Address Standards

Address & Phone Standards

Address Standards

Proper entry and formatting of addresses is important not only in providing reliable contact information for each record, but in allowing the College to take advantage of automated and discounted mailing systems for major mailings. Any questions about formatting should be directed to the ITS Database Specialist or Mailing Services.

 

Each record should have no more than one active address for each type (the only exception is for the Finance or Vendor types VO, VR and VC).

Address histories are to be kept in Banner.  Old or outdated addresses are to be made inactive (with an ending date) and the new or current address is added as a new record.

Address Formatting

There are 3 lines of address of 75 characters each provided by Banner -- the first line must always be entered. The data on the address lines should contain delivery data only - do not include city, state and zip data on the address lines for U.S. addresses. For foreign addresses, see separate guidelines.


 

International Addresses & Telephone Numbers

Canadian Addresses

Canadian addresses are entered very much like U.S. addresses.

Street address information is entered in the address lines using the same general rules as listed above.

City name is entered in the city field.

The province or territory is entered in the state field using the two-letter abbreviation from the table below.

 

Alberta AB
British Columbia BC
Manitoba MB
New Brunswick NB
Newfoundland and Labrador NL
Northwest Territories NT
Nova Scotia NS
Nunavut NU
Ontario ON
Prince Edward Island PE
Quebec QC
Saskatchewan SK
Yukon YT

 

The Canadian postal code is entered in the zip/postal code field. The format is always a letter-number combination of: AXA XAX. The space after the third character is always included.

The code for Canada must also be entered in the nation code field so that the word CANADA is printed at the bottom of the address.
 

International Addresses Other than Canada

Each foreign country has its own unique formatting rules. Specific guidelines are provided in a separate document and should be followed closely. Any questions about proper entry should be directed to the ITS Database Specialist BEFORE entering or changing information.

General Guidelines

The following guidelines apply to all foreign countries other than Canada. Canadian addresses are entered very much like U.S. addresses. See complete details in section above.

Street Addresses

In general, international addresses follow most of the same guidelines used in entering U.S. addresses. All information is to be entered using uppercase/lowercase letters. Never use all uppercase or lowercase letters (except for acronyms or if used for company names). As much as possible, use the abbreviations and formats provided in the section about street address lines. If possible, keep the information on lines 1 and 2 . Abbreviations can be used to get the address information to fit on a single line. Street address lines allow 75 characters in length but try to keep length to under 45 characters so addresses can be read in window envelopes and will accommodate some data sharing processes that can't handle longer fields.

Hyphens, slashes and periods can be used. A slash can be added between information when combining two short lines of address together in a single input line. This often happens with addresses for Hong Kong, Japan or other Asian countries. Whenever combining address lines, the information from the lower line is added at the end of the information on the upper line.

 

 


** Avoid using the pound (#) sign in the address. It can usually be dropped or substituted with No. if needed.

 

we receive: Taihei Bldg. #401 ESO-Asiacom
  Eitai 2-1-5 1F Milo's Ind Bldg
  Koto-ku, Tokyo 136-8666 2-10 Tai Yuen
  Japan Kwai Chung NT
    Hong Kong
     
correct format: Taihei Bldg. 401 ESO-Asiacom 1F Milo's Ind.Bldg.
  Eitai 2-1-5 / Koto-ku 2-10 Tai Yuen / Kwai Chung NT
  Tokyo 136-8666 Hong Kong
  Japan  
     


 

City

City information along with any local postal code information is entered in the city field. The postal code is entered either before, or after, the name of the city depending on the preferred format of that country. For some countries an additional letter code needs to be added to the postal code numbers given to us by a constituent. This formatting assures that the mail is properly sorted and the address can be used from the U.S. or by anyone mailing from overseas (such as one of the foreign language schools). Check the name of the individual country in Appendix A for any notes on codes that need to be included or specific formatting rules.

Examples:   FR- is always added before the postal code in France 73250 Paris is entered as FR-73250 Paris

                      D-is always added before the postal code in Germany Berlin 15678 is entered as D-15678 Berlin

Nothing is ever entered in the state or zip/postal code fields for any international address (other than Canadian).

