Glossary of Licensing Terms

Alias data is information the public choose to use when addressing mail, but which isn’t actually required for delivery purposes. Here are some examples:

• house names on numbered properties (e.g. ‘Rose Cottage’ at ‘2 High Street’)
• county names (e.g. ‘Surrey’ or ‘Lincs’)
• businesses operating from home (‘Jones Plumbing’ at ‘2 The Avenue’).

Please be aware that if you are using this as a standalone data product. you will need to purchase a PAF use Licence

An Associate is a person who markets or distributes products or services supplied under a common identity and business method, subject to a written agreement providing for the operation of that identity and method to specified standards and the provision of know-how, technical or business support. See also Broker and Delivery Service User for other types of Closed User Group, described in the PAF^®, Multiple Residence™ or Not Yet Built™ licence agreement within Schedule 5 of the Solutions Provider licence agreement or Schedule 4 of the direct End User agreement. Refer also to definitions of Business Partner, Group Member, Group Owner and Group Purpose.

BFPO Postcode Data has been structured so that it can be used in conjunction with other PAF^® based solutions. The address and postcode structure is entirely consistent with PAF. We have created a pseudo BF ‘postcode’ which looks like any other postcode but doesn’t correspond with a geographic location as obviously other postcodes do.

Over 100,000 British Forces service personnel and their dependents serve overseas. In many cases, those stationed abroad don’t have a permanent address in the UK. This creates difficulties for service personnel accessing services online and with shopping online. Royal Mail and the BFPO have developed a practical solution to this problem. By creating an address and Postcode structure that is consistent with PAF, service personnel will no longer experience these difficulties and will enjoy a number of benefits.

A Broker is a broker or agent for the sale of (or other distributor of) products or services for one or more originating suppliers (all of which operate in the same industry). See also Associate and Delivery Service User for other types of Closed User Group, described in the PAF^®, Multiple Residence™ or Not Yet Built™ licence agreements within Schedule 5 of the Solutions Provider agreement or Schedule 4 of the direct End User agreement. Refer also to definitions of Business Partner, Group Member, Group Owner and Group Purpose.

Bureau Services is when you pass your database to a third party for cleansing and then the cleansed database is returned back to you. See Schedule 4 of the Solutions Provider licence agreement, and Schedule 3 of the direct End User licence agreement.

This definition is part of the Closed User Group description and is a person who in the course of business acts either as an Associate, a Broker or a Delivery Service User. See the Closed User Group clauses within Schedule 5 of the Solutions Provider licence agreement, and Schedule 4 of the direct End User licence agreement.

A ‘Changes’ data product, showing only those changes to addressing data which occurred since the data was last produced.

Closed User Group means “an End User’s network of businesses comprising that End User and not less than 10 Business Partners all of a single type”.

A ‘Complete Edition’ of data is a complete refresh of data which contains all address data, including both changed and unchanged addresses.

The PAF Compressed Standard file is similar to the Mainfile raw data, but the numeric keys on Mainfile are replaced by text in the Compressed Standard file. This format is known as ‘Expanded’. It makes the file easier to use than the Mainfile, but is much larger in size.

A company that has signed the Corporate Licence Agreement for the use of PAF^®, Multiple Residence^™ or Not Yet Built^™ across their corporate group.

You can find a list of PAF Corporate Licence holders here.

CSV (comma separated values) data is similar to the Mainfile raw data, but the numeric keys on Mainfile are replaced by text and fields are of variable width delimited by commas. It makes the file easier to use than the Mainfile, but does not use keys.

The definition of a Customer Database is “a database of an End User’s customer”. See the definition in clause 15 of the licence agreement.

To remove duplicates, format your data fields and correct data that is wrong e.g. the postal addresses for your customers. To see a definition of what Data Cleansing is, refer to clause 15 of the licence agreement.

The extraction of PAF^®, Multiple Residence^™ or Not Yet Built^™ Data or part of it for the generation of new address records in a new or existing database. Anyone with access to Extracted Data must be classed as a User. See paragraph 2(b) of Schedule 1 to understand the way Data Extraction can be used.

While AMU no longer prescribes the manner in which PAF data is transferred outside the EEA, it is the responsibility of licensees and End Users to comply with applicable laws and data protection laws in their use of PAF data – and depending on how they use PAF data, agreements with customers may be required. PAF users should take their own legal or compliance advice on this.

