Vocabulary
The terms and categories schemaGov defines itself, for concepts no existing standard already covers.
Download full vocabulary (Turtle)Conformance level
The level of schemaGov a publisher has finished. There are three levels, so a government can publish something useful right away instead of finishing every field on day one. schemaGov checks each claim — it never just takes your word for it.
Definition: Conformance level
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
core |
Core | Has a Jurisdiction and an Organization, kept separate, each with its own @id and at least one identifier. |
standard |
Standard | Meets Core, fills in every required field for each profile you use, makes every reference resolve, and places every organization in the territorial hierarchy. |
extended |
Extended | Meets Standard, adds the recommended optional fields, and links to the source standard the data comes from in a form a computer can read. |
Government level
The level a government sits at. It's worded to work in any country. Local names vary a lot - commune, municipio, kommun, ward, prefecture. Pick the closest term here, and put the local name in an identifier or alternateName instead of asking for a new one.
Definition: Government level
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
supranational |
Supranational | A body above the national level, like the European Union. |
national |
National | The country itself. Matches the country codes in ISO 3166-1. |
regional |
Regional | The first level below the country: a state, province, region, land, or canton. Matches ISO 3166-2. |
subregional |
Subregional | The second level below the country: a county, district, department, or prefecture. |
municipal |
Municipal | A local government: a city, municipality, commune, town, or borough. |
submunicipal |
Submunicipal | A part of a municipality: a ward, parish, neighbourhood council, or arrondissement. |
specialPurpose |
Special purpose | A body set up to do one job instead of govern an area, like a school district, transit authority, or water board. |
indigenous |
Indigenous | An Indigenous, tribal, or First Nations government. It stands on its own here instead of nesting under another level, because its authority doesn't always come from a territory. |
Government organization classification
What kind of body this is. It follows two existing standards: Popolo and the W3C Organization Ontology.
Definition: Government organization classification
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
legislature |
Legislature | An elected group that debates and decides: a council, assembly, parliament, or board of supervisors. |
executive |
Executive | The head of government's own office: the mayor's office, a cabinet, or a city manager's office. |
department |
Department | A unit that delivers services under the executive. |
agency |
Agency | A body with power the executive has handed off, often at arm's length from it. |
committee |
Committee | A smaller group inside a legislature or board, usually focused on one subject. |
commission |
Commission | An appointed body that reviews, advises, or acts like a court on specific matters. |
court |
Court | A court. |
office |
Office | An office held by one person, like an auditor or ombudsman. |
enterprise |
Public enterprise | A business the government owns, like a utility, transit operator, or port authority. |
Role classification
How an office is filled. Kept small and based on the mechanism rather than the title, because job titles don't translate across countries, but how someone gets the job does.
Definition: Role classification
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
elected |
Elected | Filled by public vote. |
appointed |
Appointed | Filled by another officeholder or body's decision. |
employed |
Employed | Filled through a hiring process — a staff job, not a government office. |
exOfficio |
Ex officio | Comes automatically with another office. Whoever holds that other Post holds this one too. |
volunteer |
Volunteer | Unpaid, usually on an advisory board or commission. |
hereditary |
Hereditary | Passed down through inheritance. Rare, but real in some countries, so those systems don't have to misreport it as 'appointed'. |
Codification level
Where a piece of legislation sits within a code. schema.org lets you nest one part inside another (hasPart) but never says what kind of part it is — this fills that gap. Legal systems use different tiers in different orders, so publish whatever tier your own code uses and rely on isPartOf to show the actual nesting, rather than assuming every code has the same depth.
Definition: Codification level
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
code |
Code | The whole body of law, consolidated into one code. |
title |
Title | A top-level grouping, common in US municipal codes. |
book |
Book | A top-level grouping, common in civil-law codes. |
part |
Part | A grouping below title or book. |
division |
Division | A grouping below part. |
chapter |
Chapter | A grouping below division, or the top-level grouping where a code has no title or book. |
article |
Article | The main numbered unit in most civil-law systems. |
section |
Section | The main numbered unit in most common-law systems. |
subsection |
Subsection | A grouping below section. |
paragraph |
Paragraph | A grouping below subsection, usually the smallest numbered unit. |
schedule |
Schedule | Extra material at the end of a document that still carries legal force. |
annex |
Annex | Extra material at the end of a document — the usual term in EU and civil-law drafting. |
Legislation type
The kind of legislative document this is. Kept broad on purpose, since the same word means different things in different legal systems. Pick whichever term comes closest, and put the local name in alternateName.
