Key:ref

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ref
Description
Used for reference numbers or codes. Common for roads, highway exits, routes, etc.
Group: References
Used on these elements
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"ref" stands for "reference" and is used for reference numbers or codes. Common for roads, highway exits, routes, etc. It is also used for shops and amenities that are numbered officially as part of a retail brand or network respectively.

This key and variations are frequently used to avoid the use of relations.

Key variations

• ref=*
• int_ref=*
• nat_ref=*
• reg_ref=*
• loc_ref=*
• old_ref=*
• unsigned_ref=*

For cycle routes:

• ncn_ref=*
• rcn_ref=*
• lcn_ref=*

There is a wide use of ref:* as a namespace prefix. A selection of frequently used variations is listed here :

key	used on	description	see also	taginfo count (25 June 2018)
ref:ctb=*	highway=bus_stop	Signposted on Citybus & NWFB bus stops		1651
ref:kmb=*	highway=bus_stop	Signposted on KMB & LW bus stops		3199
ref:INSEE=*	admin_level=*	INSEE code of the French communes		77693
ref:isil=*	library	International Standard Identifier for Libraries		1539
ref:mhs=*	heritage=*	id in the French database Mérimée of historic monuments		34120
ref:nid=*	heritage=*	id in Narodowy Instytut Dziedzictwa historic monuments		10634
ref:nrhp=*	heritage=*	identifiers for (United States) National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) records 22	NRHP advanced search	3626
ref:rce=*	heritage=*	id in Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed		4528
ref:bic=*	heritage=*	identifiers for (Spain) Bien de Interés Cultural (BIC)	Bienes culturales protegidos by the Spanish Government.	527
ref:sandre=*	river	ref of the French Sandre agency	WikiProject France/Cours d'eau	52151
ref:svhl=*		station-keys of Lübecker Stadtverkehr (Germany)	Lübeck/Importe	2322
ref:whc=*	heritage=*	id of the Unesco World Heritage		1464
ref:ERDF:gdo=*	line or substation	Id of French power distribution facilities		1801
ref:FR:PTT=*	central_office	Id of French telephone copper local loops facilities		617
ref:bag=*		Id of Dutch buildings	BAGimport	10112655
ref:De_Lijn=*	bus_stop/platform node, route, route_master	signposted on bus/tram stops in and around Flanders, Belgium	WikiProject_Belgium/De_Lijndata	38318
ref:TECB=*	bus_stop/platform node, route, route_master	signposted on bus stops in and around Brabant-Wallon, Wallonia, Belgium	TEC data import	3602
ref:TECC=*	bus_stop/platform node, route, route_master	signposted on bus stops in and around Charleroi, Wallonia, Belgium	TEC data import	3398
ref:TECH=*	bus_stop/platform node, route, route_master	signposted on bus stops in and around Hainaut, Wallonia, Belgium	TEC data import	5638
ref:TECL=*	bus_stop/platform node, route, route_master	signposted on bus stops in and around Liège-Verviers, Wallonia, Belgium	TEC data import	9316
ref:TECN=*	bus_stop/platform node, route, route_master	signposted on bus stops in and around Namur, Wallonia, Belgium	TEC data import	5357
ref:TECX=*	bus_stop/platform node, route, route_master	signposted on bus stops in and around Luxembourg (province), Wallonia, Belgium	TEC data import	5848
ref:UrbIS=*	building=* addr=*	Reference Key of Urbis Database for addresses in Brussels	Brussels#CIRB_UrbIS	292732
ref:usrn=*		Unique Street Reference Number - a primary key use by the National Address Gazeteer in the UK	National Address Gazeteer	66847
ref:MMM=*	highway=* or emergency=defibrillator or attraction=animal	object ID used by Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole, a french local authority	Montpellier#Utilisation_du_tag_ref:MMM	278
ref:fgkz=*‡	Relation:waterway	FGKZ reference ID (Germany)		9927
ref:regine=*‡	Relation:waterway	REGINE reference ID (Norway)		2
ref:gnis=*‡	Relation:waterway, Relation:boundary, place=*, others	GNIS reference ID (United States)		18
ref:gnbc=*‡	Relation:waterway, Relation:boundary, place=*, others	GNBC reference ID (Canada)	About the Canadian Geographical Names Database	52
ref:ruian=* ref:ruian:addr=* ref:ruian:building=*	building=*, addr=*	RUIAN building or address reference ID (Czechoslovakia)		565550 2275524 2862196

‡ These keys are specifically encouraged for use by JOSM Waterway relation presets. Depending on the scope of the reference system, they may have uses in other key/tag schemas as well.

