New Construction Program

NC-G-120

Digital- Quick Start Guide– New Construction Program (NC)

This quick start guide is intended for use by NC program participants that registered to receive reference shapefiles on a CD/DVD, reference PDF maps on a CD/DVD, or notified the Census Bureau that they would download NC shapefiles from the NC website.

Initial Steps

1. Obtain the following materials from the provided NC CD/DVD or download from the NC website <https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/about/newconstruction.html>:

• 2020 Census New Construction Census Bureau Partnership Shapefiles or PDF Maps (CD/DVD only)

• 2020 Census New Construction Program Address List Template

• 2020 Census New Construction Program Digital Respondent Guide

• 2020 Census New Construction Program Digital Quick Start Guide (this document)

2. Review the NC Digital Respondent Guide, NC Digital Quick Start guide, address list template, and website prior to beginning your NC review.

Reference PDF Maps on CD/DVD

1. Load your CD/DVD onto your computer. Open the CD/DVD and copy the PDF maps included on your CD/DVD and save the maps to your hard drive. If needed, install PDF software on your computer. The PDF maps are in the PDF folder on your CD/DVD.

2. Open the PDF maps using your PDF software.

3. Some census blocks on your maps may be shaded (with ‘X’s). Shaded blocks are not eligible for the NC Program.

4. When providing any new addresses for the NC Program, you must provide geographic information for each address, which is found on your PDF maps (known as geocoding). Populate this geographic information on the address list template when performing your address updates. Also cross check your work.

5. Use the following information found on the maps on your CD/DVD to geocode all address updates by providing the geographic information of the address location found on the map/materials provided as follows:

   1. Entity ID (found on the CD/DVD label, the ID begins with a PL for cities/towns/villages, CO for counties, MC for townships and TR for tribes).

   2. State code and county code (found near the bottom right corner of each map sheet).

   3. Census tract and the census block number.

Reference Census Bureau Partnership Shapefiles on Website or CD/DVD

1. Open the Census Bureau Partnership Shapefiles included on your CD/DVD or download the shapefiles from the Census Bureau NC website.

2. Review NC eligible blocks in the TABBLOCK layer. Eligible blocks will have a “Y” attribute in the NCELIGIBLE field.

Perform Address Updates

1. Open the address list template record layout that you downloaded from the NC website or received on your CD/DVD and click on AddressListTemplate.xlsx to open the template.

2. Use the address list template to annotate addresses from your local file that should be included in your NC submission.

3. Open the Excel spreadsheet file with your spreadsheet or database application.

4. When reviewing your addresses for updates, provide required address information in the appropriate fields of the address list template: entity ID code, state code, county code, tract number, block number, house number, street name, apartment/unit number, and zip code.

5. Save your address list file as a comma-delimited Excel spreadsheet file (.csv).

6. Name the file nc2020_<entity code>_changes_addresses.csv.

Address Review – Quality Control

1. Verify that all mandatory fields are populated with appropriate information.

2. Verify your addresses are geocoded properly.

3. Verify that your address list file is a comma-delimited Excel spreadsheet file (.csv).

4. Verify the naming convention follows the nc2020_<entity code>_changes_addresses.csv format.

File Naming Conventions and Submission Prep

1. Once you have updated all new addresses, name all return files using the file naming conventions outlined in the NC Digital Respondent Guide. Zip all return files together and name the file nc2020_<entity code>_changes_addresses_return.zip.

Return Updates Using the Secure Web Incoming Module (SWIM)

• The SWIM is the official web portal for submitting all NC response documentation to the Census Bureau’s Geography Division.

1. Open a browser window and enter the SWIM URL: <https://respond.census.gov/swim/>.

2. If you already have a SWIM account, enter your email address and password - skip to step 4).

3. If you do not have a SWIM account, click ‘Register Account’.

• Enter the 12-digit token provided by the Census Bureau.

• Create a password following the five criteria below:

• It must be 8 characters in length.

• It must have at least one upper case character.

• It must have at least one lower case character.

• It must have at least one number.

• It must have at least one special character (valid characters are: #, !, $, &, ?, ~). Do not use commas since they are for spacing purposes only.

• Complete the registration information form.

4. Login to SWIM

• Select Start New Upload button.

• Select New Construction radio button.

• Select your entity type (State, Place, County, County Subdivision, Tribal Area, or Concity).

• Select your state and county.

• Select the Zip file to upload.

• Click the + Add File button.

• Double-click on the file you want to upload.

• [Add additional files in the same manner].

• Add any additional information to the Comments field.

• Logout.

New Construction Schedule and Deadlines

• April 2019 – Mail out of NC invitation phase materials to participants.

• September 2019 – Mail out and review of NC response materials to participants. The Census Bureau will provide webinars and trainings to participants

• November 22, 2019 – Deadline for submitting NC address template.

Contact Information

If you have questions, please contact the Census Bureau:

• Email: <GEO.2020.NC@census.gov>

• Phone: 1-844-242-1765

• New Construction website: <https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/about/newconstruction.html>