Definition: Legislation type
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
code |
Code | A consolidated body of law, like a municipal code. |
ordinance |
Ordinance | A local law meant to apply generally and permanently. |
resolution |
Resolution | A statement of position or an administrative decision, usually without lasting legal force. |
bylaw |
By-law | A local law — the usual term in Commonwealth countries. |
act |
Act | Primary legislation passed by a national or regional legislature. |
regulation |
Regulation | Secondary legislation made using power an act hands down. |
decree |
Decree | An order issued by an executive authority. |
directive |
Directive | An instrument that requires a result but leaves the method up to whoever carries it out. |
motion |
Motion | A proposal put to a group for a decision. |
charter |
Charter | The document that sets up the government itself. |
Decision result
What a body decided. Agenda items and votes share this list, so both kinds of outcome use the same terms. No result recorded means it hasn't been decided yet, which is different from deciding to take no action.
Definition: Decision result
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
adopted |
Adopted | Agreed as proposed. For an agenda item. |
rejected |
Rejected | Not agreed. For an agenda item. |
amended |
Amended | Agreed, but in a changed form. For an agenda item. |
deferred |
Deferred | Put off to a later meeting. For an agenda item. |
referred |
Referred | Sent to another body to consider. For an agenda item. |
withdrawn |
Withdrawn | Pulled before a decision was made. For an agenda item or a vote. |
noAction |
No action | Considered, then deliberately left alone. For an agenda item. |
received |
Received | Noted, with no decision needed — for example, a report. For an agenda item. |
passed |
Passed | The motion carried. For a vote. |
failed |
Failed | The motion did not carry. For a vote. |
tied |
Tied | Equal votes on each side. What happens next depends on the body's tie-breaking rule. For a vote. |
Vote option
How a member's vote is recorded. Being absent is kept separate from abstaining, because they mean different things. Abstaining is a choice; being absent isn't. Some systems count them differently toward a required majority.
Definition: Vote option
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
yes |
Yes | In favor. Aye, for, ja, oui. |
no |
No | Against. Nay, contra. |
abstain |
Abstain | Present, but chose not to vote. |
absent |
Absent | Not present for the vote. |
excused |
Excused | Absent with the body's permission, often because of a conflict of interest. |
notVoting |
Not voting | Present, but recorded as not voting — where the system tracks this separately from abstaining. |
Service request status
Open311 GeoReport v2 only defines open and closed. That hides what residents most want to know: has anyone started on this yet? These terms add that detail, and still map back to Open311 - anything but closed, rejected, or duplicate maps to open.
Definition: Service request status
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
open |
Open | Received, not yet being worked on. Maps to Open311 open. |
inProgress |
In progress | Assigned and being worked on. Maps to Open311 open. |
onHold |
On hold | Acknowledged, but stuck — for example, waiting on a contractor or a season. Maps to Open311 open. |
closed |
Closed | The work is finished. Maps to Open311 closed. |
rejected |
Rejected | Closed with no action, for example because it's outside the authority's job. Maps to Open311 closed — but keeping this separate stops a resident from reporting the same thing again. |
duplicate |
Duplicate | Closed because it was already reported. Maps to Open311 closed. |
Budget direction
Whether a budget line is money coming in, money going out, or a financing move. This is required on every line, because a number alone doesn't tell you which way the money flows.
Definition: Budget direction
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
revenue |
Revenue | Money received: taxes, grants, fees, fines. |
expenditure |
Expenditure | Money spent to deliver government services. |
financing |
Financing | Changes in assets and debts: borrowing, paying back loans, moving money to reserves. |
Budget phase
Where a figure sits in the budget cycle, as the Fiscal Data Package defines it. Publishers skip this field more than any other. But it matters most: a proposed figure and an executed figure for the same line are different numbers. Comparing them without knowing which is which gives you nonsense.
