VOA - Publications - IT IA 180303 - COVO Central Database

VOA - Publications - IT IA 180303 - COVO Central Database - Further Expansion

IT IA 180303 - COVO Central Database - Further Expansion

These Instructions and Advice were prepared for internal use within the Valuation Office Agency as part of work towards a council tax revaluation in England that was due to take effect on 1 April 2007. The government announced its intention to postpone the revaluation on 20th September 2005 and preparatory work for a revaluation in 2007 has now been stopped.

This IA gives notification of a release scheduled for the end of March 2003.

1.	Introduction

1.1	In readiness for the forthcoming Council Tax Revaluation (England), the dwelling house codes that can be attached to a domestic property will be expanded from ten items to seventeen.

1.2	Following the pilot bulk capture exercise, the order of some of the existing codes will also be changed to facilitate easier input from existing records.

	The codes of Group and Type will have new entries added and existing entries amended to reflect changes to the housing market.

	The method of recording parking will be changed completely (existing entries in this field will be automatically updated by the system).

	See appropriate section below for further details.

1.3	Procedural instructions on the completion of these codes will form part of a separate IA that will be issued nearer the time of release.

1.4	The expanded codes will be as follows:

1.	GROUP	(existing)
2.	TYPE	(existing)
3.	AGE	(existing, but change of order)
4.	AREA	(existing, but change of order)
5.	HEATING	(existing, but change of order)
6.	NUMBER OF ROOMS	(existing)
7.	NUMBER OF BEDROOMS
8.	NUMBER OF BATHROOMS	(existing)
9.	NUMBER OF FLOORS
10.	LOWEST FLOOR LEVEL
11.	PARKING	(existing, but change of order)
12.	CONSERVATORY TYPE
13.	CONSERVATORY AREA
14.	OUTBUILDINGS
15.	VALUE SIGNIFICANT CODE
16.	WHETHER MODERNISED	(existing)
17.	REASON FOR CODING

1.5	These codes will be added to all Applications and functionality where the existing ten codes can be currently input or amended.

1.6	The field Valuation Grouping has been removed from the input screens. The data previously entered in this field has been preserved whilst alternative methods are being considered for capturing value significant locations, eg. postcode.

1.7	The hardcopy Live Council Tax Bandings - Dwelling Details Report will be updated to display the new codes and will include the addition of grid lines round each field. This report will act as a bulk capture input docket during the CT Reval bulk capture exercise.

1.8	The hardcopy Domestic Summary Report will also be updated.

1.9	Unfortunately it will not be possible within the time limit available to include in this release:

	1.9.1	updating of the "display only" screens. These will continue to show the original ten codes in their initial order;

	1.9.2	the addition of the new codes to the C/P/M Enquiries and CT Main Enquiries Applications, ie. as search parameters or on any retrieval screens or hardcopy output;

	1.9.3	MAQUERY (Selected Address screen). This will continue to show the original ten codes in their initial order;

	1.9.4	Full data search. Screen and hardcopy will continue to show the original ten codes in their initial order;

	1.9.5	CT Reval (Wales). The Inspection Support Data by Location report will continue to show the original ten codes in their initial order.

		The updating of this functionality will be in phase 3, which is targeted for implementation in April/May 2003.

2.	Existing Domestic Properties

2.1	The software load will append the new codes to every existing dwellinghouse record. All new codes will be null. All existing data in that record including the effective date that those codes came into force will remain unchanged.

2.2	The weekly deletion routine that removes superfluous dwellinghouse records such as "default" records where a "true" record also exists, duplicate "default" records and contiguous identical records, has already been upgraded to run nightly Monday to Friday, as well as the original Sunday, in preparation for the bulk capture exercise.

