Codd’s 12 rules is a set of rules that a database management system (DBMS) must satisfy if it’s to be considered relational (i.e. a relational DBMS).
The rules were proposed by Edgar F. Codd, who is considered a pioneer of the relational database model.
Codd’s 12 rules is actually a set of thirteen rules, numbered from zero to twelve. The twelve rules are based on a single foundation rule — Rule Zero.