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I have just added Bartlett Court to the map (http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=17/50.79826/-1.19637). It's a block of warden-assisted flats. I marked it as a generic residential building; can anyone suggest a better way of tagging it?

In the basic details, I also recorded the building's name. Bartlett Court has a street address on Elmore Road, so I opened the Address tab in Potlatch 2, and was given a second opportunity to record the name of the building.

Recording the same information in two places is just asking for trouble, especially if there's a computer involved, so which one should I leave blank?

asked 05 Aug '14, 22:38

Madryn's gravatar image

Madryn
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edited 06 Aug '14, 14:05

aseerel4c26's gravatar image

aseerel4c26 ♦
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There are two tags in which you can place the name of the building: the name tag , and the addr:housename tag.

I've read somewhere (tagging mailing list I think) that the latter should only be used in case the name of the house is part of the postal address. It is then an alternative for addr:housenumber.

I don't know which tag are filled in where within Potlatch.

So in this case I would just go for the name tag on the building outline

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answered 06 Aug '14, 08:29

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escada
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edited 06 Aug '14, 08:29

In a guesstimated 99,9% of cases, names should only go into "Name" field of Potlatch 2. The "Building Name" field is intended for the comparatively rare case of names that are part of a postal address. As the building in your example has a house number, it is probably not one of these special cases.

Within the OSM database, the "Name" field will fill in the name key, whereas the "Building Name" field fills in addr:housename.

When you are interested in subtle differences in meaning, it often helps to look into the "advanced" tab to find out which tags are hidden behind the user-friendly facade.

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answered 06 Aug '14, 09:15

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Tordanik
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edited 06 Aug '14, 09:18

I have removed the 'addr:housename' tag, as I really do not like the idea of recording the building name in two places. However, I wonder if this might be one of those 0.1% of cases where the building name does form part of the address. It might be quite reasonable to address a letter to:

Mr. A. N Other, Flat 1, Bartlett Court, 27 Elmore Road

... or have I misunderstood your answer?

(11 Aug '14, 22:45) Madryn
2

I don't know about Germany, but in the UK buildings with names which are significant components in the address, and which lack a number are quite common. It is also common for a numbered house to be demolished & replaced by a named block of apartments, the house number disappearing in the process (although it's previous existence is usually inferable). Usually the address is : Flat Number, Building Name, Street Name, Postcode. In most cases a new postcode will be assigned to the building, but when there is no streetnumber adding the name to addr:housename is important for postal purposes.

(12 Aug '14, 16:32) SK53 ♦
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question asked: 05 Aug '14, 22:38

question was seen: 4,761 times

last updated: 12 Aug '14, 16:32

NOTICE: help.openstreetmap.org is no longer in use from 1st March 2024. Please use the OpenStreetMap Community Forum