Besides the addition of a letter with the postal code, the information we receive may also need to be reformatted or repositioned to meet standards of mailing from the U.S. or to fit within the allowed spaces. The list of countries in Appendix A includes specific information about formatting. The sample addresses in Appendix B provide further guidelines. Use the spaces, dashes and extra letter codes as indicated. Some codes require more than one space between the code and the place name. Those formats are indicated by a number in parentheses next to the country name. 

Examples:   

we receive: 64 Rue de Turenne Prin-2 Handjery Str. 30B
  75003 Paris, France Berlin, 14167 Germany
     
correct format: 64 Rue de Turenne Prin-2 Handjery Str. 30B
  F-75003 Paris D-14167 Berlin
  France Federal Republic Germany

Sample formats for most of the countries we mail to are listed under Appendix B.
 

Nation Codes

The name of the country must be printed alone on the last line of the address for outgoing mail. In Banner this is done by selecting the three digit code/country name from the list in the nation code field table. The codes are designed to print the proper name.

From any 'Nation' field in Banner, press "LIST" or "F9" and start typing the name of the country to drill down to your choice. Typically within typing 2-3 letters of the country name, your choice will be automatically selected. If not, you will see the countries matching your keystrokes, and you can double click on your choice or use the select key to return data. By using this mechanism, you can also see the full list of appropriate nation codes.
 

International Telephone Numbers

International phone numbers (outside the U.S. and Canada) must be entered on the Telephone tab, they can't be entered along with the address on the Address tab.

Numbers should be entered so they can be used by callers in the U.S., include any country and city codes as needed. The following standards were created to allow consistent reporting for the different formats between countries.

Phone Type: Select code from list of values to identify number.

Area Code: Enter '011' to indicate an international number requiring extra codes to dial from the U.S. to another country.

Phone Number: Enter “-“ (a dash) for all international numbers where 011 is enter in the area code field. (The dash allows a user to edit a linked address without getting error messages, provides a visual cue to anyone viewing the info from APASBIO or on the Address tab of any of the Banner Person Identification (%AIDEN) forms, and is useful when printing the number in a report or other exported format.

Phone Ext.: Enter a phone extension.

Prime: Check box to indicate the number should be the primary number associated with a specific address. Only one number can be checked primary per address. (e.g. when a person has two active work lines associated with an address, general and direct, choose which should be considered primary to display with the address for reporting purposes.)

Unlist: Check if number is unlisted and should not be given out or printed for any reason.

Inact: Check when number is no longer active.

International Access: Middlebury uses this field to store the entire international phone number in the format in which it’s received (which may be specific for that county), including any country and city codes and special characters to help identify country and city codes. Example: 44 (207) 727-1064 . If the number is too long for this field (max. 16 characters) then enter the number in the Comments field.

Comment: Record any notes about use of number, assistant's name, or international numbers that are too long for other fields.

Address Type and Sequence: To associate a telephone number to a specific address enter the address type code and sequence number of the address from the Address tab. Or click on the pull down arrow next to Address type field which will direct you to a form to review current addresses. Highlight and double click on the desired address and the type and sequence code will be pulled into telephone fields. Reminder: Multiple phone numbers can be associated to the same address, but only one can be checked Primary. SAVE
 

US Addresses

U.S. Post Office Delivery Standards

 When making decisions about what to enter on what line, remember that the U.S. Post Office delivery standards read the address data from the bottom up and that if necessary, the Banner Label Program will delete lines of the address from the top down if it is not able to fit the address data on five lines (examples are provided below).

