Document number

FGDC-STD-016-2011

Maintenance authority

U.S. Census Bureau

Objectives

The United States Thoroughfare, Landmark, and Postal Address Data Standard has been created to:

• Provide one standard that meets the diverse address data management requirements for local address administration, postal and package delivery, emergency response (and navigation generally), administrative recordkeeping, and address data aggregation.
• Support the use of best practices in address data management.
• Provide a systematic, consistent basis for recording all addresses in the United States.
• Define the elements needed to compose addresses and store them within relational databases and geographic information systems.
• Define the attributes needed for address documentation, mapping, and quality testing, including address ID’s, coordinates, and linear reference locations. Provide a complete taxonomy (systematic classification) of US addresses that is useful to address data managers.
• Introduce the idea of the address reference system—the formal description of the local address assignment rules, both spatial and non-spatial—and define its elements and attributes, as a basis for address assignment and quality testing.
• Define tests and procedures for address data quality testing, error-trapping, and anomaly identification.
• Support seamless exchange of address information, and foster consistent implementation of this standard, by defining XML models for every address element, attribute, and class, integrated into a single XML Schema Document.
• Offer a migration path from legacy formats to standards-compliant ones.
• Recognize, as a practical matter, that different business purposes and different data sources will require different levels of complexity in address data records, files and repositories.
• Build on USPS Publication 28, the Census Bureau TIGER files, the FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata, the FGDC's National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) Framework Data Content Standard, and previous FGDC address standard efforts.

Scope

The United States Thoroughfare, Landmark, and Postal Address Data Standard covers thoroughfare, landmark, and postal addresses within the United States, including its outlying territories and possessions.

Sponsored by

Subcommittee on Cultural and Demographic Data
URISA
NENA

Project history

2010-02-23 The FGDC Standards WG voted to recommend that the FGDC Coordination Group approve public review of the committee draft standard.

2010-03-16 The FGDC Coordination Group approved public review of the committee draft standard.

2010-03-16 to 2010-06-16 draft Standard out for public review - Federal Register notice 

The schemas for the standard are available at http://www.fgdc.gov/schemas/address/