OS NGD Building Features

The OS NGD Building Features Collection gives you access to the most current and comprehensive buildings data captured by OS as a standalone collection.

Feature types in the collection

The collection is comprised of four feature types:

Building

A building geometry which represents a single building footprint.

Building Access Location

Feature which has a point geometry and represents the locations where pedestrians and / or vehicles can enter or exit a building.

Building Line

A feature which has a line geometry and represents a wall between two buildings, building internal divisions, or an overhanging building edge.

Building Part

Polygon feature representing either a complete separate building, or part of a larger building where internal divisions exist from ground to roof level which can be identified externally.

What it doesn't contain

The collection doesn't contain structures or mobile caravans.

OS NGD Buildings data limitations are noted on the known limitations page on the OS NGD Documentation site:

LogoKnown limitations | OS National Geographic Database

What differentiates the collection from the competition?

The OS NGD Building Features Collection is an authoritative, nationally consistent dataset that's quality assured against specifications.

As well as extensive attribution, it contains data source and change metadata.

It contains identifiers that allow buildings to be cross-referenced to corresponding addresses and sites.

Improvements offered by OS NGD Building Features when compared to buildings data within OS MasterMap Topography Layer include:

  • Daily updates: In comparison to the six-weekly updates to OS MasterMap Topography Layer, the OS NGD Buildings Theme is updated daily to ensure for the most current representation of buildings data for Great Britain.

  • Analytical design: The OS NGD Buildings Theme has been developed to drive more powerful analysis through enriched data attribution and design flexibility.

  • Tailored Access: By taking advantage of new access methods provided by the OS NGD (i.e. OS Select+Build), it is possible to obtain buildings data without the overhead of data management of surplus topographical features present in OS MasterMap Topography Layer. Using OS Select+Build you can you can quickly create your own tailored data package/s rather than taking a pre-selected OS product. For example, if you're only interested in buildings data, then you just select the OS NGD Buildings Theme or even just certain feature types within the theme. There's no need to take a larger product and spend time filtering out buildings data from it. You can also select data from different OS NGD collections to build your own bespoke data package/s.

  • Building Feature Type: A redesigned building geometry is provided to represent a single building footprint. The feature type co-exists alongside the Building Part Feature Type to allow for the greatest flexibility in building data analysis.

  • Enhanced attribution: Contains a wealth of information relating to building type, height, construction material, age, usage, number of floors, and roof material and shape.

Competitors

Key competitors providing similar data to the collection include:

  • OpenStreetMap – open crowd-sourced data

LogoBuildings - OpenStreetMap Wiki

  • Overture

LogoBuildings | Overture Maps Documentation

Detailed competitor insights, including information on additional competitors in this area, are available from Klue:

LogoKlue: We obsess about your competition so you don’t have to.kluein

Recent updates

In the March 2025 release, the OS NGD Building Features Collection received one new feature type (Building Access Location) and new attribution to an existing feature type (Building).

More information about the release is available from the What's New page of the OS NGD Documentation site:

LogoWhat's New? | OS National Geographic Database
OS NGD data enhancements released to customers in March 2025:

How the collection is used and what makes it valuable

A list of benefits of the collection and its feature types are available on OS NGD Building Features Collection documentation page of the OS NGD Documentation site:

LogoBuilding Features | OS National Geographic Database

Key use cases by sector

  • Land and Property: Identify possible opportunities to implement Green Energy solutions, supporting Net Zero initiatives.

  • Telecoms: Identify buildings upon which mobile network utilities could be located.

  • Financial Services: Understand the potential rebuild cost of a building and calculate risk analysis, underwriting policies and claims management.

  • Fire and Rescue: Identify buildings vulnerable to fire risk.

Customer case studies

LogoSupporting the emergency services with new data | OSOrdnance Survey
LogoUnlocking vital insight in less time | OSOrdnance Survey
LogoPower BI
Power BI Dashboard on OS NGD usage.

Technical details

Technical information on data included within the collection is included within the Using OS NGD data summary page of the OS NGD Documentation site:

LogoSummary | OS National Geographic Database

Access methods

The collection can be accessed through the OS Data Hub via:

  • OS Select+Build

  • OS NGD API – Features

  • OS NGD API – Tiles (only available for one feature type in the collection: Building Part)

Commercial terms

  • PSGA Members: Included under standard PSGA licence terms.

  • OS Partners: The collection is accessible via the following contracts:

    • Data Components

    • Online Viewing

    • Consumer Solutions

    • Developer

    • Distribution

    • Printed Products

    • Educational Services

Pricing can be either calculated on an area or a per-feature basis. Some feature attributes (for example, Building Age) carry additional royalty obligations.

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