Definition: Budget phase
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
proposed |
Proposed | Put forward by the executive, before the legislature has acted. |
approved |
Approved | Adopted by the legislature. The legally binding budget. |
adjusted |
Adjusted | Approved, then changed during the year through a supplemental appropriation or transfer. |
executed |
Executed | What was actually spent or received. Usually final only after an audit. |
COFOG functional classification
The United Nations' Classification of the Functions of Government, first-level divisions only. It's what makes budgets comparable across countries: every country organizes its government differently, but 'how much goes to health' means the same thing everywhere. COFOG has three levels; only the ten divisions are listed here, so publishers can still use fuller codes like 07.3 or 07.3.1 as the actual value.
Definition: COFOG functional classification
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
01 |
General public services | Running the government itself: executive and legislative bodies, financial and fiscal affairs, foreign affairs, and public debt. |
02 |
Defence | Defence. |
03 |
Public order and safety | Police, fire protection, courts, and prisons. |
04 |
Economic affairs | Transport, agriculture, fuel and energy, communication, and general economic and labor affairs. |
05 |
Environmental protection | Waste and wastewater management, pollution control, and biodiversity. |
06 |
Housing and community amenities | Housing development, community development, water supply, and street lighting. |
07 |
Health | Health. |
08 |
Recreation, culture and religion | Recreation, sports, culture, and broadcasting. |
09 |
Education | Education. |
10 |
Social protection | Sickness and disability, old age, family and children, unemployment, and housing support. |
GFSM economic classification
The IMF's Government Finance Statistics Manual, main categories only. COFOG says what the money is for. This says what kind of transaction it is - salaries, goods, interest, capital. Publishers can still use fuller GFSM subcodes as the value.
Definition: GFSM economic classification
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
11 |
Taxes | Taxes. |
12 |
Social contributions | Social contributions. |
13 |
Grants received | Grants, including money from other governments. |
14 |
Other revenue | Fees, fines, sales of goods and services, and income from property. |
21 |
Compensation of employees | Wages, salaries, and social contributions paid to employees. |
22 |
Use of goods and services | Goods and services bought. |
23 |
Consumption of fixed capital | Depreciation. |
24 |
Interest | Interest paid on debt. |
25 |
Subsidies | Subsidies paid. |
26 |
Grants paid | Grants paid, including to other governments. |
27 |
Social benefits | Social benefits paid. |
28 |
Other expense | Other expenses. |
31 |
Nonfinancial assets | Buying or selling fixed assets, like buildings or equipment. |
32 |
Financial assets | Buying or selling financial assets, like shares or loans made. |
33 |
Liabilities | Borrowing and repaying debt. |
Award status
The state of a decision to award a contract, following OCDS.
Definition: Award status
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
pending |
Pending | Decided, but not yet in force. |
active |
Active | In force. |
cancelled |
Cancelled | Pulled back after being made. |
unsuccessful |
Unsuccessful | A bid that didn't win. Publishing these, not just the winner, is what lets people check that a competition was fair. |
Contract status
The state of a signed agreement, following OCDS. 'Terminated' and 'cancelled' differ. One started and ended early. The other never started.
Definition: Contract status
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
pending |
Pending | Agreed, but not yet in force. |
active |
Active | In force. |
cancelled |
Cancelled | Never came into force. |
terminated |
Terminated | Came into force, then ended early. |
Party role
What an organization does in a procurement process, following OCDS. One organization can hold several roles in one process. That's why roles belong to the party, not to wherever it shows up.
Definition: Party role
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
buyer |
Buyer | The organization whose budget pays. |
procuringEntity |
Procuring entity | The organization running the process. Not always the same as the buyer. |
tenderer |
Tenderer | Submitted a bid. Publishing every tenderer, not just the winner, is what lets people check that a competition was fair. |
supplier |
Supplier | Won a contract. |
payer |
Payer | Paid money in the process. |
payee |
Payee | Received money in the process. |
funder |
Funder | Provided the money, often a different level of government or a donor. |
reviewBody |
Review body | Handles complaints and challenges to the process. |
Procurement category
The broad kind of thing being bought, following OCDS. Kept coarse on purpose — use the classification field with CPV, UNSPSC, or NIGP codes for detail.
Definition: Procurement category
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
goods |
Goods | Physical products. |
works |
Works | Construction and civil engineering. |
services |
Services | Services. |
consultingServices |
Consulting services | Advisory work, kept separate from other services because many procurement rules apply different thresholds to it. |
Procurement method
How bids were invited, following OCDS. This field makes non-competitive awards visible. Publishing it is what lets anyone ask how much government spending was never put out to competition - a question no number of published contracts can answer on its own.
