Postcode Address and Royal Mail PAF® Glossary Terms

Address Management - the management and maintenance of a database containing addresses, to build and retain postally correct and complete addresses.
Address Matching - To find a full, postally correct address from any fragment of the address, such as part of a street name with part of a Postcode.
API - Application Programmer's Interface. The developer's toolkit that is available to add postcoding to your own software or website.
Basic Searching - Allows you to search for an address fragement within a specific address field in the Postcode Address File, rather than searching for the term across the full database.
Batch Processing - Automated cleaning of an existing address database to complete partial addresses and correct incorrect records.
Data Extract - part of the UK PAF^® Database extracted to your specifications. Examples include a single Postcode area, or a full UK list of Postcodes and their Local Authority Ward codes.
Delivery Point Suffix - A unique reference to each Delivery Point (letterbox) in a Postcode.
Dependent Locality - A large village or district. Dependent Localities are being phased out of Postal Addresses with an address consisting of a street, Post Town and Postcode. There are no localities for postal addresses in London, for example.
Dependent Street - A Street, such as a cul-de-sac or a business park, which comes off a main road. Dependent streets are never present in an address record without a Main Street.
Double-Dependent Locality - A small village or sub-district. Double-Dependent Localities are never present in postal addresses without Dependent Localities.
Grid References - Ordnance Survey 100m Easting and Northing measurements that refer to the distance east and north from a fixed point just South West of the Isles of Scilly. They indicate the mean centre point of a Postcode to 100m. Grid references are available as part of the Postzon file.
Locality Level - Data extracted from the Postcode Address File at Locality level includes the locality, with any double-dependent locality, Post Town and Postcode. It does not include premise/house or street information.
Main (or only) Street - This represents the main road on which a Delivery Point resides.
NHS Health Authority Code - A three character code which identifies the Health Authority or board responsible for funding patient care within each Postcode. NHS Authority codes are included in the Postzon file.
NHS Primary Care Trust Codes - A three character code for groups of GP practices, and included as part of the Postzon file.
Number of Delivery Points - The number of unique addresses within a Postcode.
PAF^® - Royal Mail's Postcode Address File^®. A comprehensive list of the full address and geographic information for every delivery point in the UK.
Postcode - Used in the routing of mail, the Postcode ensures that mail can be directed to the most appropriate delivery walk. The Postcode is composed of an Outcode (Area + District) and an Incode (Sector + Unit). When used with the Delivery Point Suffix it creates a unique reference that can be translated to a barcode for Mailsort contract holders. There are usually about 15 Delivery Points in a Postcode record with a maximum of 100 Delivery Points. Combined with the premise name or number it can be used to create a unique reference for every delivery point (letterbox) in the UK.
Postcode Area - This is indicated by the first set of letters in the Postcode, for example NR. There are 124 Postcode Areas in the UK.
Postcode Category - The Postcode category indicates the nature of the premise, from a choice of R (Residential), N (Non-residential) or L (Large User).
Postcode District - This is represented by the first numeric of a Postcode which together with the Postcode Area form the Outcode, for example NR14. The District is always quoted with the Area. There are approximately 2,900 Postcode Districts in the UK.
Postcode Sector - Represented by the first digit of the second half of a Postcode for example NR14 7 (the Incode). The Sector is always quoted with the Incode. There are approximately 9,500 Sectors in the UK.
PostCoder^® - Enabling various address lookup functions, direct send of addresses into most applications and label printing, PostCoder^® is a flexible addressing tool incorporating Royal Mail's PAF^® data.
Postzon - Demographic and geographical information about a Postcode record. Data available includes the Ordnance Survey Grid References, Local Authority and NHS Health Authority information.
Premise Level - Address data which incorporates individual house names/numbers and business names where listed on PAF^®.
Rapid Addressing - Enables user to enter premise/business name with a Postcode in order to return a single matched address.
Raw Data - Royal Mail's PAF^® data - this can be purchased either for the full UK or local areas as a non-indexed data file. Both can be tailored to particular requirements; a wide range of file formats is available.
Thoroughfare Level - Address data incorporating all information on addresses from the street down.
Ward code - Local Authority Ward Codes in England and Wales are comprised of six characters - the first two digits represent the county, the next two alphabetic characters identify the Local Authority and the last two characters represent the electoral ward of the Postcode. Unitary Authorities in England, Wales and Scotland are four-character fields represented by the Local Authority and the Ward. In Northern Ireland, the 6 characters are made up of 95 plus a letter from A - Z followed by a space and the electoral Ward. Ward codes make up part of the Postzon file.