3.	Dwellinghouse Codes

3.1	Details of all the codes are as follows:

	FIELD NAME	FIELD LENGTH	DETAILS
1.	GROUP	2	The existing list of values (LOV) will be updated to include new entries (see APPENDIX A - changes shown in red).
2.	TYPE	2	The existing LOV will be updated to include new entries (see APPENDIX A - changes shown in red). There will be a validation against any entry in the fields "number of floors" or "lowest floor level" as detailed below.
3.	AGE	1	Change to field entry/display order.
4.	AREA	4	Change to field entry/display order.
5.	HEATING	1	No change.
6.	NUMBER OF ROOMS	2	No change.
7.	NUMBER OF BEDROOMS	2	New code. In the range 01-99 only. Where only a single numeric digit is entered, eg. 3, the system will automatically complete a leading 0.
8.	NUMBER OF BATHROOMS	1	No change.
9.	NUMBER OF FLOORS	1	New code. Required to identify houses with 3 or more storeys and dormer bungalows. Permissible for houses and bungalows only - there will be a validation against the entry in the "type" field. The validation will be applied on exiting the record to allow errors to be corrected. In the range 1-9 only.
10.	LOWEST FLOOR LEVEL	2	New code. Required to identify the entry floor level of flats and maisonettes eg. 17th. Permissible for flats and maisonettes only - there will be a validation against the entry in the "type" field. The validation will be applied on exiting the record to allow errors to be corrected. LOV available - (see APPENDIX A). Where only a single numeric digit is entered eg. 3, the system will automatically complete a leading 0. It will not be possible to place an entry in both the "number of floors" and "lowest floor level" fields ie. where there is no entry in the "type" field.
11.	PARKING	2	Change to field entry/display order. Following the pilot exercise, a change will be made to the method of recording covered and open car parking. The LOV will be updated and existing entries in this field will be automatically converted - (see APPENDIX A).
12.	CONSERVATORY TYPE	1	New code. On-screen, "conservatory type" and "conservatory area" will appear to be a single field, 3 characters in length. This is to conserve space on the bulk input screen. They are, in actuality, 2 fields and pressing <CR> will be required to move between them. LOV available - (see APPENDIX A).
13.	CONSERVATORY AREA	2	New code. In the range 00-99 only. Where only a single numeric digit is entered eg. 3, the system will automatically complete a leading 0.
14.	OUTBUILDINGS	1	New code. Y or N only.
15.	VALUE SIGNIFICANT CODE	1	New code. LOV available - (see APPENDIX A).
16.	WHETHER MODERNISED	2	Change to field entry/display order.
17.	REASON FOR CODING	1	New requirement for recording if the dwelling house record has been updated due to the bulk capture exercise or when an exercise is carried out on all the inactivated ‘Logged’ CR10 reports. LOV available - (see APPENDIX A).

3.2	Entry in all fields except heating (which defaults to "Y") is optional.

3.3	Where a LOV is available, only entries listed on the LOV will be allowed. (This can be either typed directly into the field or selected from the LOV.)

	Where a LOV is not available, eg. because the value to be entered is numeric, a validation will enforce that inappropriate entries cannot be made, eg. alpha characters.

4.	Individual Property Details

4.1	It has therefore been decided to create a single generic screen that will be accessed from all Applications including Property Details. The layout will be similar to that already available within the Property Details Application.

4.2	In the CRAC and Property Transactions Applications, the existing individual dwellinghouse code fields will be replaced by a single field on screen which will be titled "dwelling codes".

	Access to this field will be by either <CR>, TAB or Enter, for domestic properties. On accessing this field, the user will be taken immediately to the new generic screen.

	Entry to this screen will be optional.

	The cursor will be in the first field "Group". The pertinent date of the case or transaction will have been automatically entered in the "Query Date" field by the system. The dwellinghouse codes in force at that date (if any) will be displayed together with the date those codes came into force - the "effective date".

	It will be possible to update an existing record or create a new record as at present. It will also be possible to exit by pressing <F12> without inputting any data.

4.3	In the case of access from the Council Tax Application, the use of Esc followed by O will now access the generic screen instead of the pop-up window.

	Entry into this screen will be optional.

	The cursor will be in the field "Query Date". It will be possible to query records, update an existing record or create a new record as at present.

4.4	Within the Council Tax, CRAC and PT Applications:

	Pressing <F12> to exit without making or saving changes will return the user to the calling screen (ie. in CT, CRAC or PT).

	Where the user wishes to save changes that they have made, pressing <F10> will return the user to the calling screen but the changes will be merely recorded until a commit is made from the main Application screen.

	A warning message will be displayed:

	"Changes recorded - only on commit from the main screen will changes be stored".

	If the user exits CT, CRAC or PT by pressing <F12> (exit without saving), the data input into Property Details will also be lost.

4.5	Within the Property Details Application:

	There will be no change to the way in which the generic screen is accessed from the Individual Property Details Application.

