Postal Address File (PAF)

Introduction

The Postal Address File (PAF) is an exhaustive list of all 25 million addresses within the UK. The database is produced and maintained by Royal Mail (the UK postal authority) and is the sole and ultimate authority insofar as postal addresses are concerned.

Every postal address (an address that adheres to the Royal Mail postal address syntax and describes a delivery point) is on PAF and every address appearing within PAF is a postal address. However, there are a number of perfectly real and valid addresses which have not, as yet, been christened as postal addresses, and some of the postal addresses contain errors of structure and form. Errors and omissions are becoming rarer as the Royal Mail continually updates PAF.

A postal address contains the following elements:

  • Organisation
  • Sub-building name
  • Building name
  • Building number
  • Dependent street
  • Street
  • Dependent locality
  • Locality
  • Post town
  • County
  • Postcode
    • As a rule, every postal address needs to contain one and only one address element of type Post town, and a combination of some (not necessarily all) elements of other types, appearing in the order shown above.

    PAF management software is used either to check the validity of addresses against PAF (address matching) or to add postcodes to un-postcoded addresses (postcoding).

    Address matching ensures that mailing databases contain postally correct addresses, thereby minimising the amount of mis-directed mail and - in the case of large mailings - sorting the mailshot to qualify the mailer for volume discounts.

    Postcoding, while helping in mailings, is more often used to attach a geo-reference (spatial location) to database records so that they can be mapped in a Geographical Information System.

    Prices are in UK Sterling and refer to single-user licensing on a personal computer.

    Capscan MATCHCODE

    Capscan's MATCHCODE software is the PAF management software used in-house at Business Geographics. The software runs under Windows, DOS, OS/2 and Unix using CD-ROM as the delivery and storage media for the PAF file.

    Capscan receive quaterly PAF updates from Royal Mail, process the tapes and distribute PAF on CD-ROM. Running from CD the software can address match or postcode around 3,000 records per hour. Running from a hard disk the performance can be as high as 40,000 records per hour.

    MATCHCODE provides all the major tools required for address processing:

  • Cross matching
    An automated method of searching the PAF database using intelligent matching on an unstructured postal address.

  • Browsing
    A method of searching the PAF database using exact match criteria on individual address element types.

  • Rapid addressing
    A means of generating quickly a postally correct address by the entry of a postcode and the selection of the required building number or name.

  • Address formatting
    Structures postal addresses into the layout preferred by the Royal Mail so that they can be used for mailing labels.

  • Address generation
    A means of generating quickly a postal address by the entry of an address key (the PAF ID)

    (Capscan Limited, 1993, Capscan MATCHCODE User Guide, London.)

    • In addition, the software offers both interactive operation and batch processing facilities.

    MATCHCODE is available in a number of configurations.

    CD-ROM Implementation

    Interactive and Batch Processing with File Handling

                              Year 1       Years 2+
MATCHCODE                     £2,300        £460 pa
PAF licence                     £200        £200 pa

    Hard Disk Implementation

    Interactive and Batch Processing with File Handling

                              Year 1       Years 2+
MATCHCODE                     £2,980        £596 pa
PAF licence                     £200        £200 pa
    © Copyright Business Geographics Limited. All rights reserved, 1995.

    For further information send mail to info@geoweb.co.uk