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In 2006, MGL successfully conducted a full audit of Ordnance Survey’s ADDRESS-POINT® and, by extension,
OS MasterMap Address Layer products and delivered the results within tight time constraints. The timing was
significant as Ordnance Survey was in the process of launching its new flagship address product: OS MasterMap
Address Layer 2, which builds upon the 27 million postal addresses held in OS MasterMap Address Layer.
We chose MGL because their expertise in addressing is recognised industry wide said Cara Reed, Senior Product
Manager at Ordnance Survey. Our address products are the definitive tools for the identification and precise location
of addresses for the whole of Great Britain and Address Layer 2 provides even more information including non-postal
addresses, property use and alias addresses. MGL have delivered a comprehensive audit which not only gives us
confidence in the quality of our data but also enables us to take ADDRESS-POINT® , Address Layer and Address
Layer 2 even higher in terms of quality, consistency and accuracy. Excellent work.
MGL were asked to undertake this audit because of our track record with quality assuring addressing products.
We developed software tools to analyse the national ADDRESS-POINT® dataset consisting of about 27 million
addresses. Many of these software tools have been derived from knowledge and experience gained from the
JUGT-II study.
Broadly, the algorithms were designed to identify logical inconsistencies in the following four ways:
- The textual content and structure of the address.
- The physical location of the address
- The relationships between addresses including number range ordering along streets and the parent-child
relationships between addresses. These tests are currently particularly relevant to authorities working towards
the new BS7666:2006 standards.
- The relationship between addresses and other classes of spatial objects, such as buildings and streets,
using Ordnance Survey products, such as the MasterMap Topopraphic and Integrated Traffic Network (ITN) layers.
Critically, these algorithms test the addresses in ways that are far beyond existing address matching products and spatial
data quality assurance products.
Where anomalies were identified, these were grouped together and presented to Ordnance Survey so that they can be
fixed and incorporated into subsequent versions of ADDRESS-POINT®, Address Layer and Address Layer 2.
Ordnance Survey found the audit insightful and will be incorporating aspects of the tests in future business processes
to improve the overall quality of the addressing porfolio.
Ray Patrucco, Standards and Compliance Manager at Ordnance Survey, said: We have been very impressed with the
quality of the audit conducted by MGL. The findings are really valuable and will help us to continue to improve
our world class products.