Federal
Geographic Data Committee
Established by Office of Management and
Budget Circular A-16, the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) promotes the
coordinated development, use, sharing, and dissemination of geographic data.
The FGDC is composed of representatives from the
Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Housing and Urban
Development, the Interior, State, and Transportation; the Environmental
Protection Agency; the Federal Emergency Management Agency; the Library of
Congress; the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; the National
Archives and Records Administration; and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Additional Federal agencies participate on
FGDC subcommittees and working groups.
The Department of the Interior chairs the committee.
FGDC subcommittees work on issues related to data
categories coordinated under the circular.
Subcommittees establish and implement standards for data content,
quality, and transfer; encourage the exchange of information and the transfer
of data; and organize the collection of geographic data to reduce duplication
of effort. Working groups are
established for issues that transcend data categories.
For more information about the
committee, or to be added to the committee’s newsletter mailing list, please
contact:
Federal Geographic
Data Committee
c/o U.S. Geological
Survey
590 National Center
Reston, Virginia
22092
Telephone: (703) 648-5514
Facsimile: (703) 648-5755
Internet (electronic
mail): gdc@usgs.gov
World Wide Web:
http://www.fgdc.gov/
1.2
Scope....................................................................................................................................................................... 1
1.3
Applicability........................................................................................................................................................... 2......... 1.4 Related Standards 2
1.4.2 National Standards (United Kingdom).................................................................................................. 3
1.4.3 FGDC Standards........................................................................................................................................ 3
1.4.4 Agency Standards (United States)........................................................................................................ 4
1.4.4.1 USPS.............................................................................................................................................. 4
1.4.4.2 Other
U.S. Agency Standards.................................................................................................... 5
1.4.5 Agency Standards (Canada)................................................................................................................... 6
1.5
Standards Development Process......................................................................................................................... 6
1.6
Maintenance Authority........................................................................................................................................ 7
2.0 Definitions and Abbreviations...................................................................................................................................... 7
2.1
Definitions............................................................................................................................................................... 7
2.2
Abbreviations......................................................................................................................................................... 9
3.0 Requirements for an Address Specification.............................................................................................................. 10
3.1
Address Purpose................................................................................................................................................. 10
3.2
Address Type....................................................................................................................................................... 10
3.2.1 Address Structures................................................................................................................................. 12
3.3
Descriptive Elements........................................................................................................................................... 12
4.0 References....................................................................................................................................................................... 14
Appendices
Appendix A (Normative) Conformance to the
Standard: The Address Specification.......................................... 19
Appendix B (Normative) Descriptive
Elements by Address Type........................................................................... 23
Appendix C (Normative) Descriptive
Element Definitions and Relationships....................................................... 30
Appendix D (Informative) Address
Specification: Example...................................................................................... 34
Appendix E (Informative) The Development
Process................................................................................................ 35
Appendix F (Informative) UML Model for
Exchanging Address Information....................................................... 37
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Addresses
provide a means of locating people, structures and other spatial objects. More specifically, addresses are used to
reference and uniquely identify particular points of interest, to access and
deliver to specific locations, and as a means for positioning geographic data
based on location.
Most organizations maintain
address lists or have databases or datasets that contain addresses. In many organizations, the primary purpose
for creating and maintaining address lists and address information is mail
delivery. Organizations often have
detailed specifications about the structure of their address information
without defining the content, i.e., the elements that constitute an address
within their system. Knowledge of both
structure and content is required to successfully share information in a
digital environment.
The purpose of
this standard is to facilitate the exchange of address information. The Address Data Content Standard (the
Standard) simplifies the address data exchange process by providing a method
for documenting the content of address information.
1.1 Objective
The objective of
the Standard is to provide a method for documenting the content of address
information. As a data usability
standard, the Standard describes a way to express the content, applicability,
data quality and accuracy of a dataset or data element.
The Standard additionally
codifies some commonly used discrete units of address information, referred to
as descriptive elements. It provides
standardized terminology and definitions to alleviate inconsistencies in the
use of descriptive elements and to simplify the documentation process.
1.2 Scope
The Standard
establishes the requirements for documenting the content of addresses. It is
applicable to addresses of entities having a spatial component. The Standard does not apply to addresses of
entities lacking a spatial component and specifically excludes electronic
addresses, such as e-mail addresses.
1.3 Applicability
The Standard is
to be used only in the exchange of addresses. The Standard places no requirement on
internal organization of use or structure of address data. However, the principles of the Standard can
be extended to all addresses, including addresses maintained within an
organization, even if they are not shared.
1.4
Related Standards
The Address Data
Content Standard recognizes several existing international, national, federal
and agency standards from which relevant information has been incorporated.
For dated
references, only the edition cited applies.
For undated references, the latest edition of the reference document
(including any amendments) applies.
1.4.1
International
Standards –
ISO 11180:1993 Standard for Postal Addressing provides mailing address
structure requirements.
ISO/TC 211 19111, Geographic
Information – Spatial Referencing by Coordinates describes the minimum data
required to define 1-, 2-, and 3-dimensional coordinate systems that can be the
basis for geographic address types.
ISO/TC 211 19112 Geographic
Information – Spatial Referencing by Geographic Identifiers defines the
conceptual schema for spatial references based on geographic identifiers that
can be the basis for physical and postal address types.
1.4.2
National Standards –
1.4.2.1
United States –
ANSI X3.61-1986 American
National Standard for Information Systems – Representation of Geographic Point
Locations for Information defines the use of longitude and latitude
coordinates for geographic point locations.
