Address Types
NENA describes several different types of addresses in their documents:
Civic Address
Any city-style address that includes a house number and a street name is considered a Civic Address. Civic Addresses include a community name that may or may not be recognized by the USPS or be MSAG valid. Civic Addresses may be used as Postal address if recognized by the USPS. Civic Addresses may be used as MSAG addresses if they are an exact match to the MSAG address. A rural route delivery address or FPO or APO address is not considered a Civic Address.
Postal Address
Address recognized and used by the United States Postal Service (USPS) for delivery of mail. A postal address is frequently not a valid address for 9‑1‑1 purposes.
Service Address
The physical location of a (static) subscriber access line. If available, a Service Address is the recommended address for 9‑1‑1 use. (May be different from the listed address or billing address.)
Relevant NENA Documents
Note: To find and download the document, copy the document number (like NENA-STA-010) from below and search the NENA Standards and Documents page.
NENA-INF-028, NENA Information Document for GIS Data Stewardship for Next Generation 9-1-1
NENA-STA-015, NENA Standard Data Formats for 9-1-1 Data Exchange & GIS Mapping