Please see clause 3.6 in the solutions provider agreement and clause 3.3 in the direct End User licence.

An annual fee required to purchase addressing data from Royal Mail. Fees are shown in the interactive pricing tables and in the ‘Data Supply’ licence agreements. This fee is required annually in addition to a ‘data use’ fee to cover the way the data is used.

A fee required to license the use of addressing data from Royal Mail. Fees are shown in the interactive pricing tables and in the ‘Data Use’ licence agreements. This fee is required in addition to a ‘data supply’ fee to cover the supply of addressing data.

The actual letterbox where the mail is delivered.

The complete postal address (business or residential), including a Postcode, to which mail is delivered. Royal Mail’s PAF^® data holds more than 30 million UK addresses and 1.8 million postcodes.

Delivery Service User forms one of the types of Closed User Group. A Delivery Service User is a customer of an End User for delivery services relating to mail, packages or products. See also Associate and Broker for other types of Closed User Group, described in the PAF^®, Multiple Residence^™ or Not Yet Built^™ licence agreement within Schedule 5 of the Solutions Provider agreement and Schedule 4 of the direct End User agreement. Refer also to definitions of Business Partner, Group Member, Group Owner and Group Purpose.

A single legal entity entering into a PAF^®, Multiple Residence^™ or Not Yet Built^™ licence agreement is known as an “End User”. See clause 15 for a full definition.

Excepted End User is “a person whose use as an End User of PAF^®, Multiple Residence™ or Not Yet Built™ Data does not attract Licence Fees, as published on the PAF Licensing Centre”. What this means in practice is either the End User is a member of a Corporate Licence group (find a list of Corporate licensees), is an authorised Charity that qualifies for free PAF (find licensed Charities here), or is included within the Public Sector Licence (find Public Sector licensees here). See the definition of Excepted End User in clause 15 of the licence agreement.

Addressing data provided in ‘Expanded’ format is part of the Compressed Standard™ file and is similar to the Mainfile raw data, but the numeric keys on Mainfile are replaced by text in the Compressed Standard file. This format is known as ‘Expanded’ and it makes the file easier to use than the Mainfile, but is much larger in size.

FTP means you will download your addressing data. File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard network protocol used to transfer computer files between a client and server on a computer network.

The definition of Full NYB refers to all elements of each address record in the Not Yet Built Data, See the definition and pricing for Full NYB in paragraph 2(a) Schedule 2.

The definition of Full PAF refers to all elements of each address record in the PAF Data, See the definition and pricing for Full PAF in paragraph 2(a) Schedule 2.

An End User or a Business Partner who are members of a Closed User Group. See Closed User Group clauses within Schedule 5 of the Solutions Provider licence agreement or Schedule 4 of the direct End User agreement.

The End User promoting a Closed User Group. See Closed User Group clauses within Schedule 5 of the Solutions Provider licence agreement or Schedule 4 of the direct End User agreement.

The purpose for which a Closed User Group carries on its business through (as the case may be) Associates, Brokers or Delivery Service Users. See Closed User Group clauses within Schedule 5 of the Solutions Provider licence agreement or Schedule 4 of the direct End User agreement.

The High Use Licence Fee varies depending which dataset you are using.

• For PAF^® it is £6,900 per year.
• For Multiple Residence™ it is £810 per year.
• For Not Yet Built™ it is £810 per year.
• See also definition of High Use Threshold

If an End User’s Transactions enabled by Website Use (Website Transactions) are estimated to exceed the “High Use Threshold” in a licence fee year, an additional fee (the High Use Licence Fee) is payable. The High Use Threshold is 10 million Transactions.

If the Organisation Use licence fee has been paid, High Use Licence fees are not payable. See paragraphs 2(h) to 2(m) of Schedule 2 for more details.

The rules for reporting Licence fees depends on the type of Agreement that your organisation has signed up for.

• Solutions Provider Licence Fee reporting rules
• Direct End User Licence Fee reporting rules
• Corporate Licence Fee reporting rules

You can complete the Royalty Return Form and email to amu.licensees@royalmail.com.

A Licensee is a person whose use of PAF^®, Multiple Residence^™ or Not Yet Built^™ Data you authorise further to this Licence, or whose use is authorised by such a person by way of a sub-licence granted further to this Licence (whether directly or by way of a chain of sub-licences) but not an End User. There are no limits on the number of sub-Licensees. See the definition of Licensee in clause 15 of the licence agreement.

