NAD

Name and Address. The EDIFACT segment that designates a party — who they are, where they sit, and what role they play in the message.

Definition

The NAD segment is designed, per the official D.96A function statement, "to specify the name/address and their related function, either by C082 only and/or unstructured by C058 or structured by C080 through 3207". In practice NAD supports three ways to identify a party:

1. By coded identifier via composite C082 (Party Identification Details), typically a GLN qualified by an ICD.
2. By unstructured free text via C058 (up to 5 lines of 35 characters).
3. By full structured address via C080 (party name), C059 (street), 3164 (city), 3229 (sub-entity), 3251 (postcode), 3207 (country).

The first element (3035, "Party qualifier") is mandatory and carries the party's role: BY Buyer, SU Supplier, DP Delivery Point, IV Invoicee, SH Shipper, etc.

Origin

NAD has been part of the EDIFACT directory since version 1 (1987). Its current structure has been stable since directory D.93A. Version D.96A, archived on ediverse.io, dated 27 November 1995, is the most widely deployed in European retail for ORDERS, DESADV, INVOIC and their cousins. The segment lives in the TRSD ("Trade Segments Directory") table of the UN/CEFACT directive: trsdnad.htm.

Example in context

A typical ORDERS cycle carries several NAD occurrences:

Successively: the buyer (BY), the supplier (SU), the delivery point (DP), the invoicee (IV). The trailing 9 declares that each identifier follows the GS1 scheme (ICD 0088).

Related terms

• Segment — the general concept of which NAD is an instance.
• Qualifier — the mechanism that pins down the role (BY, SU, DP…).
• GLN — the standard identifier carried in C082.
• ICD — the issuing-authority code for that identifier.
• BGM — another service segment present in every message.