Street Naming & Numbering

Clackmannanshire Council, under Section 97 of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, has the responsibility for naming and numbering new streets within the County, numbering new buildings erected on an existing street, naming buildings which are located on a street but where neighbouring properties do not have a street number and naming buildings which are not located on a street. Building Standards undertakes this responsibility on behalf of the Council.

New addresses are created in accordance with British Standard BS7666 which aims to provide a standardised address structure across the UK. As such it will sometimes not be possible to create an address exactly as a property owner may wish.

Where a new street name is required, a full consultation process is undertaken. This involves canvassing locally elected members, community councils, schools, etc for their proposals. When selecting a new street name, names are generally composed of two sections, the first section being a name commonly derived from, for example, the history of the site, a local historical event, a well known and respected employer, a famous piece of architecture or building, local folklore, a well respected member of the community or local landmark etc.

The second part of a street name is normally the descriptive element and in order to ensure that new street names best reflect the design, location, layout or topographical features of the road being named, the second part of a street name will be provided by Local Authority Officers.

This consultation process takes an average of 2 months so developers, be it companies or individuals, should request postal addresses at the earliest opportunity. After consultation, a report is sent to Council as all new street names have to be approved by the Council's Regulatory Committee.

Property Names

We recommend that house names are registered with the Building Standards Team to ensure they become a formal part of the address. As there are some occasions when it is impractical to number properties, the property name becomes the only unique identifier. Before property names are confirmed checks are carried out within the local vicinity to ensure that there is no duplication of names thereby limiting confusion with emergency services, delivery companies etc. To this end, it may not always be possible to register/accept an owner's suggested name.

Post Codes

Post codes are issued by the Royal Mail Address Development Centre after they receive notification of the official addresses from the Local Authority . The contact address for the issuing of post codes/post code enquiries is:
Royal Mail Address Development Centre
Admiral House, 2 Admiral Way
Doxford International Business Park
Sunderland
SR3 3XW

Publishing New Address

Once new street names/numbering/property names have been approved by the Local Authority, the Building Standards Team inform a standard list of organisations (currently 19) which include the Royal Mail, emergency services, Assessors for Central Scotland, utility companies, etc.

Royal Mail

The Royal Mail's website is regarded as the definitive source of addresses by delivery companies, banks, building societies etc. If an address has not been registered through the Council, the chances are that it will not be on the Royal Mail website and the above companies may decline to provide their services.

We endeavour to pass new addresses to the Royal Mail before there is any need for mail delivery. The Royal Mail record these addresses but do not publish them on their website until they are informed that the houses are ready for occupation. Subsequently these addresses cannot be viewed by other parties. It is the developers responsibility to inform the Royal Mail Address Development Centre when houses are ready for occupation. Contact details are as above.