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Postal Addressing Standards > 2 Postal Addressing Standards

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2 Postal Addressing Standards

21 General

211 Standardized Delivery Address Line and Last Line

The Delivery Address Line and the Last Line of addresses output to the mailpiece should be complete, standardized, and validated with the ZIP+4 file and City State file, respectively.

It is recommended that delivery address information be stored in a minimum of 30 bytes or spaces in your computer system. The optimum recommendation is 64 bytes or spaces to be compatible with the Postal Service National ZIP+4 database.

The Postal Service defines a complete address as one that has all the address elements necessary to allow an exact match with the current Postal Service ZIP+4 and City State files to obtain the finest level of ZIP+4 and delivery point codes for the delivery address. A complete address may be required on mail at some automation rates. See the DMM for more detailed information.

A standardized address is one that is fully spelled out, abbreviated by using the Postal Service standard abbreviations (shown in this publication) or as shown in the current Postal Service ZIP+4 file.

Lines of address - Recipient, Delivery Address and Last.




Link to "13 Address Information Systems Products and Services" Link to contents for "2 Postal Addressing Standards"      Link to Index Link to "212 Format"