GLOSSARY
Delivery Point Validation
By Justin Winter · Updated August 28, 2026
A USPS check that confirms an address is a real, individually deliverable delivery point — down to the apartment or suite.
Delivery Point Validation (DPV) answers a narrower question than "is this a valid street". It confirms the specific delivery point exists in USPS records, which is what catches a correct street address with a missing or invented unit number.
It is the highest-yield address check for letter mail, because unit-level errors are the most common reason an otherwise plausible address comes back undeliverable.
See also
- CASS certification — A USPS certification programme for address-matching software, confirming it can correctly standardise and code addresses.
- Address standardization — Rewriting an address into the exact form USPS uses — canonical abbreviations, directionals, unit designators, and ZIP+4.
- Undeliverable as addressed — USPS’s classification for a piece that cannot be delivered to the address written on it — the umbrella term behind most returned mail.
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