 One Address Line:If there is one line of address, enter it on Line 1:

123 Main Street  --------------This is the primary delivery data and should be entered on line 1.Dunley, PA 15432

Two Address Lines: If there are two lines of address the secondary data should be entered on Line 1 and the primary address data on Line 2:

  16 Willow Drive  -------------This is secondary delivery data 

  RR 1 Box 68A  ---------------This is the primary delivery data

  Dunley, PA 15432

Three Address Lines: If there are three lines of address, the tertiary data should be entered on Line 1,

secondary data on Line 2 and the primary delivery data on Line 3:

  Willow Farms  --------------This is the tertiary delivery data

  16 Willow Drive  ------------This is secondary delivery data

  RR 1 Box 68A  --------------This is the primary delivery data

  Dunley, PA 15432

Post Office Boxes: If you have a PO box and a street address, the PO Box should be considered the primary delivery data and entered on Line 3:

  Willow Farms  -------------This is the tertiary delivery data

  16 Willow Drive  -----------This is secondary delivery data 

  PO Box 1234  --------------This is the primary delivery data

  Dunley, PA 15432

Apartments: If you have an apartment number it should be entered at the end of the street address on Line 1. If the address doesn't fit all on one line then the apartment number is entered above the street address on Line 1 with the street address entered as the primary delivery data on Line 2:

  Apt. 135 ---------------------This is secondary delivery data

  1101 Alexander Hamilton Ave.   ---This is primary delivery data

  Dunley, PA 15432
 

Street Address / Abbreviations

All information is to be entered using uppercase/lowercase letters. Never use all uppercase or lowercase letters.  Street address maximum field length is 75 characters.

The preferred format is to spell out all address suffixes or street designators such as Road, Street, Avenue, etc. The only standard exception to this rule is Boulevard, which can always be abbreviated as Blvd.

Other designators can be abbreviated if necessary to fit the address on one line.

All acceptable abbreviations are listed below.

 

Alley Aly.
Arcade Arc.
Avenue Ave.
Beach Bch.
Boulevard Blvd.
Branch Br.
Bridge Brg.
Bypass Byp.
Canyon Cyn.
Causeway Cswy.
Center Ctr.
Circle Cir.
Cliff Clf.
Cliffs Clfs.
Corner Cor.
Corners Cors.
Course Crse.
Court Ct.
Courts Cts.
Cove Cv.
Creek Crk.
Crescent Cres.
Crossing Xing.
Drive Dr.
Estate (s) Est.
Expressway Expy.
Extension Ext.
Forest Frst.
Fort Ft.
Freeway Fwy.
Front Frnt.
Garden Gdn.
Gardens Gdns.
Gateway Gtwy.
Green Grn.
Ground Grd.
Grove Grv.
Harbor Hbr.
Heights Hts.
Highway Hwy.
Island (s) Is.
Junction Jct.
Lake Lk.
Lakes Lks.
Landing Lndg.
Lane Ln.
Light Lgt.
Lobby Lbby.
Lock Lck.
Locks Lcks.
Lodge Ldg.
Lower Lowr.
Manor Mnr.
Meadow Mdw.
Meadows Mdws.
Mission Msn.
Mount Mt.
Mountain Mtn.
Neck Nck.
Orchard Orch.
Park Pk.
Parkway Pkwy.
Peninsula Pnsla.
Place Pl.
Plaza Plz.
Point Pt.
Port Prt.
Prairie Pr.
Rapid Rpd.
Rapids Rpds
Ridge Rdg.
River Riv.
Road Rd.
Shore Shr.
Shores Shrs.
Spring Spg.
Springs Spgs
Square Sq.
Station Sta.
Stream Strm.
Street St.
Summit Smt.
Terrace Ter.
Trace Trce.
Track Trak.
Trafficway Trfy.
Trail Trl.
Trailer Trlr.
Tunnel Tunl.
Turnpike Tpke.
Union Un.
Upper Uppr.
Valley Vly.
Viaduct Via.
View Vw.
Village Vlg.
Ville Vl.
Vista Vis.
Way Way

 

Secondary address identifiers or unit designators are generally spelled out if there's space. The most common unit designators are Building, Floor, Room, Suite, Unit and Apartment. The only standard exception to the rule is Apartment, which should always be abbreviated Apt. Other secondary identifiers are spelled out but can be abbreviated if necessary to fit address on one line. List of acceptable abbreviations:

 

Apartment Apt.
Basement Bsmt.
Bottom Btm.
Building Bldg.
Department Dept.
Floor Fl.
Front Frnt.
Penthouse Ph.
Room Rm.
Suite Ste.
Tower Twr.
Unit Unit

 


** The pound (#) sign is never used anywhere in the address. If an address is received with just a number at the end of the street, it can most often be assumed it's an apartment number. Use the abbreviation No. for number when necessary (i.e., Lodge No. 123)

Directionals (South, East, West, Southwest) are always abbreviated (without periods or spaces) unless they are part of the actual street name (i.e., North Street, East River Road, West End Avenue).

