USPS use FAQ

United States Postal Service (USPS) data is used as an input source, a validation target and overall guard-rails for the assembly of the SmartFabric address layer.

Other than being a primary data source for SmartFabric addresses, USPS data is used for multiple other purposes to enhance the overall quality of SmartFabric.

Q: How does USPS data link to, and inform, SmartFabric addresses?

A: 

• SmartFabric assembles addresses from a number of local, state and external sources. Each of these addresses is validated against known USPS data to be considered as “USPS-validated”. Addresses that are USPS-validated typically have higher Address Confidence scores.
• USPS secondary addresses are added to existing base addresses. Our licensed USPS data includes ZIP+4 data. ZIP+4 data informs us of what units could be attached to a base address.
  • For example, USPS data may have a ZIP+4 record that says an address “10 MAIN ST” has a ZIP+4 of “12345-6789”, which has secondary units of “APT A - APT F”. It is typically expected that we get full ranges of secondary address data.
• USPS secondary address data is also the primary input for the Address Confidence Score Clustering Model. Address Confidence Score is our proprietary rating we give to each address in SmartFabric to signify our confidence in the address existing. The Address Confidence Score Clustering Model is used to determine Address Confidence Scores for secondary addresses, which often come in a large range of unit numbers.
• USPS address formatting is used as our standardized format for all addresses, USPS-recognized or otherwise.
  • For example, in some cases the same address appears in multiple sources. The address “10 Main Street” may be in one source but also appear in another source as “10 Main St”, these are standardized to be “10 MAIN ST”.

Q: What is "RESBUS"?

A: The USPS Residential Business Indicator, or the “resbus” attribute, is a useful indicator of what type of address may be at a USPS-validated address: "U(nknown)", "B(usiness)", "R(esidential)".

Q: Do you process your address data against USPS? If so, do you correct your data with USPS data?

A: USPS data provides us with a few things:

• We validate and standardize addresses against USPS.
• We add a ZIP+4 from USPS.
• We add in a business/residential indicator for each address that we can validate (USPS keeps track of that indicator and we leverage it).
• We add in secondary unit information from USPS, e.g. if we know a building is 10 Main St and USPS indicates that "10 Main St is 12345-6789, 10 Main St, APT A-D" we can add in those 4 secondary units to the building.

Q: What do you use USPS for in your processes?

A: 

• Validate addresses against known, USPS-recognized addresses.
• Standardize those addresses against USPS-conventions (e.g. turning “AV” & “AVENUE” into “AVE”).  Note that we can standardize addresses that are both USPS-recognized and non-USPS recognized.
• Add a USPS ZIP+4 to any address that is validated against the USPS.
• Add a USPS Business/Residential indicator (B, R, U) to any address that is validated against the USPS.
• Add secondary units to our base addresses .  For example if we have 10 MAIN ST in our data, the USPS may have a ZIP+4 record that says “10 MAIN ST is ZIP+4 12345-6789 which has secondary units APT A-APT F”.  Note that this comes from our licensing of the USPS ZIP+4 dataset.

Q: Situs address in Assessment - is it straight pass through from the county or do you standardize?

A: The address information in our assessor data that is linked to parcel data becomes an input into our address universe and, as such, runs through our address validation/standardization process.  

Q: How often is USPS data updated?

A: Monthly - we are making use of these USPS updates in both the USPS ZIP+4 data that we license directly from the USPS and in our use of a commercial address hygiene product.