	Pressing <F10> will commit any changes as at present Pressing either <F10> or <F12>, however, will also take the user back to the previous screen.

	If the user wishes to "re-query" a record, pressing <F2> will clear existing retrieved data and return the cursor to the query date ready for the next query.

4.6	The functionality whereby an existing record is updated or a new record is created is unchanged.

5.	Bulk Dwelling House Codes

5.1	The domestic details screen will display the full seventeen dwelling house codes.

5.2	Lists of Values will be available where appropriate (see Appendix A).

5.3	The basic functionality will be unchanged but is repeated below for ease of reference.

5.3.1	Only domestic addresses with a current live or pending current CT Band will be carried through from the selected address screen into the Bulk Input screen. All non-domestic properties, land properties, domestic properties without a CT band and domestic properties with only an historic or pending historic CT band will be dropped.

5.3.2	Users may find it quicker to mark all properties that are retrieved by the address search and let the system filter out those which are not relevant.

5.3.3	BATlinks will apply.

5.3.4	The filtered addresses will be displayed down the left hand side of the screen.

5.3.5	It will be possible to access the address fields (shift + tab or <CR> through the whole line entry), to scroll along through the full length of the address if so required, or to use of Esc + E to allow the full address to be seen (in a pop-up box) without the need for scrolling.

5.3.6	Where more addresses are retrieved than can be displayed on screen (15), it will be possible to scroll through all addresses using the up and down arrow keys.

5.3.7	The Page Up (<F5>) and Page Down (<F4>) facility will also be available.

5.3.8	The line where the cursor is located will be highlighted (including address) to assist the user to input data against the correct address.

5.3.9	Navigation across a row will be via return (<CR>) or tab. Shift + tab will move the cursor back through the fields.

5.3.10	The latest set of dwelling house details for each property will be retrieved together with the effective date that those details came into force.

5.3.11	Pick lists will be available on all relevant fields.

5.3.12	It will be possible to enter or change data in every field including the effective date.

5.3.13	An entry in the Heating and Effective Date fields will be mandatory, ie. not null. Entry in all other fields will be optional.

5.3.14	It will not be possible to create a new "default" record, ie. one with only the Heating and Effective Date fields completed via the bulk entry option.

5.3.15	As well as being able to input/amend data on individual rows, there will also be a facility to copy/paste repeat data to cater for similar properties.

5.3.17	A "Copy Values" box will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. Access to this box will be via <F1> (next block).

5.3.16	Data can be entered in as few/many fields as required.

	The same validations will apply to the entries in the "Copy Values" box. Pick lists will be available on all relevant fields.

5.3.18	Once the repeat data to be copied has been entered, the user can press <F2> (previous block) to take them back to the main screen.

5.3.19	When the cursor is against the first address where this data is to be entered, pressing <F3> will paste the data into that row.

5.3.20	Where data is entered in the "Copy Values" dwelling house code field, then that data will be copied into the corresponding field in the "paste record". If data already exists in that field, the "paste" facility will overwrite it. Where there is a null entry, the "paste" facility will insert the data. Where data is not entered in one or more of the fields in the "Copy Values" box, the "paste" facility will NOT overwrite any existing entry, ie. it will not replace any existing value with a null entry.

5.3.21	The cursor should then be moved to the next row where this data is to be entered and the user should press <F3> again. The process should be repeated until the data has been pasted into all relevant rows. Individual rows can then be edited if required to cater for minor variations, eg. different areas.

5.3.22	All required changes should be made to the retrieved records. Pressing <F10> will then commit ALL amended records. Pressing <F12> will then return the user to the Property Details Main Menu.

	If <F12> to exit is used without first pressing <F10>, then ALL changes just made on that screen will be dropped.

5.4	A new facility will be available. Pressing <F6> from any column will insert an "R" in the "Reason for coding" field for that record.

	This will be displayed on the key map (press Esc + K to access) as: F6 Mark as bulk captured.

6.	SAS

6.1	Details of the full dwelling house code records attached to CT-banded properties and transaction data (Particulars Delivered) will be transmitted to SAS on a regular basis, where the data can be further interrogated.


	A full list of all dwelling house codes is attached as Appendix A :

	Dwellinghouse Codes - additions/changes to existing codes are shown in red.

	March 2003