Public Sector Contractor Licence

As a PSGA member you can use the Public Sector Contractor Licence when a contractor provides works or services under a formal agreement.

This licence entitles you to

Pass OS data on to third parties providing you with a service or support.

  • PSGA members

Key features

For contractors providing works or services

The Public Sector Contractor Licence should be used where a contractor provides works or services to you under a formal agreement, which is typically charged.

A drafted licence for third parties

To help you meet the terms of your member licence, we’ve drafted a contractor licence you can use as a formal arrangement with the people and organisations you share the data with. You can use our version for free or include the relevant clauses into your own version.

Protection from liability

The licence helps you set out the relevant terms involved with OS data – and helps protect you from liability if the third party breaches the licence.

Licence agreement

Use cases
  • Use where a contractor provides works or services to you under a formal agreement, which is typically charged.
Customer suitability
  • PSGA members
Length of licence
Per contractor; lifespan dependent upon the scope of the works and/or service being provided.
Licence fee

Free with PSGA member licence

Terms and conditions

Legal advice

This draft doesn’t constitute legal advice and you should talk to your own legal advisers regarding the licence, including content, format, signing, witnessing and storage.

Temporary data use

You don’t need to use a licence to provide data to anyone outside your organisation who is working with your employees temporarily. They’ll be covered by the terms of your Public Sector Geospatial Agreement (PSGA) Member Licence.

One licence per contractor

This licence is not transferable, and you’ll need a new licence whenever you work with a new contractor. If for any reason your own member licence ends, we will also consider that your contractor licence will end automatically at the same time.

Do we need to enter into the 'standard form contractor licence' whenever we provide OS data or OS derived data to a contractor?

No, but you do need to enter into a contractor licence which contains a number of restrictions and obligations, as set out in clause 2.7.1 of the PSGA Member Licence.A number of members were unsure as to which restrictions and obligations needed to be contained in the contractor licence, and so OS drafted the standard form contractor licence. If members use the standard form contractor licence, they can be sure that this contains the required restrictions and obligations.

Do I need to use the contractor licence each time I supply OS data to a contractor? Or can I use one contractor licence to cover all current and future supplies of OS data for a single project?

You can use one contractor licence per project. However, it is up to you how you administer these i.e. per contractor, per request of data (per contractor), or per project (per contractor).

Does the contractor licence, or standard form contractor licence cover everything we need to know when we provide OS data to a contractor?

The contractor licence (or standard form contractor licence) only relates to the OS data (or OS derived data) that you are providing to your contractor. You will of course need to agree suitable terms with your contractor to govern other aspects of your relationship. This could be the work that your contractor will be doing for you, how much you will be paying your contractor, and any other equipment or data that you will be providing to your contractor (or your contractor will provide to you).

Do we need to keep records about our use of contractors?

Yes, Although OS will not normally need to see any contractor licence you issue, there are occasions when they are requested.

Can a contractor be an individual?

Yes.

What are the liability clauses in the standard form contractor licence about?

They concern how much you and your contractor will need to pay to the other, in the event that something goes wrong.

Are the liabilities for breaches of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) capped?

No, Should it become necessary, OS is entitled to recover from you all amounts lawfully due in respect of breaches of OS IPR made by you and your contractors.

What happens in the event of an IPR breach?

Unfortunately, it is not possible to answer this question with definitive guidelines, because any case needs consideration on an individual basis.

We are terminating a contractor licence; what can the contractor retain?

From the point the contract is terminated, the contractor can only keep an archive copy of the OS (or OS derived) data.

Do we need to use a contractor licence with OS OpenData?

No, so long as the only data products involved are OS OpenData products, data derived from them, or data that has been granted an exemption on OGL terms. However, if you mix OS licensed data and OS OpenData (including OS derived data that has been exempted on OGL terms), then you will need to use a contractor licence.

Third party OS data entitlements

Dependant on what data is being used

Documents and support

Draft licence template

Trademark acknowledgements

  • Product names and trademarks
    An extensive list of product names and trademarked brands registered to Ordnance Survey
    link
  • Crown Copyright
    Our data and our brand are protected by a variety of intellectual property (IP) rights (including copyright, database rights and trade marks), and our primary income comes from licensing these IP rights to Government, public sector organisations, commercial businesses and consumers.
    link

Need further support?

Get in touch to ask us questions about licensing OS data.

Get this licence

Key features
  • For contractors providing works or services
  • A drafted licence for third parties
  • Protection from liability
This licence entitles you to

Pass OS data on to third parties providing you with a service or support.

Length of licence
Per contractor; lifespan dependent upon the scope of the works and/or service being provided.

How to apply

Standard Form Contractor Licence template

We’ve drafted a full template for you to complete and share with your contractor.

Download template

Simple Contractor Licence template

Use our ‘simple template’ to copy, paste and adapt as you need. Remember, if you edit, add or delete any clauses, you must remove OS branding.

Download template

Need further support?

Get in touch to ask us questions about licensing OS data.

Contact us