What it means
This rule checks that the buyer's postal address (BG-8) does not contain a city subdivision name, the element cbc:CitySubdivisionName. It holds a part of a city, such as a neighbourhood or suburb. EN 16931 has no separate city subdivision field; it provides the city name (BT-52) and address lines (BT-50, BT-51, BT-163). The rule applies to UBL invoices and credit notes.
Why it matters
EN 16931 does not use a separate city subdivision element in the buyer's postal address.
How to fix it
Check the buyer's address in your invoicing software for a district, suburb or neighbourhood field. Move that text into an address line (BT-50, BT-51 or BT-163) or into the city name (BT-52), then export again and recheck the file. If you build the XML yourself, delete cbc:CitySubdivisionName from cac:AccountingCustomerParty/cac:Party/cac:PostalAddress and recheck the file.
Once the file is corrected, check it again for free: Validate an invoice against EN 16931
Or fix the invoice in a form and download the corrected file, for 1 credit: Fix a rejected e-invoice
The rule as published
A UBL invoice should not include the AccountingCustomerParty Party PostalAddress CitySubdivisionName Where this rule applies
| Rule set | Version |
|---|---|
| EN 16931 (UBL) | 1.3.17 |
| EN 16931 (UBL credit note) | 1.3.17 |
| XRechnung 3.0 (UBL) | 3.0.2 |
| XRechnung 3.0 (UBL credit note) | 3.0.2 |
| Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (invoice) | 2026.5 |
| Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 (credit note) | 2026.5 |
| SI-UBL 2.0 / NLCIUS (invoice) | 2.0.3.13 |
| SI-UBL 2.0 / NLCIUS (credit note) | 2.0.3.13 |
| France CTC (UBL invoice) | 1.4.0-04 |
| France CTC (UBL credit note) | 1.4.0-04 |
| CIUS-RO UBL Invoice 1.0.9 | 1.0.9 |
| CIUS-RO UBL Credit Note 1.0.9 | 1.0.9 |
Check your file
Drop your e-invoice to see whether UBL-CR-224 still fails, and which other rules do.
Related rules
- UBL-CR-225 Leave the country subdivision code field out of the buyer's address
- UBL-CR-226 Leave the region out of the buyer's address
- UBL-CR-227 Leave the district out of the buyer's address
- UBL-CR-228 Leave the timezone offset out of the buyer's address
- UBL-CR-229 Leave the country name out of the buyer's address
- UBL-CR-230 Leave map coordinates out of the buyer's address