Getting started

Twenty-eight articles, and not all are fasteners

On this page14

The group names twenty-eight articles And the definition reaches a subset So the unthreaded articles are out on the first clause And washers are out unless load-indicating Which is three of the twenty-eight named articles Then the diameter floor removes more And the hardening condition removes more again And the marking condition is a fourth filter So the definition is four conditions deep Which means most of this group is outside the Act And the ones inside it are the structural ones Which is the honest division of a twenty-eight article group The container question is the same for all twenty-eight References

A brad is not a fastener for this Act.

The group names twenty-eight articles

Anchors, carriage bolts, hex bolts, lag bolts, cotter pins, dowel screws, eye bolts, grommets, machine screws, brad and finish nails, hex nuts, lock nuts, wing nuts, rivets, four kinds of screw, set screws, shoulder bolts, spacers, staples, threaded inserts, thumb screws and three kinds of washer.

And the definition reaches a subset

A metallic screw, nut, bolt or stud having internal or external threads, at a nominal diameter of 6 millimetres or a quarter inch or greater.

So the unthreaded articles are out on the first clause

A cotter pin, a rivet, a staple, a brad and a finish nail have no thread. The definition names screws, nuts, bolts and studs.

And washers are out unless load-indicating

The definition includes a load-indicating washer specifically, which implies a flat washer, a fender washer and a lock washer are not within it.

Which is three of the twenty-eight named articles

Washer fender, washer flat and washer lock. All excluded unless they are load-indicating.

Then the diameter floor removes more

A machine screw, a set screw or a drywall screw below a quarter inch is under the floor however it is described.

And the hardening condition removes more again

Through-hardened, or represented as meeting a consensus standard that calls for through-hardening. A soft screw is outside.

And the marking condition is a fourth filter

Grade identification marked, or represented as meeting a consensus standard that requires grade identification marking.

So the definition is four conditions deep

Article type, diameter, hardening and marking. An article has to pass all four.

Which means most of this group is outside the Act

A box of drywall screws and a jar of flat washers are hardware and not fasteners within this definition.

And the ones inside it are the structural ones

Hex bolts, lag bolts, carriage bolts, hex nuts and shoulder bolts at a quarter inch and up, through-hardened and grade marked.

Which is the honest division of a twenty-eight article group

Stated plainly, because a reader with a jar of brads is not in the Act and a reader with a jar of grade 8 bolts is.

The container question is the same for all twenty-eight

Keep them sorted, keep them dry and keep the lots apart. Only the last of those is a legal matter.

References

15 U.S.C. 5402(6) defines a fastener as "a metallic screw, nut, bolt, or stud having internal or external threads, with a nominal diameter of 6 millimeters or greater, in the case of such items described in metric terms, or 1/4 inch or greater, in the case of such items described in terms of the English system of measurement, or a load-indicating washer, that is through-hardened or represented as meeting a consensus standard that calls for through-hardening, and that is grade identification marked or represented as meeting a consensus standard that requires grade identification marking". These are definitions from the Fastener Quality Act; nothing on these pages describes what the Act requires of anyone or determines whether any article falls within the definition. law.cornell.edu

Written from 15 U.S.C. 5402 and from the catalog as it stood on 19 October 2026. These are definitions from the Fastener Quality Act and nothing here describes what the Act requires of anyone, the inspection or certification scheme, the exemptions, or which consensus standards are involved. Nothing determines whether any article is a fastener within the definition or whether any quantity is a lot. We publish no lot number, heat number, coil reference or production date anywhere in our data. This shelf is shared identically by nine groups and the sewing notions property enumerates the inventory.