Definition: Procurement method
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
open |
Open | Any interested supplier can bid. |
selective |
Selective | Only pre-qualified suppliers can bid. |
limited |
Limited | A small number of suppliers are invited directly. |
direct |
Direct | Given to one supplier with no competition. Always publish procurementMethodRationale alongside this — a sole-source award with no stated reason is the most common finding in procurement audits. |
Tender status
The stage a solicitation has reached, following OCDS. Kept apart from award and contract status, since 'active' means something different at each stage.
Definition: Tender status
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
planning |
Planning | A future procurement is being considered. |
planned |
Planned | A future procurement is intended and has been announced. |
active |
Active | Open for bids. |
cancelled |
Cancelled | Dropped before it was completed. |
unsuccessful |
Unsuccessful | Completed, with no award made. |
complete |
Complete | Completed, with an award made. |
withdrawn |
Withdrawn | Pulled before bidding opened. |
Access rights
Whether the data itself, not just its listing, is available. Publishing details about restricted data is fine. Not saying it's restricted is not.
Definition: Access rights
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
public |
Public | Anyone can get the data. |
restricted |
Restricted | Anyone can see the listing, but getting the data itself needs permission. |
nonPublic |
Non-public | Only the publishing body can access the data. |
Data theme
The subject of a published dataset, using codes from the EU's data-theme vocabulary. DCAT-AP uses the same codes, and so do open-data portals across Europe. Using them keeps everything lined up.
Definition: Data theme
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
AGRI |
Agriculture, fisheries, forestry and food | Agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and food. |
ECON |
Economy and finance | Economy and finance, including budgets and public spending. |
EDUC |
Education, culture and sport | Education, culture, and sport. |
ENER |
Energy | Energy. |
ENVI |
Environment | Environment. |
GOVE |
Government and public sector | Government and public sector, including organizational structure, meetings, legislation, and procurement. |
HEAL |
Health | Health. |
INTR |
International issues | International issues. |
JUST |
Justice, legal system and public safety | Justice, legal system, and public safety. |
OP_DATPRO |
Provisional data | Provisional data — categories still being defined. |
REGI |
Regions and cities | Regions and cities. |
SOCI |
Population and society | Population and society. |
TECH |
Science and technology | Science and technology. |
TRAN |
Transport | Transport. |
Alert category
The subject of a public warning. These codes come from CAP 1.2 (OASIS), the standard most alert systems already use. Using the same codes means a warning actually reaches people, instead of getting lost because it used a system nobody else recognizes.
Definition: Alert category
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
geo |
Geophysical | Earthquake, landslide, tsunami, or volcanic activity. |
met |
Meteorological | Storm, flood, extreme heat or cold, or wildfire weather. |
safety |
General emergency and public safety | A general safety hazard. |
security |
Law enforcement, military, homeland and local security | A security threat. |
rescue |
Rescue and recovery | A search-and-rescue situation. |
fire |
Fire suppression and rescue | A fire. |
health |
Medical and public health | A public health emergency, like the ones schema.org's SpecialAnnouncement was built for. |
env |
Pollution and environmental | Includes boil-water notices and air quality warnings. |
transport |
Public and private transportation | Road closures or transit disruption. |
infra |
Utility, telecommunication and other non-transport infrastructure | Water main breaks or power outages. |
cbrne |
Chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive threat | A chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive hazard. |
other |
Other | Anything that doesn't fit the other categories. |
Alert scope
Who the alert is meant to reach, using the same codes as CAP 1.2 (OASIS). This field is required because sending a restricted or private alert to a public endpoint defeats the whole point of marking it that way.
Definition: Alert scope
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
public |
Public | Anyone can see it. |
restricted |
Restricted | Only people who share a specific, known need can see it. |
private |
Private | Only the people it's addressed to can see it. |
Alert status
What this alert message is for, using the same codes as CAP 1.2 (OASIS). Never show anything but 'actual' to the public as a real warning — publishing a test or drill without this field is dangerous, which is why it's required.