Mainfile contains PAF^® data in relational database format and contains complete PAF address data holding each record at Delivery Point level (i.e. one record for every Delivery Point on the file more than 30 million). It also contains the Business Mail^® Standard Selection code for each Delivery Point and Delivery Point Suffix information. Mainfile contains no software; the raw data within it must be processed for use in IT applications.

Market Research Purposes means social or opinion research to gain insight or support decision making in respect of individuals or organisations, by systematic gathering and interpretation of information and use of the statistical and analytical methods and techniques of the applied social sciences.

Means 100 address records.

The Multiple Residence data database identifies and verifies premises where multiple households share the same letter box and provides a detailed address structure for these properties.

Not Yet Built data enables you to identify postcodes and addresses for properties that are under construction or in the planning stage.

If a Licensee wishes to authorise unlimited use of its Solutions by its End Users, the “”Organisation Use”” Licence Fee is payable for each such End User. A single payment of the Organisation Use licence fee covers a single End User for an unlimited number of Users, Website Use Licence Fee and the High Use Threshold Licence Fee, but does not cover Bureau Services or Closed User Group Licence Fees. See the definition of Organisation Use at Schedule 2, paragraph 2(n).

• The Organisation Use fee for PAF® is £20,600
• The Organisation Use fee for Multiple Residence™ is £2,436
• The Organisation Use fee for Not Yet Built™ is £2,436

Royal Mail’s Postcode Address File (PAF) is a database of more than 30 million postal delivery addresses and 1.8 million Postcodes. End-Users can license the use of PAF data directly from Royal Mail, on standard licensing terms, or via a Solutions Provider. End-Users are required to return licence fees to Royal Mail for their use of the PAF data.

This refers to Royal Mail’s PAF Licensing Centre website.

Part NYB refers to the reduced number of elements of each address record in Not Yet Built Data as described on the PAF Licensing Centre. See the definition and pricing for Part NYB in paragraph 2(a) Schedule 2.

Part PAF refers to the reduced number of elements of each address record in PAF Data as described on the PAF^® Licensing Centre. See the definition and pricing for Part PAF in paragraph 2(a) Schedule 2.

The PIF file is used to help the barcoding of mail. Delivery point suffix (DPS) & checksum information is required to create barcodes on mail and PIF supplies these; useful if your database or PAF^® product does not include it.

Please be aware that if you are using this as a standalone data product. you will need to purchase a PAF use Licence

Combination of Alphanumeric characters used as part of a postal address to aid the sorting of mail. Every known property in the UK has a postcode assigned to it.

Postcode Area refers to geographic areas defined by the first or first and second alphabetic characters of the Postcode. Here is a list of all the Postcode areas.

These clauses give a Solutions Provider the right to demonstrate their PAF^®, Multiple Residence^™ or Not Yet Built^™ Solution to a potential customer prior to entering into an End User licence agreement for a period of up to 3 months. Promotion Purposes means displaying a PAF Solution on a device owned by a Solutions Provider. Trial Purposes is permitting potential customers to access a PAF Solution. A product can be trialled on the web or installed on a computer during this trial period of 3 months.

The Ranges file is a simple-to-use raw data product. ‘Ranges’ means all building numbers are summarised as Number Ranges, e.g. 1-99. Building Names are unaffected. The file contains readable text held at a Postcode level. Ranges only holds address information. PAF^®address keys, Multi-occupancy information and Delivery Point Suffixes are not supplied.

Researchers means individuals employed by or contracted (directly or indirectly) to an End User for that End User’s own Market Research Purposes.

As a Solutions Provider you must, within 10 Working Days of the start of each month during the Licence Year, report to the AMU the use of PAF Data made by you, your End Users, your Licensees and their End Users using our Royalty Return Form.

When you sign-up to become a Licensee the Address Management Unit will provide you with the relevant returns form. Or alternatively you can complete the Royalty Return Form and email to amu.licensees@royalmail.com. If you experience any issues with the form please contact us.

The retail prices index (all items) (or a replacement index most closely resembling it) published by the Office for National Statistics (or any successor to that Office). See the definition of RPI in clause 15 of the licence agreement.

A Solution is “a product or service or other solution which benefits from or includes PAF^®, Multiple Residence^™ or Not Yet Built^™ (including the provision of PAF, Multiple Residence or Not Yet Built Data itself), in whatever form, however produced or distributed and whether or not including other functionality, services, software or data”. See the definition of Solution in clause 15 of the licence agreement.

