Registry field definitions and registrant types
The field names shown here are used by all of our domain management tools and relate to fields stored in our registry. While only certain fields may be mandatory for an operation, we encourage registrars to provide values for as many of the fields as possible.
Please note that the terms “registrant contact” and “account” are used interchangeably in this documentation.
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| a1-email | The registrant’s email address. |
| a1-name | The contact name for the registrant. |
| a1-phone | The phone number for the registrant |
| account-id | The ID that specifies the registrant contact object |
| account-name | The company or individual whom the domain name is registered on behalf of. This must contain at least 4 or more characters and of these 3 or more must be letters. This field can only be changed after the initial registration by completing the registrant transfer process. |
| addr | The street address for the registrant. This is the address that is displayed on the Whois and is also occasionally used for adminstrative purposes such as the Dispute Resolution Service.Multiple lines can be specified either with multiple uses of this field. |
| auto-bill | Used to indicate how many days before expiry you wish to automatically renew a domain name.We strongly recommend reading about our renewal processes before setting this field. The auto-bill field is set with a value of between 1 and 182, indicating how many days before expiry you wish to renew the domain name. This field can be cleared by setting the default value of 0. |
| auto-period | Used in combination with the auto-bill field to define the number of years to renew a domain name for. The auto-period field is set with a value in years from 1y to 9y, or multiples of 12 for months from 12m to 108m. The default renewal period is 2 years when undefined. |
| changed | The date and the user who last changed the domain object, formatted as:user YYYYMMDDThe user could be a name and email address or the value submitted from the <clTRID> element if changed from EPP. If it is an name and email address then it may contain spaces. |
| city | The city of the address displayed on the Whois for the domain. |
| co-no | The registered company number or the DfES UK school number of the registrant. |
| county | The county of the address displayed on the Whois for the domain. |
| country | The two letter ISO 3166 Country Code of the address displayed on the Whois. |
| crDate | The date the domain name was created, formatted as:YYYYMMDD |
| created | The date and the user who created the domain name, formatted as:user YYYYMMDDThe user could be a name and email address or the value submitted from the <clTRID> element if created by EPP. If it is a name and email address then it may contain spaces. |
| crID | The user that created the domain name.Contains either the email address from which the original creation message was sent or the TAG if they used EPP. If it is an email address then it may contain spaces. |
| disclose-address | Used to disclose the registrant’s address details in our WHOIS system. By default, the registrant’s name and address are not disclosed. With their permission you can use EPP or WDM to disclose this information. |
| disclose-name | Used to disclose the registrant’s organisation name details in our WHOIS system. By default, the registrant’s name and address are not disclosed. With their permission you can use EPP or WDM to disclose this information. |
| dns | The hostname of the specified nameserver object.This field can also specify the IP address of the nameserver. A space is used to separate the domain name from the IP address. For example:ns0.nserver.co.uk 121.121.121.121 |
| dns0 … dns9 | The hostname of the first to tenth nameserver, respectively.This field can also specify the IP address of the nameserver. A space is used to separate the domain name from the IP address. For example:ns0.nserver.co.uk 121.121.121.121 |
| exDate | The date the domain name is due to expire on, formatted as:YYYYMMDDFor some registrations this field may not be present or may be blank, which indicates that the registration has no set expiry date. |
| expiry | The date the domain name is due to expire on, formatted as:YYYYMMDDFor some registrations this field may not be present or may be blank, which indicates that the registration has no set expiry date. |
| key | The domain name. The maximum length of a domain name that you can register (excluding the .co.uk, .ltd.uk, etc) is 63 characters. The only characters allowed in a domain name are the 26 letters of the alphabet, numbers 0-9 and dashes/hyphens (-). A domain name cannot begin or end with a dash. Detailed rules of registration and use of domain names are available. |
| next-bill | Used to indicate how many days before expiry you wish to automatically renew a domain name. The next-bill field will reset to 0 after a single registration period.We strongly recommend reading about our renewal processes before setting this field. The next-bill field is set with a value of between 1 and 182, indicating how many days before expiry you wish to renew the domain name. This field can be cleared by setting the default value of 0. |
| next-period | Used in combination with the next-bill field to define the number of years to renew a domain name. The auto-period field is set with a value in years from 1y to 9y, or multiples of 12 for months from 12m to 108m. The default renewal period is 2 years when undefined. |
| notes | A free form field for miscellaneous information relating to the domain name. |
| period | Used for registration and renewal requests to set the number of years to register or renew a domain name for. The renew field is set with a value in years from 1y to 10y, or multiples of 12 for months from 12m to 120m. The default registration and renewal period is 2 years when undefined. |
