11 code 114 physical address format check
Physical Address Format Check - Code 114
This edit acts as a compendium of physical address editing methods and can enacted upon either the physical location address block or the U-I tax address. This edit supplements earlier edits (found in Codes 102, 103, 104, 106, 107, and 108), though it has no effect on the “usable address index” which is kept throughout the other address edits to denote whether at least one usable address exists. The reason for this separation of the usable address index from Code 114 is that the address is still usable; it simply doesn’t appear to be a true physical location address as it is advertised to be.
The edit was designed, as the name implies, for the physical location address (PLA) block. In order for the U-I address to be edited, two conditions must exist:
- a) The U-I address type code must be ‘1’ (physical location address);
- b) The physical address block must be blank.
If an address already exists in the PLA area, it takes precedence over the U-I address as representing the true physical location of the establishment. The U-I address type code then is forced to a ‘9’ (unknown/unverified address type code), which is ineligible for this edit. The principal reason for relegating the U-I address to an editing back seat is that its address type code is omitted from the EQUI deliverable file; therefore, it can never be used in the BLS edits. This produces an inconsistency in BLS-versus-State edits for the same data. Giving preference to the physical address in the PLA block helps to level the editing playing field. However, having additional edit exceptions appear on the State side is certainly far less problematic than the reverse situation.
This edit is skipped entirely if the average monthly employment (AME) fails to surpass the cutoff tolerance specified in the PK005 record of the Lookup File. Since this parameter is usually set to zero, it means that the employer must have at least one employee to have the physical address edited.
If a valid address exists, then this edit will only be conducted in the batch edits; it will not appear in the edits unless it is accompanied by a 070 (no address usable) error. This error will be shown but not listed, that will have the same count of occurrence as on the batch run, but will have a limited occurrence count.
One difference exists between the EXPO and BLS methods for performing this edit. The BLS edit will check for post office box addresses in both street address lines and flag any occurrence that is found. A street address listing of “123 Main Street; P.O. Box 672” will still be deemed defective under the BLS edit because a P.O. box is embedded in the address data. By contrast, a legitimate street address in the first street address line will exempt the account from checking for a P.O. Box in the second street address line. Since some QCEW analysts prefer to store the additional mailing information together with the physical location data, this additional piece of information should not be prohibited when it doesn’t invalidate the remainder of the address.
Four separate edits are conducted on the physical location address block. If the U-I tax address possesses an address type code of ‘1’ (the only field associated with the U-I address that is updateable), and there is no usable physical location address block present, then this address is passed through the same four edits, which are listed below.
- 1. A search is made for post office box listings within the physical address block. P.O. Box addresses show nothing more than which slot the postal worker is to place a letter at the post office, which is useless when trying to ascertain where the establishment is located. The first street address line is examined first. If it begins with “PO_”, “PO-”, “P_O_”, “P.O.”, or “BOX_” (in which each occurrence of an underscore character represents a space), it is considered to be a post office box address and is flagged with the Code 114 error, highlighting the first street address line in the edit exception listing and the ES2E edit reconciliation screen.
- The second street address line can also be processed against this edit, but only under an extra condition. If the first street address line is blank, but the second line is non-blank, it is edited against the post office box test strings. This allows for the condition occurring in some States where both the physical location and the post office box of a specific location are listed in the same address block for use in either identifying the actual location, or for mailing to the employer. The first street address line is considered the primary identifying information of the employer’s location, so this second line only comes into play in this edit if that first line is absent. Under these conditions, a post office box address in the second street address line will be flagged in the same manner as the first line.
- 2. A search is made for a city field in use without any street address. Some States with significant rural areas and very small towns may have frequent occurrences of physical addresses listed only as “Two Dot, MT” or “Beeler, KS”, with no identifying street information. There may be only a handful of buildings and no proper street names assigned. On the other hand, even the most rural areas are in the process of establishing house numbers and viable street addresses. So this may soon become a thing of the past. In cases where the street address remains unidentifiable, these establishments are better listed in the mailing/other address.
- This portion of the edit flags the account if both of the two street address lines are blank, but the city field is not blank. It highlights the first street address line as the culprit (since this is supposed to be the most location-specific description for an establishment) in the edit exception report.
- 3. The State code is inspected to make sure it is the home State. This portion of the edit is not performed if the county code is ‘996’ or ‘998’, since these values indicate an out-of-state physical location. Otherwise, the edit flags a non-matching State postal abbreviation, underscoring it on the Micro Edit Report.
- 4. The zip code for an in-state location (county code other than ‘996’ or ‘998’) must fall within the range of minimum and maximum zip code for the State, as declared in the State Constants record of the Lookup File. Of course, this will flag the zip code on the Edit Exception Report.
A supplemental flagging of this edit code is used for the large employers that have no physical location address condition (code 088). The 114 code will be flagged in addition to the 088 code when it occurs.
Since the same edits can also be run for the U-I tax address block when its address type code is ‘1’, it is possible that fields in either (but not both) of these addresses can be flagged by this one edit code.
Note: The flagging of the U-I tax address for Code 114 can cause confusion when a MOA is also present for the account. In this case, the Mailing/Other Address block is displayed with its address type on the first ES2C screen, while the UIA appears on the second ES2C. Before Version 6.2, the address type code on the second screen was neither visible nor updateable. Now, however, the picture should be clarified.
BLS classification: C.1.8. EXPO “G” code: C114.
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