How to read a .co.uk registry record

A Nominet record looks sparse next to a .com record, but each field carries meaning.

Registrar and IPS tag

The registrar is the company that manages the domain on your behalf. Its IPS tag (for example GRID or 123-REG) is what you need when moving a .uk domain: instead of an authorisation code, you ask the current registrar to change the tag to the new registrar's. Our Registry facet shows the tag next to the registrar name.

Dates

• Registered is the original registration date and does not change when the domain renews.
• Expires is the date the current registration period ends. Nominet allows a 30-day grace period after expiry, then a further period during which the domain is suspended before deletion. Renew before the expiry date; the whois.me.uk finding DOMAIN-EXPIRES-SOON warns you 30 days out.
• Updated changes whenever the record is modified, including renewals and nameserver changes.

Data validation

Nominet checks the registrant's name and address against third-party data. "Nominet was able to match..." means the details were validated. An unvalidated registrant may be asked to prove their details, and a domain can be suspended if they cannot.

Registrant type

Individuals, UK limited companies, LLPs, charities, sole traders, foreign companies and others. Company registrants usually show the company number, which you can cross-check at Companies House.

Status

Most .uk records show clientTransferProhibited, clientDeleteProhibited and clientUpdateProhibited, which are ordinary registrar locks. serverHold or clientHold means the domain has been removed from DNS and needs attention. The Registry facet explains every code inline.

Nameservers

The delegation the registry publishes. If these do not match what the domain's own nameservers say, the DNS facet raises DNS-NS-SET-MISMATCH.