NAD - Name and Address

The segment used to identify parties in a transaction with their names, addresses, and coded identifiers.

Purpose

The NAD (Name and Address) segment identifies the parties involved in a business transaction. This includes buyers, sellers, suppliers, ship-to locations, bill-to addresses, manufacturers, carriers, and any other entity that plays a role in the exchange. The NAD segment can identify parties by coded references (such as GLN numbers), by full name and address, or by a combination of both.

In modern EDI practice, parties are most commonly identified by their Global Location Number (GLN) or other standard codes, making the full name and address fields optional. However, when trading with new partners or in contexts where coded identification is not established, the full name and address components become essential.

Data Elements

The NAD segment contains several data elements and composites:

  • 3035 - Party Function Qualifier: Identifies the role of the party. Common values include:
    • BY - Buyer
    • SE - Seller
    • SU - Supplier
    • DP - Delivery party (ship-to)
    • IV - Invoicee (bill-to)
    • CA - Carrier
    • MF - Manufacturer
  • C082 - Party Identification Details: Contains the coded identifier.
    • 3039 - Party Identifier: The actual code (e.g., a GLN number).
    • 1131 - Code List Qualifier (conditional).
    • 3055 - Code List Responsible Agency: Identifies the agency (9 = GS1/EAN, 91 = assigned by seller, 92 = assigned by buyer).
  • C058 - Name and Address (conditional): Free-text name and address lines.
  • C080 - Party Name (conditional): Structured party name in up to five lines.
  • C059 - Street (conditional): Street address in up to four lines.
  • 3164 - City Name (conditional).
  • C819 - Country Sub-entity (conditional): State, province, or region.
  • 3251 - Postal Identification Code (conditional): Postal/ZIP code.
  • 3207 - Country Code (conditional): ISO 3166 two-letter country code.

Format and Syntax

A NAD segment using coded identification:

NAD+qualifier+partyCode::agency'

A NAD segment with full address details:

NAD+qualifier+++partyName+streetAddress+city++postalCode+countryCode'

Empty elements are represented by consecutive plus signs when intermediate elements are omitted but later elements are present.

Messages That Use NAD

NAD appears in virtually every business EDIFACT message:

  • INVOIC - Seller, buyer, invoicee, delivery party
  • ORDERS - Buyer, supplier, ship-to, bill-to
  • DESADV - Consignor, consignee, delivery party
  • IFTMIN - Consignor, consignee, carrier, notify party
  • REMADV - Payer, payee

Example

A buyer identified by GLN:

NAD+BY+5412345000013::9'

The qualifier BY indicates this is the buyer, 5412345000013 is their GLN, and 9 identifies GS1 as the code agency.

A seller with full name and address:

NAD+SE+8798765432106::9+++ACME Trading Ltd+High Street 42+London++EC1A 1BB+GB'

This identifies the seller by GLN and also provides the company name, street, city, postal code, and country code for additional context.