Definition: Alert status
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
actual |
Actual | A real, actionable alert. |
exercise |
Exercise | A drill. Treat it as practice, never as real. |
system |
System | A message for system or network operators, not the public. |
test |
Test | A technical test. Ignore it. |
draft |
Draft | Not sent yet — an early version. |
Certainty
How sure the sender is that the event will happen, or already did. Shown next to severity, so people can tell a shaky guess apart from something confirmed.
Definition: Certainty
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
observed |
Observed | Confirmed to be happening or to have happened. |
likely |
Likely | More likely than not. |
possible |
Possible | Could happen, but isn't likely. |
unlikely |
Unlikely | Not expected to happen. |
unknown |
Unknown | Not known. |
Message type
What this alert message does, using the same codes as CAP 1.2 (OASIS). An update or cancel message must point back to the alert it replaces, or people will see the old and new warning side by side.
Definition: Message type
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
alert |
Alert | Shares new information about a situation. |
update |
Update | Replaces an earlier alert with new information. |
cancel |
Cancel | Cancels an earlier alert. |
ack |
Acknowledgement | Confirms an earlier message was received. |
error |
Error | Reports that a message was rejected. |
Response type
What the public should do, using the same codes as CAP 1.2 (OASIS). This is separate from the free-text instruction so a system can act on it automatically — a phone can override silent mode for 'evacuate' but not for 'monitor'.
Definition: Response type
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
shelter |
Shelter | Take shelter now, or as instructed. |
evacuate |
Evacuate | Leave the area, as instructed. |
prepare |
Prepare | Get ready. |
execute |
Execute | Carry out a plan you already have in place. |
avoid |
Avoid | Stay away from the hazard or the area. |
monitor |
Monitor | Keep watching for more information. |
assess |
Assess | Evaluate the situation. Meant for responders, not the public. |
allClear |
All clear | The danger has passed. |
none |
None | No action needed. |
Severity
How serious the threat to life or property is, using the same codes as CAP 1.2 (OASIS).
Definition: Severity
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
extreme |
Extreme | An extraordinary threat to life or property. |
severe |
Severe | A significant threat to life or property. |
moderate |
Moderate | A possible threat to life or property. |
minor |
Minor | Little to no known threat to life or property. |
unknown |
Unknown | Not known. |
Urgency
How soon people need to act, using the same codes as CAP 1.2 (OASIS). Combined with severity and certainty, this tells a receiving system whether to interrupt someone right now.
Definition: Urgency
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
immediate |
Immediate | Act right away. |
expected |
Expected | Act soon, within the hour. |
future |
Future | Act in the near future. |
past |
Past | No longer needs a response. |
unknown |
Unknown | Not known. |
Permit status
Where an application has reached. Refusals, withdrawals, and revocations are included on purpose. That way the data can show how many applications actually succeed, not just the ones that were granted.
Definition: Permit status
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
applied |
Applied | Received. Not yet reviewed in detail. |
underReview |
Under review | Being assessed. |
approved |
Approved | Decided in favor, but not yet issued — for example, waiting on fees. |
issued |
Issued | Granted and in force. |
refused |
Refused | Decided against. |
withdrawn |
Withdrawn | Pulled by the applicant before a decision was made. |
expired |
Expired | Lapsed without being used, or past its valid dates. |
revoked |
Revoked | Pulled by the authority after being issued. |
completed |
Completed | The work is finished and signed off. |
Permit type
The kind of permission a government grants. Kept broad and based on the mechanism, not the local name - the same permission is a building permit in one country and a Baugenehmigung in another. A list of national names wouldn't travel.
Definition: Permit type
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
building |
Building | Permission to build or change a structure. |
demolition |
Demolition | Permission to tear a structure down. |
planning |
Planning | Permission to change land use or start a development, separate from permission to build. |
occupancy |
Occupancy | Permission to occupy or use a finished structure. |
business |
Business licence | Permission to run a business. |
trade |
Trade or professional licence | Permission for a person to work in a regulated trade. |
event |
Event | Permission to hold a public event or gathering. |
sign |
Signage | Permission to put up signage or advertising. |
alcohol |
Alcohol | Permission to sell or serve alcohol. |
environmental |
Environmental | Permission for a regulated environmental activity, like discharge, extraction, or tree removal. |
excavation |
Excavation or right of way | Permission to dig up or occupy public land. |
transport |
Transport | Permission related to vehicles, hauling, or running public transport. |
other |
Other | Anything that doesn't fit the other types. |
Work type
The kind of construction a permit covers. Telling a new build apart from an alteration turns permit data into a real measure of housing supply, not just a compliance record.
