The invention relates to a method for allocating participant-specific communication addresses for participants in a measuring system, especially a position measuring system of a coordinate measuring device with measuring sensors as participants for example. In the measuring system, the participants communicate via a bus system using messages with at least one communication address and a message content. The messages transmitted by one participant are received by each of the other participants. According to the invention, said participant-dedicated communication addresses are ascertained as part of a calibrating or referencing process in which the participants monitor the messages on the bus system. If a collision by a communication address of a received message is detected, wherein the address matches the participant-dedicated communication address, a participant-dedicated communication address, which has been changed and has not collided with the received message, of the participant is allocated to said participant as a result of the collision. A thus resulting address/device assignment of the participants in the measuring system is ascertained using a defined participant stimulation carried out as part of the calibrating or referencing process.