How To Create A Postal Address

Postal Addressing Standards > Appendix I > I5 Delivery Address Line

I5 Delivery Address Line

I51 Components

The components of the delivery address are: the primary address number and street name, URB, secondary address identifier, and secondary address.

Example:

Delivery address line components: primary address number and street name, URB, secondary address identifier, and secondary address.

I51.1 Street Names and Prefixes

Consult the abbreviation tables in Publication 28, prior to abbreviating any street name.

Spanish street names generally have the suffix element preceding the root street name, making it a prefix. The AMS database has no prefix element, so Spanish prefixes are stored in the street name field along with the actual street name.

Examples:

CALLE AVENIDA, PASEO, PLAZA, PASAJE, CARR, PARQUE, VEREDA, VISTA, VIA, CALLEJON, PATIO, BLVD, CAMINO, CALETA, MARGINAL

585 AVE FD ROOSEVELT
105 CAMINO AMAZONA
1025 PARQUE DEL REY
1212 VIA ANGÉLICA

Note: Do not substitute the prefix CALLE with the suffix ST. Such substitutions render the address undeliverable.

I51.2 Numbered Streets

Numbered streets must always contain a street prefix. This avoids misinterpretation of the delivery information between the numbered street and the house numbers.

Examples:

A17 CALLE 1
13 CALLE 191

I51.3 House Numbers

Always place the house number before the street prefix. When the house number is alphanumeric, do not use a hyphen to separate the letter from the number.

Examples:

Hyphens in the address range are sometimes necessary. When addresses contain block numbers and house numbers, use a hyphen to separate the block number from the house number. Some identifiers commonly used to separate these elements such as Bloque, Número, Casa, Lote, and # must not be included.

Examples:

This process facilitates matching customer files against AMS files.

I51.4 Urbanizations

An urbanization denotes an area, sector, or residential development within a geographic area. Commonly used in Puerto Rican urban areas, it is an important part of the addressing format, as it describes the location of a specific street.

In Puerto Rico, identical street names and address number ranges can be found within the same ZIP Code. In these cases, the urbanization name is the only element that correctly identifies the location of a particular address. Generally, the abbreviation URB is placed before the urbanization name.

Examples:

Abbreviation URB placed before the urbanization name.

Generally, urbanizations names are not repeated within five-digit ZIP Codes and, in most cases, are served by the same carrier route. Therefore, a list of urbanization names serves as five-digit ZIP Code verification.

Exceptions

The following urbanization names stand alone and do not require the use of the abbreviation URB.

Urbanization	Abbreviation
Altura(s)	ALT(S)
Barriada	BDA
Barrio	BO
Bosque	BOSQUE
Brisa(s)	BRISA(S)
Ciudad	CIUDAD
Colina(s)	COLINA(S)
Chalets	CHALETS
Comunidad	COMUNIDAD
Estancias	EST
Extensión	EXT
Hacienda	HACIENDA
Jardines	JARD
Industrial	IND
Loma(s)	LOMA(S)
Mansiones	MANS
Parque	PARQ
Parcela(s)	PARCELA(S)
Paseo	PASEO
Pradera	PRADERA
Portal	PORTAL
Portales	PORTALES
Quintas	QUINTAS
Residencial	RES
Reparto	REPTO
Riberas	RIBERAS
Sector	SECT
Terraza	TERR
Valle	VALLE
Villa(s)	VILLA(S)
Vista(s)	VISTA(S)

Example:

I51.5 Post Office Box

Always use PO BOX to identify Post Office Boxes. Do not use Spanish words.

Example:

PO BOX 1195
PO BOX 193565

PO Box addresses are often written in various forms, e.g., Caller, Call Box, GPO Box, APARTADO. The only authorized format is PO BOX. All other forms should be changed to "PO Box" on the mailpiece.

The postal station name is not needed on the mailpiece because the ZIP Code identifies the station. However, when the station name appears on the mailpiece, it should be placed above the delivery line.

Example:

OLD SAN JUAN STA
PO BOX 9021190
SAN JUAN PR 00902-1190

I51.6 Rural Routes

The proper format for rural route addresses is RR_____ Box_____. Do not use the words Rural, Ruta Rural, RFD, Buzón, or BZN. A leading zero before the route number is not necessary.

Examples:

There should be no additional designations such as sector names on the delivery address line of rural addresses. Names of sectors used together with route and box numbers can create potential matching difficulty. Mailers are required to use only one address style. Eliminate unnecessary information.

Examples:

I51.7 Highway Contract Routes

The proper format for highway contract route addresses is HC____BOX____. It is basically the same format utilized for rural routes. Likewise, a leading zero before the route number is not necessary.

Examples:

As with rural route addresses, there should not be any additional designations, such as names of sectors in the delivery address line of HC addresses.

Use only one style of addressing. Eliminate unnecessary information.

I51.8 Last Line

An essential element in a complete address is the last line which must include the city, state and ZIP Code. Certain areas of the San Juan metropolitan area are identified by residents with names such as Condado, Barrio Obrero, and Rio Piedras. These are not valid last line entries. SAN JUAN is the only valid city name for addresses within San Juan.