1.4.2.2 United Kingdom –
BS 7666: Part 3 Spatial
Datasets for Geographic Referencing: Specification for Address specifies a
model and structure for an address. BS
7666: Part 3 was used as a reference document.
1.4.3
FGDC
Standards –
FGDC-STD-001-1998 Content Standard for Digital
Geospatial Metadata
(version 2.0) (CSDGM) defines the metadata, part of which documents addresses
for contacts (persons and organizations) associated with a geospatial
dataset. The CSDGM identifies the
following metadata elements related to addresses: address type,
address, city, state or province, postal code, and country. A data producer complying with the
requirements of both the CSDGM and the Standard will note one inconsistency;
the Standard expands the CSDGM closed domain of address type by recognizing a
third address type: geographic. This
inconsistency should not effect compliance with the requirements of either
standard.
FGDC-STD-003, Cadastral
Data Content Standard (CDCS) provides a model for storing information about
geographic and physical type addresses for cadastral data collections. The CDCS additionally points to the CSDGM
metadata elements to provide information about locations of agents (persons,
organizations or public agencies) associated with parcels (see FGDC-STD-001-1998).
FGDC-STD-011-2001,
Standard for a United States National Grid (SUSNG) defines a United States National Grid (USNG) for use in
spatial addressing applications. The
SUSNG describes a system for creating address types that is technically the
same as the Military Grid Reference System, utilizing the public domain
system’s use of the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) grid. SUSNG addresses are geographic addresses
that can be successfully documented using the Standard’s address specification.
The SUSNG applies to all spatial mapping applications at scales of 1 to
1,000,000 and larger.
1.4.4
Agency
Standards (United States) –
1.4.4.1
USPS
The United States Postal Service (USPS) maintains a standard, several
manuals, and technical guidelines
for mailing type addresses.
USPS Publication
28, Postal Addressing Standards provides a standardized address format
and content. It serves as the primary
reference for identifying USPS-recognized data elements and mail delivery
requirements.
USPS Domestic
Mail Manual provides definitions and elements of a complete delivery
address and other information about domestic mail delivery.
USPS International
Mail Manual provides definitions and elements of a complete delivery
address and other information about mail for delivery to foreign countries.
USPS Address
Element Correction Technical Guide describes procedures for correcting
USPS-recognized data elements in mailpieces that have inaccurate or deficient
addresses.
USPS TIGER
(Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing) ZIP Zone
Improvement Plan 1998 documentation provides information on the TIGER/ZIP
file created by matching information from the Census Bureau TIGER File to the
USPS ZIP+4 Product and was used as a translation reference source.
USPS Addressing
Standards for Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands describes the proper format
for mailpieces sent to Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The USPS maintains several
documents of USPS-recognized data element domains. The Standard recognizes the USPS domains as approved domains for
mailing address type descriptive elements.
USPS Official Abbreviations for States and
Possessions
USPS Official Abbreviations for Street Suffixes
USPS Official Abbreviations for Secondary Unit
Designators.
1.4.4.2 Other U.S.
Agency Standards used in developing the Address Standard’s descriptive elements
(Appendix B (normative)) and the Standard’s documentation requirements:
United States
Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Address Quality
Standards (draft)
Centers for
Disease Control’s (CDC) Common Data Element Implementation Guide (draft)
The National
Archives and Records Administration’s Historic American Building Survey
The National
Archives and Records Administration’s Historic American Engineering Record
The United
States Census Bureau’s Master Address File (MAF) Documentation (version
5.0).
The United
States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Contact Information Data
Standard (Draft)
The United
States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Latitude/Longitude Data
Standard (final)
1.4.5
Agency Standards (Canada) –
The Canadian
Post Corporation’s T575003 Version #2, The Canadian Addressing Standard
Handbook provides Canada-specific mailing address structure
requirements.
1.5 Standards Development
Process
The Standard is a new standard;
no prior versions exist. The FGDC
Subcommittee on Cultural and Demographic Data (SCDD) sponsored the development
of the Standard. Appendix E (informative)
lists SCDD member agencies. The
Standard was drafted, reviewed and discussed at SCDD meetings from 1996 through
2003. A Public Review was conducted in
2001. Since then significant changes
have been made to the standard that requires, in the opinion of the SCDD
Committee, a second Public Review.
Support from SCDD members included the contribution of agency
specifications in the early stages of development, circulating the Standard
throughout agencies for additional review and comment at various stages of
development, and ensuring a broad review of the Standard.
Federal, state,
local, and private sector organizations reviewed the Standard and commented
during its development.
Papers and
presentations about the Standard and its development given during the process
are listed in Appendix E (informative).
1.6 Maintenance Authority
The U.S.
Department of Commerce, Census Bureau, Geography Division, maintains the
Address Data Content Standard for the Federal Geographic Data Committee. Address any questions to Chief, Geography
Division, U.S. Bureau of the Census.
2.0 DEFINITIONS AND
ABBREVIATIONS
2.1 Definitions
– For the purposes of the Standard, the following definitions apply.
NOTE: The Standard does not apply to electronic mail objects.
EXAMPLES 1.
Occupant
2. Mr. John Smith
3. ABC Company
Address Structure – The USPS
arrangement for the postal address type that contains all the address elements
necessary for mailing a letter. The
Standard identifies four address structures: A Business Address Structure, a
Residential Address Structure, a Military Address Structure and a Puerto Rico
Address Structure.
