Our PAF service matches the supplied address to the Royal Mail's Postcode Address File (PAF).
A new address is provided which, when a match has been made, has been updated to match the address on PAF. Where a match has not been made, standardisation will have been applied to address elements where possible and parts of the address that do match to PAF will have been updated.
This service is costed on a per lookup basis.
This service requires the following data to be available before it can be used:
- Address
This service can also make use of the following optional data to improve its effectiveness:
- Company Name
The following options can be configured for this service at the upload stage.
Name | Description |
---|---|
Keep Cherished Address Details | Keep Cherished Address Details
Keeps any additional town information that was supplied as part of the customer address but is not recognised by the Royal Mail. For example, the Royal Mail does not recognise any specific areas within London, but a customer may prefer to see their address as Chelsea. By default, Chelsea would be removed from the customer address during cleansing, but selecting this option ensures that it is kept. |
Separate Company Name | Separate Company Name
Does not include any company name as part of the address lines. The company name can still be obtained by selecting the Output Address Elements option. |
Separate Town and County | Separate Town and County
Places the town and county in the last two address fields, regardless of how many other lines are produced. |
Exclude County | Exclude County
Removes the county, if any, from the address. Counties are not required by Royal Mail, and removing them from the address leaves more space for more useful data. |
Total Address Lines | Total Address Lines
Indicates the number of lines that the address will be split over. This does include the town and county even if they have been separated them into their own fields, but does not include the postcode which will always be supplied in a separate additional field. |
Casing | Casing
Allows for the case of the address supplied to be modified to either:
|
Output DPS | Output DPS
Indicates if the Delivery Point Suffix (DPS) should be included in the output as an additional column. |
Output Customer Barcode (CBC) | Output Customer Barcode (CBC)
Indicates if the Customer Barcode (CBC) should be included in the output as an additional column. The CBC is a encoding of the postcode and the DPS, along with a checksum, that is converted into a barcode for printing on mail which assists in the Royal Mail automated sortation processes. |
Output Address Elements | Output Address Elements
Indicates if separate fields should be included in the output for each individual part of the address, in addition to the standard address lines. This option allows you to easily identify the organisation and department names, building name, number, street names, locality names and county, and is useful if you have your own specific requirements for how addresses should be entered into your database. |
Output UDPRN | Output UDPRN
Appends the Unique Delivery Point Reference Number to each address that can be fully identified against PAF. |
There are no options that can be configured for this service at the download stage.
This service adds the following columns to your output data.
Name | Description |
---|---|
PAF Company | PAF Company
Only present if the "Keep company name seperate from address" option is selected. The name of the company at the address. |
PAF Addr 1 | PAF Addr 1
First line of cleansed address details. |
PAF Addr 2 | PAF Addr 2
Second line of cleansed address details. |
PAF Addr 3 | PAF Addr 3
Third line of cleansed address details. |
PAF Addr 4 | PAF Addr 4
Fourth line of cleansed address details. |
PAF Addr 5 | PAF Addr 5
Fifth line of cleansed address details. |
PAF Addr 6 | PAF Addr 6
Sixth line of cleansed address details. |
PAF Postcode | PAF Postcode
Postcode of cleansed address details. |
PAF DPS | PAF DPS
Only present if the "Output DPS" option is selected. Delivery Point Suffix of cleansed address details. |
CBC | CBC
Only present if the "Output Customer Barcode (CBC)" option is selected. Customer Barcode of the cleansed address. |
PAF Department | PAF Department
Only present if the "Output Address Elements" option is selected. The department within the organisation at the address. |
PAF Organisation | PAF Organisation
Only present if the "Output Address Elements" option is selected. The name of the company at the address. |
PAF Sub-Building Name | PAF Sub-Building Name
Only present if the "Output Address Elements" option is selected. The name of the sub-building for the address. This is typically a flat or apartment number. |
PAF Building Name | PAF Building Name
Only present if the "Output Address Elements" option is selected. The name of the building. May include number information where the number is not a simple integer. |
PAF Building Number | PAF Building Number
Only present if the "Output Address Elements" option is selected. The house number for the address. Note that this is an integer number only. Building numbers such as 12A will be shown in the BuildingName field. |
PAF PO Box | PAF PO Box
Only present if the "Output Address Elements" option is selected. The details of the PO Box if the address is a PO Box address. |
PAF Dependant Thorofare | PAF Dependant Thorofare
Only present if the "Output Address Elements" option is selected. The name of the dependent thoroughfare, i.e. a smaller street off a larger street. |
PAF Thorofare | PAF Thorofare
Only present if the "Output Address Elements" option is selected. The name of the main street. |
PAF Double-Dependant Locality | PAF Double-Dependant Locality
Only present if the "Output Address Elements" option is selected. The name of the double-dependent locality - the third-level locality. |
PAF Dependant Locality | PAF Dependant Locality
Only present if the "Output Address Elements" option is selected. The name of the dependent locality - the second level locality. |
PAF Locality | PAF Locality
Only present if the "Output Address Elements" option is selected. The name of the top-level postal town. |
PAF County | PAF County
Only present if the "Output Address Elements" option is selected. The county name that should appear in the address. |
PAF Flag | PAF Flag
PAF Correction Flag:
|
PAF Modification | PAF Modification
Flag indicating whether the address has been modified. 1 indicates that the address has been modified whereas 0 shows that no changes were made to the input address. |
UDPRN | UDPRN
Only present if the "Output UDPRN" option is selected. UDPRN of cleansed address details. |