Pass OS data on to third parties providing you with a service or support.
Public Sector Contractor Licence
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
- 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
- Standard Form Contractor LicenceDownload the template
- Simple Contractor LicenceDownload the template
Trademark acknowledgements
- Product names and trademarksAn extensive list of product names and trademarked brands registered to Ordnance Survey
- Crown CopyrightOur 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.
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 templateSimple 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