all matters relating to size, character, design, and materials”; it publishes no sizes or fees (412-682-1624). Homewood lets a lot owner “erect proper stones, monuments and other structures” with management’s authorization, approves every inscription, emblem and vase, and bars planting in flush sections (412-421-1822). Jefferson Memorial Park in Pleasant Hills bans bronze vases “during the winter months of November 30 to February 28” and asks families to flip the vase into the marker; its general price list of May 12, 2026 shows no marker setting fee. For all three, ask for the bronze size, the base and the setting charge before ordering.

Veterans and the two national cemeteries

Washington Crossing National Cemetery near Philadelphia and the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies near Pittsburgh furnish and set government markers, and Washington Crossing bars securing decorations to headstones; our plaques are not for those graves. In a private Pennsylvania cemetery a veteran can have the free VA flat bronze marker, placed at the family’s cost, or a family bronze marker with a VA medallion. Forest Hills/Shalom Memorial Park, a Dignity Memorial property, publishes no marker rules, so ask it directly. More on veteran bronze grave markers.

What we supply in Pennsylvania

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 cemetery asks for a manufacturer affidavit, our certificate states the alloy as it is, and the cemetery decides whether it accepts it. A 20 by 12 inch single is $1,550.78 in the designer, shipping included.

The price of the bronze from us, shipped anywhere in Pennsylvania

To keep the two kinds of cost apart, this table shows only our price for the bronze, taken from the design tool on this site on 21 October 2026 for a standard rectangle with the default border and background. Prices are in US dollars and include shipping to Pennsylvania.

Setting fees, permits, foundations and endowment care charges quoted on this page go to the cemetery, not to us, and sit on top of the plaque price. For any size not in the table, the design tool prices it the moment you type the width and height, and that price also includes shipping.

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

Does Pennsylvania law let me buy a marker from anyone?

No statute says so either way. Title 9 is silent on markers, so the cemetery’s rules decide; in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh several allow outside contractors.

Can an outside contractor set a marker at Laurel Hill?

Yes. Its October 2025 rules say outside contractors set their own monuments and markers, and the supplier should call for foundation and installation charges.

What do the Archdiocese of Philadelphia cemeteries require for bronze?

Bronze on an approved rectangular granite base, a separate bronze rule sheet, and foundations by the cemetery or a qualified contractor at uniform charges.

Does the Pittsburgh diocese accept independent dealers?

Yes, to its specifications, with a layout and inspection fee based on actual cost plus a reasonable profit.

Do you install or supply the granite base?

No. We cast and ship the bronze; the base and setting go through the cemetery or a monument dealer.