Core values

None

User defined values

Any valid syntax value

Examples on relations

States and provinces are often tagged with a postal abbreviation in ref. For example:

• ref=CA The state of California (type=boundary, admin_level=4, name=California - currently relation 165475)

On road routes, the ref is a bare number, relying on network=* to convey information about the road network:

• network=US:I ref=95 Interstate 95 in the United States

Similarly, on cycle and walking routes, the ref is a bare number and cycle_network=* indicates the route network:

• cycle_network=US:US ref=76 United States Bicycle Route 76

Bus routes use ref to label the bus route. For example:

• ref=23 Bus route 23. (type=route, route=bus, name=Shanklin>Newchurch>Newport - currently relation 312207)

Examples on ways

There are no global standards as to whether the refs include spaces, hyphens or other characters. At least when nationally consistent, tag what's on the ground. Some countries use spaces on the signs, others don't. In some countries the usage on the signs varies and guidelines are under discussion.

• ref=A 1 Default reference (German and French references with a space; e.g., A 1)
• int_ref=E 15 Internationally referenced as
• nat_ref=A 1 Nationally referenced as (German and French references with a space; e.g., A 1)
• reg_ref=A 1 Regionally referenced as (German and French references with a space; e.g., A 1)
• ncn_ref=54 The number reference for a National Cycle Network. See Cycle_routes
• ref=A 3;A 7 Default for more than one reference (German and French references with a space; e.g., A 1)

Examples on nodes

A ref on a node generally means a highway exit when combined with highway=motorway_junction:

• ref=23 US Highway exits are often just a number
• ref=23B Sometimes exits have been split into A and B exits.

ref is sometimes used on bus stops:

• ref=107309

ref is sometimes used to label an entrance into a large parking area. For example a shopping mall may have entrances A - L:

• ref=A

Special uses

• ref:svhl=* - station-keys of Lübecker Stadtverkehr (Germany) - details look at Lübeck/Importe
• ref:luebeck=* - internal reference for objects the area of Lübeck
• ref:bufa=* - 4-digit key of the local German tax and revenue offices (Bundesfinanzamtnummer)
• ref:vatin=CC12345678 - VAT identification number of companies, use CountryCode (e.g. IT for Italy) and the number
• official_ref=* - Used in cases where the official administrative reference for a road (or other feature) is not identical with the road signs (or other feature ref), e.g. because they are old, or because the administration doesn't have the money to change the signs.
• ref=xxxx - Used to mark official company store number assigned to a place. Example (ref=7872) CVS (You'll see a reference tag added to the building)
• ref:penndot=* - Used for internal state route designations of the Location Referencing System in Pennsylvania.

See also

ref:FR:*=*

WikiProject France/Liste des références nationales

bridge:ref=*

ref:US:EPA=*

United States EPA facilities registration codes

Notes

• For highways shared by more than one route see Relations/Routes or Faq#What shall I do for roads that have multiple values for a tag?. Relations seem to be the preferred method for tagging this.
• If more than one reference is given, you are recommended to separate them with a semicolon and without a space character, because this is the widely established syntax in Germany and maybe other countries. But note, this syntax is being heavily discussed in Germany. A better approach might be to have a namespace and add the entity that has issued the ref, e.g. ref:foo=x ref:bar=y.
• Do not confuse this issue with the space that is present in some countries between the letter and the number in a reference itself.
• When a road has no number, leave this key unused; this makes sure that routing programs do not try to describe the road by a number.