Understanding Your Address Statuses

Every location in your GovDocs Posting Dashboard displays an Address Validation Status along with the possibility of an additional message. An Address Validation Status reflects how your location's address validated against USPS and Canada Post postal data, and the additional message shows shipment activity that needs your attention and recommendations for next steps. It gives you a clear, at-a-glance view of your address and shipment data across your entire GovDocs Update Program.  

Understanding what each status means helps your team know where to focus attention and feel confident that your location addresses are supporting your organization’s overall compliance.  

The Five Address Statuses

The Status column filter includes five Address Statuses.  

✅Address Validated 

The address matches USPS (US) or Canada Post (Canada) postal data.  

You may still see recommendations to addresses, that recommendation matches the format postal carriers use.  Following the suggested carrier formatting helps increase the likelihood of successful delivery.

Common best practices for US addresses include: 

• Adding the ZIP+4 extension (for example, 55431 becomes 55431-1234) 

• Abbreviating common street words (Street to ST, Avenue to AVE) 

• Removing periods from abbreviations (St. to ST), since periods can cause errors in automated mail sorting 

🔵User Reviewed 

A member of your team has reviewed this address and chosen to keep it entered rather than adopting the USPS-recommended format or fixing the Address Error. This status indicated that a deliberate decision was made to retain the existing address. Note that User Reviewed addresses have not been validated against USPS postal data and will remain as entered in your system and may result in delivery challenges or additional reshipment costs. 

🔴Address Error 

USPS or Canada Post postal data was unable to verify this address against postal data. Each Address Error status includes a specific error code that identifies what could not be validated, such as a missing suite number, an unrecognized street name, or an invalid zip code. Locations with an Address Error status are worth reviewing to help ensure your compliance program has accurate, up-to-date address information on file.  Check out the Address Error Guide >> 

What Happens When You Click an Address Error 

Clicking an Address Error status opens a pop up that shows the specific error found for that location and give you two options: 

• Edit Address: Opens the address edit pop up so you can review and correct the flagged field. The field with an issue is highlighted in red with an error message to guide your update. Get guidance on errors with our manual here >> 
• Mark User Reviewed: No changes made. Use this option only if you have confirmed the address is correct as entered. Selecting this option means the address remains invalid, which may result in delivery issues and/or reshipment costs. 

✨Address Recommendation 

Why am I seeing a Recommendation for each of my Address Validation Statuses? 

🛑Shipments Paused 

Shipments to this location are on hold due to open returns or customer requests. Reach out to Customer Service (customerservice@govdocs.com) to resolve open returns and resume shipments to this location.