Cabinet Office
The role of a domain name administrator
The domain name administrator is the person who authorises any changes to an organisations .gov.uk domain or domains. They are responsible for knowing how to configure .gov.uk domains correctly, or making sure that they have an IT team or IT supplier who can do this.
The domain name administrator must have access to the registrant email address in a domains WHOIS record, because this is the address that registrars recognise as the official domain holder. This must be a role-based email address like clerk@[yourorganisation].gov.uk or domainteam@[yourorganisation@gov.uk]
The Domain Management team expects to be able to contact the domain name administrator through the email address in the WHOIS record.
The domain name administrator role is not a standalone full-time role and the person does not necessarily need to be technical.
Identify a domain name administrator
Identify a domain name administrator before you apply for a gov.uk domain name and make sure you confirm this with your organisation.
For large organisations, the domain name administrator will usually be a public servant who is part of the domain management team. For smaller organisations like parish councils, the domain name administrator will usually be the clerk or similar.
Responsibilities of the domain name administrator
When setting up a new domain, the domain name administrator must:
- choose a good registrar and ask them to apply for a .gov.uk domain name
- provide a role-based email contact they would like to use for the WHOIS registrant address
- appoint a Technical Point of Contact in-house or from the Registrar who is responsible for the technical management of a .gov.uk domain as described in the Keeping your domain name secure guidance
After a .gov.uk domain is activated, the domain name administrator must:
- follow guidance to use their domain names properly
- keep their registrar and Domain Management team informed if the domain name administrator or contact details change
- renew domain names before they expire
- take steps to stop using a domain properly if they no longer need it
Last updated 9 June 2023 +show all updates
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Updating to clarify the Domain Name Administrator must appoint a Technical Point of Contact to manage the domain name
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Clarifying that the domain name administrator is an additionally responsibility to an existing role and what the responsibilities are.
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Clarifying that the domain name administrator can be a public servant and adding more information about multi-factor authentication
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The Domain Management team has now moved to the Central Digital and Data Office. This update removes any references to the Government Digital Service (GDS).
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First published.