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Scrap metal laws Arizona, Utah, Nevada and California: ID, holds and how you get paid
By Carbide Buyers USA · Updated
The scrap metal laws Arizona, Utah, Nevada and California enforce all ask for your ID and a written record of the sale, then part ways on cash, holds, prints and hours. None names carbide; here is what each covers, where scales and a federal tungsten order fit, and how a sale to us works.
Scrap metal laws in Utah, Nevada, California and Arizona, side by side
These laws are written mostly for the buyer, but most of their steps happen with you standing there.
| Rule | California | Arizona | Utah | Nevada |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reaches | All scrap metals and alloys; more for copper, copper alloys, stainless, aluminum | Scrap metal, no metal list | Items made mainly of nonferrous metal, plus listed metals | Nonferrous metals, iron, stainless, or metal used in listed fields |
| ID | Name plus a license or state ID | Photocopy of a current photo ID | Federal or state photo ID, type and number | Copy of your ID |
| Photo, print | Photo and thumbprint for the four metals | Photo and right index fingerprint | Photo, or a legible ID copy | Photo and right index fingerprint |
| Signed | Ownership statement | Signature in the record | Certificate of legal right to sell | Not in the items cited |
| Payment | Four metals: check mailed, or paid from the third business day | $300+: check or money order mailed | Sets no cash limit for scrap metal | $150+: check or electronic transfer |
| Holds | Police, 90 days | Seven days on sales over $100 | Police, 60 days | Police, up to 7 + 7 business days |
| Records | Two years | One year + one year | Three years | Photo, 60 days |
| Age, hours | None cited | 16 or older | 18 or older; 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. | None cited |
None of the four names carbide or tungsten. Cemented carbide is tungsten carbide held by a metal binder such as cobalt, and no statute here says whether that counts as nonferrous metal, or that carbide is exempt.
Sources: California Attorney General, Information Bulletin 2025-DLE-12; California AG, Secondhand Dealer and Pawnbroker Laws (2012); California AB 1508, Chapter 531, Statutes of 2012; Arizona Revised Statutes 44-1642; Arizona Revised Statutes 44-1644; Utah Code 76-6-1402; Utah Code 76-6-1403; Utah Code 76-6-1406; Utah Code 76-6-1409; Nevada Revised Statutes chapter 647; ITIA, Cemented carbides.
California’s junk dealer law: a record for all scrap, more for four metals
California’s junk dealer law (Business and Professions Code 21600 on) covers all ferrous and nonferrous scrap metals and alloys; its list names nonferrous materials, stainless steel and nickel, not tungsten or carbide. The record holds your ID, any delivery vehicle’s plate, a description of the material and your statement that you own it. It goes to police daily or by the next business day. AB 476 (2025) expanded it; the Senate Public Safety Committee described a signed statement with your legal name, birth date and home address.
Section 21608.5 adds photos, a thumbprint and the delayed payment only for copper, copper alloys, stainless steel and aluminum. Carbide is not on that list. Stainless is, which matters in a mixed box.
Sources: California AG, Information Bulletin 2025-DLE-12; California AG, Secondhand Dealer and Pawnbroker Laws (2012); California AB 1508, Chapter 531, Statutes of 2012; Senate Public Safety Committee, AB 476 analysis; Assembly Business and Professions Committee, 2025 legislative summary.
Arizona: the size of the sale sets the rules
Arizona’s statutes (A.R.S. 44-1641 on) list no metals, so a carbide sale is judged by its dollar value. At $300 or more nothing is paid on site; a check or money order goes by mail to the address on your ID, with exceptions in the statute. Over $100, the dealer holds the material seven days after reporting it. And a seller “shall not participate in more than one cash transaction per day for scrap metal”, or split one vehicle load to dodge the rules.
The record also takes your physical description, address, birth date and signature, and you get an on-site receipt with weight and amount. A business that files monthly transaction privilege tax returns and generates its own scrap is an industrial account: no seven-day hold, and no mailed payment if it preregisters its sellers each year.
Sources: Arizona Revised Statutes 44-1641 (definitions); Arizona Revised Statutes 44-1642; Arizona Revised Statutes 44-1644.
Utah: regulated metal, a signed certificate and daytime hours
Utah puts these rules in its criminal code, Title 76, Chapter 6, Part 14 (76-6-1402 to 76-6-1409.1). They cover regulated metal, defined as “any item composed primarily of nonferrous metal”, plus named metals such as copper, chromium and nickel. Tungsten, tungsten carbide and cobalt are not named, and the statute does not say where cemented carbide falls.
The dealer logs the weight, price per pound, amount paid, your full name and residence, and the date, time and place. With no valid photo ID, the sale cannot go ahead. Utah law does not set a cash limit for scrap metal the way Arizona and Nevada do. Nickel alloys over 50% nickel and ingots are “suspect metal items”: the owner must give a phone number, an address, a driver license copy and a signed statement, unless the seller is a licensed business with an established account that meets the statute’s conditions.
Sources: Utah Code Title 76, Chapter 6, Part 14; Utah Code 76-6-1402; Utah Code 76-6-1403; Utah Code 76-6-1405; Utah Code 76-6-1406; Utah Code 76-6-1409.