| postcode | The postcode field of the main administrative address.The postcode must be in uppercase with a space between the two parts of the postcode. Postcodes are validated to verify that they are formatted correctly. A postcode consists of two parts, separated by a single space, examples below:Format Example Postcode AN NAA M1 1AA ANN NAA M60 1NW AAN NAA CR2 6XH AANN NAA DN55 1PT ANA NAA W1A 1HQ AANA NAA EC1A 1BB |
| reg-status | The registration status of a domain name.Field values will be from our list of registration statuses. |
| registrar-tag | This is the tag the domain name is currently on. When used with a release or transfer operation, this is the tag of the registrar receiving the domain name. |
| renew-not-required | Used to mark domain names that the registrant does not intend to renew.Setting this field will prevent Nominet from sending renewal reminders to the registrant. When set, a single email notification will be sent to the registrant to advise that the domain name will not be renewed.The renew-not-required field is set with a value of y and can be cleared with a value of n. This field can also be cleared by renewing the domain name or by the registrant using our Online Service to change registrar. This field cannot be set if either auto-bill or next-bill fields are set. |
| reseller | An optional field which can be used to associate a reseller with a domain. You must use Online Services to set values for this field. |
| trad-name | The trading name of the organisation if different to the account-name. |
| type | This describes what type of organisation the domain name has been registered for.The field value must be from our list of registrant types. |
| upDate | The date the domain name was last changed, formatted as:YYYYMMDD |
| upID | The user that last changed the domain name.The user could be a name and email address or the value submitted from the <clTRID> element if created by EPP. If it is a name and email address then it may contain spaces. |
Registrant types
We encourage all registrars to populate the registrant type field, which helps us to categorise the type of organisation that the registration is being made for, which in turn will help the registrant in making subsequent changes to their domain name.
The list of acceptable values for the registrant type field is given below:
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| LTD | UK Limited Company |
| PLC | UK Public Limited Company |
| PTNR | UK Partnership |
| STRA | UK Sole Trader |
| LLP | UK Limited Liability Partnership |
| IP | UK Industrial/Provident Registered Company |
| IND | UK Individual (representing self) |
| SCH | UK School |
| RCHAR | UK Registered Charity |
| GOV | UK Government Body |
| CRC | UK Corporation by Royal Charter |
| STAT | UK Statutory Body |
| OTHER | UK Entity that does not fit into any of the above (e.g. clubs, associations, many universities) |
| FIND | Non-UK Individual (representing self) |
| FCORP | Non-UK Corporation |
| FOTHER | Non-UK Entity that does not fit into any of the above (e.g. charities, schools, clubs, associations) |
Note: Organisations in Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are classified as Foreign Organisations.
Guidelines for use
- LTD, PLC, LLP, IP
In the case of a UK company – Limited Company, Public Limited Company, Limited Liability Partnership or Industrial Provident – you should enter the registered name of the company or partnership in the ‘account-name’ field.
The account address is mandatory in all cases. Postcode fields should always be entered for UK addresses, and postcode syntax checks are made. Always enter a postal town.
If the registrant also has a trading name, you should enter it in the ‘trad-name’ field. You do not need to enter a trading name if they do not have one.
You should enter the registrant’s Companies House Registration Number in the ‘co-no’ field.
- IND, STRA, FIND
In the case of an individual, or a sole trader you should put the real name of the person in the ‘account-name’ field. A pseudonym or trading name alone is not sufficient. If the registration is made for an individual with a pseudonym, the preferred format is real name aka pseudonym.
You are advised to fill in the ‘trad-name’ if the registrant is a sole trader. It may be a breach of the Business Names Act for a sole trader to hide behind a trading name without disclosing his or her own name.You do not need to fill in the ‘co-no’ field.
If the registrant type is IND or FIND then the ‘opt-out’ field can be set to ‘y’ if so desired. This means that the registrants address details will not be displayed on our WHOIS service. This field must be set to ‘n’ for all other registrant types.
- PTNR
In the case of a partnership, you should enter the names of all the partners in the ‘account name’ field. If the partnership consists of more than 2 partners, enter the names of at least one of the partners followed by the words “and others” or “and partners” in the account name field.
- SCH
If the registrant type is set to SCH school you should enter the DfES UK School number in the ‘co-no’ field. This is required irrespective of the second level domain when the type is set to SCH.
- RCHAR
With a registered charity you should enter the registered name of this charity in the ‘account-name’ field. If the registrant also has a trading name, you should enter it in the ‘trad-name’ field.
You should enter the registrant’s Registered Charity Number in the ‘co-no’ field.
- FCORP
In the case of a non-UK corporation you need to put the name of the corporation in the ‘account-name’ field. FCORP should be used for a foreign registered company or business, whereas FOTHER would be the correct registrant type for a school or institution. If the registrant has a trading name you should put it in the ‘trad-name’ field.You do not need to put a registered Company Number in the ‘co-no’ field for a foreign company.
- OTHER, FOTHER
If the registrant is an entity that does not fit into any of the other categories, enter the name of the entity in the ‘account-name’ field. FOTHER would be the correct registrant type for a non-UK school or institution.If the registrant has a trading name you should put it in the ‘trad-name’ field.
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