Definition: Work type
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
newBuild |
New build | Building a new structure. |
extension |
Extension | Making an existing structure bigger. |
alteration |
Alteration | Changing a structure, inside or out, without making it bigger. |
changeOfUse |
Change of use | Changing how a structure is used, without any physical work. |
demolition |
Demolition | Tearing a structure down. |
repair |
Repair | Restoring a structure to its earlier condition. |
temporary |
Temporary | Work or structures meant to last only a limited time. |
Candidacy result
How a candidacy ended. Withdrawn and disqualified are kept apart from just losing. A candidate who never faced voters isn't the same as one who lost. Mixing them up throws off every result calculated afterward.
Definition: Candidacy result
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
elected |
Elected | Won a seat. |
notElected |
Not elected | Ran and did not win. |
withdrawn |
Withdrawn | Dropped out before the election. |
disqualified |
Disqualified | Removed from the ballot by the body running the election. |
tied |
Tied | Tied for the highest vote count. What happens next depends on local tie-breaking rules. |
Contest type
Whether a contest fills an office or decides a question. Ballot measures sit here too. They're on the same ballot and reported the same way, even though one has candidates and the other has proposals.
Definition: Contest type
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
office |
Office | A contest to fill one or more seats. |
ballotMeasure |
Ballot measure | A proposal, referendum question, or bond measure put to voters. |
Election status
Whether an election is coming up, already happened, or didn't happen as planned. Cancelled and postponed elections stay on the record. An election that was called and then didn't happen is still part of the history.
Definition: Election status
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
scheduled |
Scheduled | Called, but not yet held. |
completed |
Completed | Held, with results reported. |
cancelled |
Cancelled | Called, then never held. |
postponed |
Postponed | Pushed back to a later date. |
Election type
What kind of election this is. Includes referendums and recalls — they're run and reported the same way as elections, even though no one is being elected to an office.
Definition: Election type
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
general |
General | The regular election where offices are due to be filled. |
primary |
Primary | An election to pick a party's candidates. |
runoff |
Runoff | A second round after the first round didn't produce a clear winner. |
special |
Special | An election called outside the normal schedule, usually to fill a vacancy. |
byElection |
By-election | An election for a single vacant seat, held partway through a term. The term used in Commonwealth countries for a special election. |
referendum |
Referendum | A question put directly to voters. |
recall |
Recall | A vote on removing an officeholder before their term ends. |
indirect |
Indirect | Chosen by an electoral college or a sitting body instead of by voters directly. |
Electoral system
How votes turn into results. Required on every contest, since a result means nothing without it. 40% wins outright under first-past-the-post, forces a runoff under a two-round system, and earns only a share of seats under a party list. Naming the system lets this profile work in any country.
Definition: Electoral system
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
fptp |
First past the post | One seat. Most votes wins. No majority needed. |
blockVote |
Block vote | Several seats. Each voter gets as many votes as there are seats. The highest totals win. |
twoRound |
Two-round | A second round between the leading candidates if no one clears the threshold in the first round. |
partyList |
Party-list proportional | Seats go to parties in proportion to their share of the vote. |
stv |
Single transferable vote | Several seats, ranked ballots. Extra and eliminated votes transfer to other candidates. |
mmp |
Mixed-member proportional | Some seats come from constituencies, and list seats top up the total to make it proportional. |
parallel |
Parallel or mixed | Constituency seats and list seats are counted separately, with no top-up between them. |
rankedChoice |
Ranked choice (instant runoff) | One seat, ranked ballots. The last-place candidate is eliminated and their votes transfer until someone has a majority. |
approval |
Approval | Voters can approve as many candidates as they like. Most approvals wins. |
indirect |
Indirect | Chosen by an electoral college or a sitting body instead of directly by voters. |
Life event
What's happening in someone's life that a service relates to. People look for services by what's going on for them - having a baby, losing a job, moving house - not by which department runs the service. That's why the EU Single Digital Gateway sorts services this way. Kept broad on purpose: the department that issues a birth certificate differs everywhere, but the fact of a birth doesn't.
