TOTAL and UAD‑Compliant Addresses
This document helps you understand more about UAD‑compliant addresses and how to best work with them in TOTAL.
Document 9113 | Last updated: 06/06/2022 MJY
Looking for information about how to enable or disable USPS standardization in TOTAL? Click here to read our guide.
What if TOTAL shows the address has an error during the Errors & Omissions check?
The best way to make sure your report contains correct addresses is to get a location map using the map tools in your software so the address has been verified. If you've changed the address since you retrieved the location map, that might have caused the problem. Click Tools, Standardize Addresses for UAD Compliance. This allows you to geocode the addresses in your report again so they'll be correct.
If you know your address doesn't conform to the UAD standards, but you intend to deliver it anyway, click Tools, Standardize Addresses for UAD Compliance, and then check the box for Assume all addresses are USPS standardized. This keeps the E&O check from harassing you about non‑conforming addresses.
Do I have to have a 5+4 digit ZIP code to be UAD compliant?
UAD‑compliant addresses don't require a "5+4" digit ZIP code. To make your workflow smoother we removed the "+4", since it isn't required by the GSEs and doesn't always easily fit into the Address 2 line of the comp grid. So, if you can't determine the 5+4 ZIP code, don't sweat it.
Interestingly, you don't even have to get a "real" USPS address as far as UAD is concerned. It simply needs to be in the format of a "complete address" according to USPS' Publication 28 (pub28). Of course, the address should point to the true physical location of the property.
For UAD‑compliance it's actually more important that address elements like street suffix (e.g. "CIR" or "ST") and secondary unit designators ("STE" or "APT") are used according to pub28 standards. TOTAL takes care of this for you by geocoding and retrieving a complete, pub28 address.
What if there is no USPS address?
According to the GSEs' UAD FAQ, if there's no USPS address for the property, you should enter the "physical address" of the property. If you're unsure about the physical address, the GSEs say you can use a "911 address" which is essentially the instructions you would give emergency services in order to reach the property.
Unfortunately, that also raises a question, since such an "address" might actually be a description of how to get there — perhaps even based on landmarks — that clearly won't fit into the UAD‑required pub28 format. So, it makes sense to look at the "grid" for the local community and try to find a reasonably accurate address for the property based on adjacent addresses.
Hopefully, these cases will be infrequent, and better guidance will become available as the UAD becomes widely used.
Shouldn't I use the legal address?
According to the the GSEs' UAD FAQ, the physical address trumps the legal address, so where they conflict, use the physical address. If you're unsure which address is most accurate — for instance, if a property's legal address is in one city, but it physically resides in another — you may need to consult the local community's plat map or "grid" to decide.
Can I use a PO Box or Rural Route number?
Don't use a PO Box on a UAD‑compliant report.
If a Rural Route number accurately describes the physical location of the property, it can be used. Keep in mind, a Rural Route number doesn't always correspond to a physical location.
How do you know all this?
The GSEs' UAD Requirements document, page 6 states that the ZIP code may be 5 digits, or 5+4 digits. It also states that the address must conform to the standards of a "complete" address according to "pub28." Publication 28.211 distinguishes between "complete" and "standardized" addresses — defining 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." Pub 28 goes on to defer further detail to the Domestic Mail Manual 602.1.3e — which allows ZIP codes to be 5 digits.
Hopefully, that's way more detail than you'll ever need.
