Best Practice Maps

On April 1st 2008 Ordnance Survey launched a 3-year campaign entitled "Benefits of Licensed Data (BoLD)". This campaign is designed to raise awareness amongst Land and Property professionals about the correct license terms under which Ordnance Survey mapping should be used. The most important thing for customers to bear in mind is that when they purchase OS map data they are not purchasing the data itself but a license to use the data.

These pages are designed to provide information about the licensing options. To order map products customers should click on the relevant product thumbnail below.

Essentially there are 3 main licenses:

• Paper Map Copying License (PMCL).
• Internal Business Use (IBU).
• Plan Design Build (PDB).

Click here (8 KB) for an explanation of these licenses.

Paper maps:

If you purchase OS paper maps from us you do not require any additional license to use unless you plan to make additional copies in which case you will need a) an OS PMCL or b) to find a printer that already has one. If you are a homeowner simply ordering our 6 copies A4/A3 products map you do not need to worry about OS Licensing as 6 copies will almost always be enough.

Raster data

If you purchase raster data from us (TIFF/GeoTIFF) this can only be purchased under IBU (there is currently no PDB option for raster data). This allows you to use the data for 12 months after which the data must be destroyed. It also permits you to print unlimited hard copies of the data for the 12 month license period.

Vector data

If you purchase vector data from us (dxf/dwg) this can be purchased under PDB or IBU. For further information about the differences between the two licenses click here.