Examples:   149 North Street  (not 149 N. Street)

                      234 Jackson Street N

                      1222 SW Morris Street

                      15 N East River Road (the street name is East River Road, runs N & S)

                      876 N West End Avenue

An exception to the above rule is when the street name itself is E, W, N, or S or any single letter like I Street. This is common to many street addresses in Washington DC. In these cases, the compass direction preceding the street name should be spelled out.

Examples:  15 East E Street

                      789 North W Place

                      234 I Street SW

                      456 O Street NE

For addresses where the street name is a number, the number should be spelled out if it is a number from 1-10. For numbers 11 and above, the number itself should be used with the appropriate suffix (i.e., the "nd" in 42nd).

Examples:  123 Fifth Avenue

                      456 Tenth Street

                      11 42nd Street

                      56 12th Avenue

Hyphens and slashes may be used when needed for clarity or designated fractions.

The period is allowed.

The ampersand (&) should not be used instead of the word 'and' unless it is part of the legal company name.  


Do not use the percent sign (%) or spell out 'in care of'.

The third line of the street address is usually used only for international addresses or business addresses that won't fit on two lines.

Use one line for a street address when possible. Use acceptable abbreviations to shorten the address so it will fit on one line.

Examples:   101 S Superior Street  Apt. 3 

                      185 Pine Haven Shrs. Rd. Apt. 110

Rather than two lines: 

                      Apartment 3                          Apt. 110

                      101 S Superior Street         185 Pine Haven Shores Road

 


**Commas are generally not used in address lines.

Rural Route addresses are entered as RR__ Box __ with a space between each part.

Addresses received as RFD or RD should be entered as RR.

A Box number in an address should always be preceded by another postal indicator, most often RR or PO. If an address is received with just a Box number, assume it is an PO Box unless the address indicates that it is a school or college address. Then the Box number should go above or at the end of the school address. 

Other types of Boxes include PMB (for a rented Personal Mail Box). Some schools may also use initials for student campus mail boxes. No punctuation is used in these acronyms.

 

City

The city name is always entered in the city field. The name is entered in uppercase/lowercase letters.  Maximum field length is 50 characters.

U.S. cities will automatically be entered in the city field when the zip code is entered in the zip code field. After entering the zip code, the city information should be reviewed to see that it is accurate and conforms to the preferred standards.  In some cases one zip code is used for more than one town (i.e., Middlebury and Cornwall, Brandon and Sudbury) and the default city name will have to be changed. The city field can be changed and corrected after the zip code information has been entered.

The general rule is that city names should be spelled out. A standard exception is when the city name includes St. for Saint and Ft. for Fort, then always use that format (see list below). 

Directionals in a city name are never abbreviated. (Examples: North Boston, East Bend).

The only exceptions to these general rules is when the city name needs to be shortened to fit the field. In those cases refer to the list of examples below or to the lists of excepted abbreviations found in the street address or the non-person field sections for guidelines. Punctuation may be left out in order to fit the field size.

Examples:

Aberdeen Proving Grd. Palos Verdes Pnsla.
Channel Is. Harbor Port Jefferson Sta.
Eielson AF Base Randolph AF Base
Ft. Benj. Harrison Research Triangle Pk
Frederiksted St. Crx.  (VI) Rolling Hills Est.
Hartland Four Cors. St. Petersburg Beach
Hot Springs Natl. Park Shelter Island Hts
Loring AF Base White Sulphur Spgs.
Marine on St. Croix USAF Academy
Natural Bridge Sta. Washington Ct House
  Yellowstone Natl Park

 

In some rare exceptions there are no obvious abbreviations to make. For those city names either leave out a word (often the word "the") or drop the necessary letters at the end of the name so it will fit on the line.

