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Event Rules and Guidelines

All events registered with British Orienteering are governed by a set of Rules, and their associated Appendices, irrespective of the type of event.

Different types of events are regulated by a set of guidelines, each specific to a type of event, which give competitors and event official’s information about what should be expected from particular types of events.

The latest versions of the Rules, the Appendices to those Rules and the Event Guidelines along with valuable information for Organisers and Planners can be found by following the links detailed below:

Rules of Orienteering

Appendices to Rules of Orienteering

Event Guidelines

Competition Rules

Event Related Forms and Documents

Protests and Complaints

Rules of Orienteering

The latest Rules of Orienteering were approved by the Board of British Orienteering for implementation from January 2010.

British Orienteering Rules

Appendices to Rules of Orienteering

Appendix	Issue
A: Control Descriptions - Also see IOF Website	1.2
B: Course Planning	1.1
C: Event Officials	2.1
D: Doping Control	2.0
E: Event Safety	1.0
F: Environmental Good Practice *	2.0
G: Protests, Juries and Appeals	2.1
H: Mapping	2.0
I: Electronic Punching	2.0
J: The Badge Scheme	1.1
K: The Ranking Scheme	2.0
L: Seeding and Selection	1.0
M: Elite Competitions Seeding and Selection	1.0
N: Neighbouring Club Alliances in UK Relay League	1.0
O: Embargoed areas and non-competitive runners	1.1

* Further environmental information can be found here and on the Best of Both Worlds website

Event Guidelines

These Event Guidelines have been added and contain generic information about different types of events

Event Guidelines	Issue
A: Overview of Event Structure	1.1
B: Long Distance Cross Country Events	1.1
C: Middle Distance Events	1.1
D: Sprint Events	1.1
E: Urban Events	1.1
F: Relay Events	1.1
G: Score Events	2.1
H: Ultra Long Distance Events	1.1
I: String Courses	1.1

Competition Rules

Competition Rules	Issue
A: British Long Distance Orienteering Championships	1.1
B: British Middle Distance Orienteering Championships	1.1
C: British Sprint Distance Orienteering Championships	1.1
D: British Relay Orienteering Championships	1.1
E: British Night Orienteering Championships	1.1
F: Jan Kjellström Sprint	1.1
G: Jan Kjellström Individual Cross Country	1.1
H: Jan Kjellström Relays	1.1
I: Area Championships	1.1
J: Compass Sport Cup and Trophy	1.1
K - Harvester Relays	2.0
L - Yvette Baker Trophy	1.1
M -Peter Palmer Junior Team Relay	1.1
N - Future Champions Cup Final	1.1
O - Junior Inter-Regional Championships	1.1
P - British Schools Score Championships	1.2
Q - British Schools Orienteering Championships	1.1
R - Junior Home Internationals	1.1

Event Related Forms and Documents

Protests and Complaints

There is a well established procedure which all competitors should follow if they feel that the Rules or Guidelines are not being followed.

Any non-trivial complaints should initially be discussed with the Event Organiser. However any approach should bear in mind that Event Officials are volunteers who have given up their valuable time to lay on the event, often under circumstances which are not ideal.

If it is not resolved satisfactorily then raise a protest with the Controller (At this stage a charge may be imposed which will be returned if the protest is upheld). The Controller will then, if necessary, convene the Event Jury.

For Regional Events and above, British Orienteering Rules Group is the final arbiter should an appeal be made against the Jury's decision.