An organisation licensed by Royal Mail to use its datasets e.g. Postcode Address File (PAF^®), Multiple Residence^™ or Not Yet Built^™ to create, enhance and supply products and solutions. See clause 15 of the PAF licence agreement for a definition of Licensee.

A ‘Standard PAF^® Licence’ means one of the following.

• PAF Data Solutions Provider Licence
• PAF Data Direct End User Licence
• Digital Mapping and Location Display Licence Agreement (DMA)
• PAF Public Sector Licence Use Terms
• PAF Corporate Group Licence

See the definition of Standard PAF Licence in clause 15 of the licence agreement.

Transaction means, in response to a query relating to any part of the PAF^®, Multiple Residence^™ or Not Yet Built^™ Data, the verification of that query or the return of data of up to the Maximum Data Return”. See clause 15 for a definition and paragraph 2(f) of Schedule 2 to see how Transaction licence fees apply.

Transaction Blocks must be supplied in blocks of 100 Transactions and must be sold in respect of each End User and must not be shared across different End Users. Transaction Blocks are valid for 12 months from their activation date and at the end of such period unused Transactions in a Transaction Block expire, and further Transaction Blocks must be purchased in respect of the relevant Solution use. See Schedule 2, paragraph 2(f) for a definition of Transaction Block.

Transaction Management System means “an auditable system for the demonstrably accurate counting of Transactions and capable of ensuring that the Maximum Data Return is not exceeded in any single Transaction”. See the definition of Transaction Management System in clause 15 of the licence agreement.

A Trial Period is defined as “the provision of access to a Solution to a potential customer for a period not exceeding 3 months”. See also Promotion Purposes. See the definition of Trial Period at Schedule 3, paragraph 4(a) of the Solutions Provider licence agreement.

UDPRN stands for ‘Unique Delivery Point Reference Number’. Each UDPRN is an 8-character code that can be used instead of the current address keys on PAF^®.

A User is defined as “an individual authorised by an End User to use a Solution”. This means you have to purchase enough licences to cover the number of people with access to a PAF^®, Multiple Residence^™ or Not Yet Built^™ Solution. See clause 15 of the licence agreement for a definition of User.

Clarification issued regarding User, April 2016.

In certain circumstances the AMU has agreed that more than one individual can be classed as one User during a licence fee year. These circumstances revolve around individuals’ absence and where an individual may resign/leave and be replaced by another person.

Example 1 – Employee leaves your organisation
An employee who has access to a Solution resigns after 6 months of the licence fee year. The individual recruited to replace this person for the subsequent 6 months of the licence fee year can be counted as the same User, rather than an additional User.

Example 2 – Employee on Maternity/Paternity Leave
An employee who has access to a Solution works for 3 months of the licence fee year, they then go on maternity leave for 6 months. For these 6 months a temporary employee is recruited to cover them. The original employee then returns for the final 3 months of the year. Both these people can be counted as the same user, rather than an additional User.

Example 3 – Employee on period of absence/other leave
An employee has a period of sick absence and is replaced by another person until they return. Both these people can be counted as the same user, rather than an additional User.

Further details are contained in the Users factsheet.

A Website is defined as “a website, application or other remotely-enabled means of communicating with end user customers for products and services, made generally available to such customers”. See also the definition of Website Use in clause 15 of the licence agreement.

For the definition of Website Use see clause 15 of the licence agreement, where Website Use is “the use of PAF^®, Multiple Residence^™ or Not Yet Built^™ to capture or verify address details of users of an End User’s Website where:

(a) Website users are not the End User’s employees or concerned with the provision of services to the End User (unless acting in a personal capacity), and

(b) neither the use of the Website or the End User’s product and service offering is connected with the management of address data or Data Cleansing, and

(c) the address capture or verification is carried out for the purpose of the receipt of products or services enabled by the Website.

See also the definition of Website in clause 15 of the licence agreement.

The Website Use Licence Fee authorises a single End User’s Website Use only. See Schedule 2, paragraph 2(h) for a definition of Website Use Licence Fee

• The PAF® Website Use Licence Fee is either £4,100 for Part PAF or £6,900 for Full PAF
• The Multiple Residence™ Website Use Licence Fee is £810
• The Not Yet Built™ Website Use Licence Fee is either £490 for Part Not Yet Built or £810 for Full Not Yet Built.