Examples:

 

For: Use:
Manchester-by-the-Sea Manchester-by-Sea
Lauderdale by the Sea Lauderdale by Sea
Rancho Santa Margarita Rancho Santa Margar
Truth or Consequences Truth or Consequence

Periods are used for actual abbreviations.

Punctuation is allowed. (Examples: Croton-on-Hudson, Dingman's Ferry). 

State

The state field is used for U.S. and Canadian addresses only. Enter the two-letter standard abbreviation for U.S. states, U.S. territories or military destinations, or for Canadian provinces/territories. See the section on Canadian addresses for the complete list of province/territory abbreviations.

Abbreviations for territories that are considered U.S. addresses include:

 

American Samoa AS
Federated States of Micronesia FM
Guam GU
Marshall Islands MH
Northern Mariana Islands MP
Palau PW
Puerto Rico PR
Virgin Islands VI

The zip code validation system will enter the state information for U.S. addresses (not Canadian).

More information about the validation system

Zip Code

Zip codes MUST be entered for all U.S. and Canadian addresses. 

The zip code field is NOT to be used for any other international addresses.

Banner has a zip code validation program. When the five digit zip is entered, the program will automatically validate and enter the correct city and state names in those fields based on the information in the program. Once the program has validated and entered the information, the city and zip fields can be edited.

After entering the zip code, remember to review the city information to see that it is accurate and conforms to the preferred standards. Be aware of those places where one zip code is used for more than one town (i.e., Middlebury and Cornwall, Brandon and Sudbury). Sometimes the default city name from the validation program will have to be changed. The city field can be edited after the zip code information has been entered.

If the zip+4 information is available, enter it in the zip field. The hyphen must be used when entering the entire nine-digit ZIP code.

NOTE: The validation program will not work if something has already been entered in the city or state fields. Entering the full nine digit zip code initially will not activate the validation program, so the city and state information will have to be entered manually. You can enter the five digit zip code to validate the city and state fields, then go back and add the hyphen and last four digits to the zip code.
 

Nation Code

The nation code field is used ONLY for international addresses. It is always left blank when a U.S. zip code is used. This includes military addresses and addresses in U.S. territories, such as Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands.  See separate standards on international addresses for more information on using this field.


 

Business

When entering the business address for a person, the department should be entered on Line 1, the business or firm name on Line 2 and the delivery data on Line 3. If the delivery data requires more than two lines, the department data should be omitted.

  Public Relations  --------------------------Department

  American Heart Association  ----------Company/Firm Name

  1660 Duke Street Suite 1234  ---------Street and Office Suite

  Washington, DC 22134 

  OR

  American Heart Association  ---------Company/Firm Name

  Suite 1234  --------------------------------Suite

  1660 NW Frontier Street ---------------Street

  Washington, DC 22134 

 

Business/Organization Address Lines

The guidelines for business/organization address--non-person records--should be followed for all corporations, organizations, foundations and vendors. The same general rules as described in the previous sections apply to these records.

 

Corporate Address for an Organization:

 Address Line 1:  Twin Towers Buildings Suite 100  ----Secondary Delivery Data*

 Address Line 2:  365 Boylston Street  ----------------------Primary Delivery Data

 City, State, Zip:    Boston, MA 02134

 

*Note: As a general rule, suite numbers, building names, etc. should appear on line 2 and the street address, PO box and such data should appear on line 3.
 

Military Address Standards

Military addresses are treated as U.S. addresses and have U.S. zip codes.

Enter the APO or AFO code into the city field.

The following codes are considered "military states" and are entered in the state field.

AE  – Armed Forces Europe, Middle East, Africa, Canada

AP  – Armed Forces Pacific

AA  – Armed Forces Americas (excluding Canada)

Details

Article ID: 472
Created
Mon 12/19/22 12:55 PM
Modified
Tue 9/12/23 9:39 AM