Nevada: check or transfer from $150 up
Nevada’s scrap metal processor rules are in NRS chapter 647. Scrap metal means nonferrous metals, scrap iron, stainless steel or metal material used in fields such as construction, electric power, railroads and oil well rigs; a separate junk category takes other metals. Neither names carbide or says which one shop carbide belongs in.
From $150, payment is by check or electronic transfer only, and a check to a business seller is made out to the business. Under $150, a processor may do one cash deal with a given seller per day.
Sources: Nevada Revised Statutes chapter 647.
The scale that weighs your carbide is regulated too
Weight turns a box of carbide into money, so the scale has rules. NIST Handbook 44 (2026 edition) is written for states to adopt, and NIST says all 50 have. A scale used in direct sales must show its reading to a reasonable customer position, and an empty scale must read zero.
California says to look for a round approval seal showing the last inspection. Arizona bars any commercial device not licensed or certified. Nevada’s rules must follow NIST as far as practicable. Utah calls a scale commercial if it plays any part in setting a sale’s money value; such a scale needs an NTEP Certificate of Conformance (the National Type Evaluation Program’s approval of the model), the business must register, and inspectors call unannounced.
Wherever a lot is weighed, watch the reading, and see zero before the load goes on.
Sources: NIST Handbook 44, current edition; NIST Handbook 44 (2026), introduction; NIST Handbook 44 (2026), general code; NIST Handbook 44 (2026), scales code; NIST weighing and scales FAQ; California Division of Measurement Standards, devices; Arizona Revised Statutes 3-3451; Nevada Revised Statutes chapter 581; Utah Weights and Measures, scales used for commerce.
The federal tungsten scrap order, August 2026 to August 2027
A federal directive allocation order from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, or BIS (91 FR 50701, published August 6, 2026) runs from August 27, 2026 through August 27, 2027. US persons selling tungsten waste and scrap must allocate 100 percent of monthly sales to US persons unless BIS grants an adjustment or exception in advance, and scrap under Schedule B 8101.97.00.00 must stay in the United States unless BIS authorizes otherwise.
The caveat: whether a carbide lot is 8101.97 tungsten waste and scrap or 8113.00 cermets, including waste and scrap, is a classification question; a 2005 USGS report on 2000 trade gave cemented carbide scrap imported under 8113 as an example. Comments closed November 4, 2026, so check the order’s current text on the Federal Register. We cannot tell you whether it covers your lot.
Sources: Federal Register, 91 FR 50701 (August 6, 2026); US International Trade Commission, HTS chapter 81 (2026); USGS Open-File Report 2005-1028.
Selling your carbide to us in each state
We pick up in every city in California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada; from anywhere else in the US you can ship to us and we pay the shipping. Start on the quote page with the form of the carbide, a rough weight and photos, or use email or the phone. We pay cash where state law allows it:
- California: the delayed-payment list leaves out carbide; stainless in a mixed lot is on it.
- Arizona: under $300, cash, one cash sale a day; from $300, a check or money order mailed to your ID address, unless an exception in the statute applies, such as a preregistered industrial account.
- Utah: Utah law does not set a cash limit for scrap metal; regulated metal may be bought only from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., so ask for a pickup time inside those hours.
- Nevada: under $150, cash; from $150, check or electronic transfer.
Bring a photo ID to any pickup. This guide summarizes statutes and is not legal advice; how selling works covers the rest.
Sources: California AB 1508, Chapter 531, Statutes of 2012; Arizona Revised Statutes 44-1642; Utah Code 76-6-1406; Nevada Revised Statutes chapter 647.
Common questions
What do Utah scrap metal laws ask of a seller at a pickup?
A valid federal or state photo ID, your full name and residence, and your signature on a certificate that you have the legal right to sell. You must be 18 or older, and the purchase must fall between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m. On payment, Utah law does not set a cash limit for scrap metal.
Is cemented carbide a nonferrous metal under these laws?
None of the four states says. California’s general rules reach all ferrous and nonferrous scrap metals and alloys, Utah’s reach items made mainly of nonferrous metal, Nevada’s split scrap metal from junk, and Arizona’s list no metals. None calls carbide exempt, so expect the ID and record steps.
I am shipping carbide from out of state. Whose rules apply?
These statutes do not say which state’s law governs a shipment from outside it. We pay the shipping from anywhere in the US; ask about your lot when you request a quote, and take legal questions to a lawyer.
Does a machine shop selling its own worn tooling get handled differently?
In some ways, yes. Arizona’s industrial accounts skip the seven-day hold, California’s four-metal section steps aside when the buyer holds the business’s name, address, phone, business license or tax ID and the driver’s license copy, Utah exempts qualifying business accounts from its suspect metal rules, and Nevada writes a check to the business itself.
More for sellers
Arizona
Phoenix, Tucson and every town in between
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Utah
Salt Lake City, the Wasatch Front and the rest of Utah
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Nevada
Las Vegas, Reno and the towns in between
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California
Every city, from San Diego to the Oregon line
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Selling steps
From photos and a weight to getting paid
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Ship your carbide
Packing heavy carbide so it arrives in one piece
Learn moreReady to sell your carbide?
Send a few photos and a rough weight. From any state, you ship it and we cover the shipping; in California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada, we drive out to you.