Definition: Life event
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
birth |
Birth | Registering a birth, parental leave, child benefits. |
death |
Death | Registering a death, probate, bereavement support. |
education |
Education | School admission, further and higher education, student support. |
employment |
Employment | Starting work, employment rights, workplace rules. |
unemployment |
Unemployment | Looking for work, income support, retraining. |
housing |
Housing | Social housing, homelessness support, tenancy. |
moving |
Moving home | Changing address, local registration, utilities. |
marriage |
Marriage or partnership | Registering a marriage, ending one, changing your name. |
family |
Family | Childcare, adoption, caregiving. |
health |
Health | Registering with health services, entitlements, records. |
disability |
Disability | Assessments, home adaptations, support payments. |
retirement |
Retirement | Pensions, concessions, later-life support. |
business |
Business | Registering a business, licensing, premises, trading. |
vehicle |
Vehicle and driving | Licensing, registration, parking. |
tax |
Tax | Assessment, payment, relief. |
benefits |
Benefits and support | Income and means-tested support. |
immigration |
Immigration and residence | Residence, citizenship, paperwork. |
justice |
Justice | Courts, legal aid, complaints and appeals. |
environment |
Environment | Waste, recycling, pollution, land. |
other |
Other | Anything that doesn't fit the other categories. |
Service status
Whether a service is available right now, following HSDS. 'Defunct' is kept apart from 'temporarily closed', since people need to know if it's worth checking back. 'Inactive' is kept apart from both - a service can exist on paper without being delivered.
Definition: Service status
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
active |
Active | Being delivered right now. |
temporarilyClosed |
Temporarily closed | Not being delivered right now, but expected to start again. |
inactive |
Inactive | Still exists, but isn't being delivered, with no date to start again. |
defunct |
Defunct | Discontinued for good. Kept on record instead of deleted, so links to it keep working. |
Digital service phase
The life of a digital government service, as the UK GOV.UK Service Manual describes it: discovery, alpha, beta, live and retirement. It is for digital services only. It is not a lifecycle for projects in general. Other kinds of work use other schemes, and a project points to its own scheme by identifier. 'Retired' names the state. The Service Manual's 'retirement' names the act. Private beta and public beta sit inside the beta phase in the Service Manual. Here they are narrower terms of beta. That is a local choice, not a separate GOV.UK phase. The position number gives the order, so an application can draw a timeline. A narrower term comes after the term it narrows.
Definition: Digital service phase
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
discovery |
Discovery | Finding out what users need and whether the problem is worth solving. |
alpha |
Alpha | Testing ways to solve the problem with prototypes. |
beta |
Beta | Building the service for real and testing it with users. |
private-beta |
Private beta | Beta with a small group of invited users. Narrower than beta. |
public-beta |
Public beta | Beta open to anyone who needs the service. It starts after a beta assessment. Narrower than beta. |
live |
Live | Open to everyone and run as a normal service. It keeps improving. |
retired |
Retired | Withdrawn from use. |
Milestone status
Whether a milestone has been reached. The values are those of the Open Contracting Data Standard. This is a separate list from project status, because 'paused' and 'cancelled' mean nothing for a single milestone.
Definition: Milestone status
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
scheduled |
Scheduled | Expected on the due date. Not yet checked. |
met |
Met | Reached. Record the date in dateMet. |
notMet |
Not met | Checked and not reached. |
partiallyMet |
Partially met | Checked and only partly reached. |
Project status
Whether work on a project is happening now. It is kept coarse on purpose. It does not say where the project is in its lifecycle (that is the phase) or how well it is going (health, not covered). A digital service in beta and a bridge under construction are both 'active'. Workflow states such as 'blocked' or 'awaiting approval' belong in the project tool, not here. The schema.org action status list is not used: it is made for actions and has no paused, cancelled or proposed. The Open Contracting for Infrastructure standard puts lifecycle stages and 'cancelled' in one list. Here only 'cancelled' is a status.
Definition: Project status
| Code | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
proposed |
Proposed | Put forward, but not yet agreed or funded. |
planned |
Planned | Approved, but work has not started. |
active |
Active | Work is under way. |
paused |
Paused | Started, then stopped. It is expected to start again. |
completed |
Completed | Finished. What it produced may still be in use. |
cancelled |
Cancelled | Stopped for good before it finished. |