How to validate your Amateur Radio Licence

Ofcom Callsign RevalidateIt is a condition of your amateur radio licence that you validate your licence with Ofcom at least once every 5 years.

Ofcom went through a phase of revoking unvalidated licences back in 2015 – According to Ofcom, a staggering 47% of licences hadn’t been validated at the end of 2013.

The relevant bit of the licence is as follows:

Note (i): “In order to avoid the Licence being revoked, by no later than five years after the date of issue of this Licence, the Licensee must either notify Ofcom of a change of the Licensee’s details in Section 1 of the Licence or confirm to Ofcom that the details set out in Section 1 of the Licence are still valid. Unless the Licensee makes a further notification or confirmation to Ofcom once every five years from the last date of notification or confirmation, then the Licence will be revoked.”

If you don’t validate after 5 years, Ofcom may, after due process, revoke it, and it will cost you £20 to re-apply for your licence if you want to be able to operate. (see: Reactivate an expired licence).

The process is very straightforward, so do it now…

How to validate your licence

The easiest way to do this is via the Ofcom website. Many of you should already have an account with Ofcom which you use to manage your licence(s). If not, you can create a free account quickly and easily online. To create an account, or logon to your existing account at https://ofcom.force.com/

If it’s your first time on the Ofcom website, when you complete the registration form, you will need to add details of your current licence, by adding your licence number from your paper copy of your licence. Remember to keep a note of your Ofcom username and password, as you’ll need it again!

Assuming you are able to log on, you have the option to apply for a licence, add your licence or be presented with a list of licences to validate:

Ofcom Licence Portal
Ofcom Licence Portal

If it’s been a while since you visited, you may receive a prompt to check and update your details. If so, click “Verify My Details”:

Update details on the Ofcom licensing website
Update details on the Ofcom licensing website

Even if you’re not prompted, it appears that the action of editing/updating your personal details is enough to validate your licence.

Check that your details (Name, main station address, email, phone number, etc) are correct, make any changes, and save your details.

In the dashboard, there’s a section that shows when you last edited or validated your personal details:

Ofcom Licensing - Date of last verification
Ofcom Licensing – Date of last verification
 

If you’re unable to log in, or are having problems, you can call the Ofcom Licensing Office on 020 7981 3131, or email them at [email protected]

Note – it’s worth validating more frequently than every 5 years. You also have to inform Ofcom of any changes, such as a change of address.

Related links

12 Comments

  1. mr leslie humphreys 14 June 2014 Reply
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