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URPX Quality Assurance Guidelines

Version: 0.5.1 (Working Group Draft) Last Updated: 2026-10-05 Status: Active

Validation and quality standards for URPX v0.5.1 rate plan data

Overview
Ontology Validation
SHACL Constraint Validation
Rate Plan Data Quality
Documentation Quality
Terminology Standards

Overview

URPX v0.5.1 maintains quality standards for ontology alignment, SHACL conformance, and semantic consistency. This guide summarizes the current validation expectations for rate plans, versions, prices, and structured rule logic.

Quality Principles

Ontology Compliance - Data must use current v0.5.1 classes and properties
SHACL Validation - Business rules are enforced through the unified SHACL file
Semantic Consistency - Property usage, enumerations, and cross-references must align with the ontology
Data Completeness - Required identifiers, version metadata, and pricing structure must be present

Ontology Validation

Required Ontology Files

URPX v0.5.1 uses a core ontology file:

ontology/urpx-ontology.ttl - Complete URPX ontology with classes, properties, enumerations, and notes

Common Validation Errors

Error	Cause	Solution
Undefined property	Using a property the v0.5.1 ontology does not declare	Check the ontology and use the declared property
Wrong enum value	Incorrect or invented enumeration instance	Use the exact URPX enumeration IRI
Missing required property	Omitted mandatory identifier, version field, or container	Add the required property before SHACL validation
Type mismatch	Literal used where an object reference is required, or vice versa	Correct to the ontology range

SHACL Constraint Validation

SHACL Validation Files

shacl/urpx-shacl.ttl - Unified SHACL validation shapes for the current ontology

Critical SHACL Constraints

URPXPackage Requirements:

Must include targetURPXVersion exactly once
Must carry at least one content unit through packages, hasRatePlan or hasRatePlanModifier
May include timezoneIdentifier
targetURPXVersion should point to the ontology version IRI used for authoring and validation

RatePlan Requirements:

Must have name
Must have initialEffectiveDate
Must have ratePlanUniqueIdentifier
Carries no pricing content and no list of versions: versions point back to the plan

RatePlanVersion Requirements:

Must have forRatePlan (the link back to the plan identity)
Must have hasCoverageClaim
Must have changeReason
Must have serviceRole
Must have hasPlanElements
Must have hasPrices
Should state effectiveDate or effectiveDateTime (at most one of each; the shapes do not require a date)
May have offeredBy naming the organization that offers the plan

CoverageClaim Requirements:

Must have completenessResult (one of complete, partial, pending, unsupported, unknown, noCoverage)
Should state selfContained and carry an explaining Evaluation via explainedBy

Price Requirements:

Must have exactly one pricing field: amount, unitPrice, basedOnPrice, currentPrice, or basePrice
chargeType, chargeCategory, and billPortion are optional classification metadata
Must have temporal boundaries when the source tariff provides them

Structured Rule Requirements:

Every EligibilityRule must include exactly one hasConditionExpression
Every ProfileAlternative must include exactly one hasConditionExpression
ApplicabilityRule and ApplicabilityGroup may include at most one hasConditionExpression
Every ConditionExpression must include exactly one rootNode
BooleanOperationNode must use operandNodes and not leftOperand / rightOperand
ComparisonNode must use leftOperand and rightOperand
Literal-bearing DatatypeOperandNode and CustomOperandNode branches must carry exactly one matching datatype-specific value property
referencesMetricInput is allowed on literal-bearing datatype/custom operand branches, but not on their property-reference branches

Scenario Requirements:

A Scenario must include hasCustomerProfile, hasServicePointProfile, or both
Eligibility evaluation inputs should be modeled through Scenario, not by attaching profiles directly to EligibilityRule

PriceDefinition and RateCase Requirements:

Every PriceDefinition must include exactly one referencesLedger
Every RateCase must include caseNumber
Every RateCase must include url
hasRateCase may be used on RatePlanVersion, RatePlanModifierVersion, PriceDefinition, Price, PriceSet, and PriceSetAlternative

Temporal Requirements (authoring rules the shapes do not check):

Use timezoneIdentifier where timezone metadata is needed
Versions must not overlap temporally
expirationDate / expirationDateTime must be later than effectiveDate / effectiveDateTime

Rate Plan Data Quality

Required Properties

Every URPXPackage must have:

targetURPXVersion
at least one content unit (packages, hasRatePlan or hasRatePlanModifier)

Every RatePlan must have:

ratePlanUniqueIdentifier
name
initialEffectiveDate

Every RatePlanVersion must have:

forRatePlan
hasCoverageClaim
effectiveDate or effectiveDateTime (recommended)
changeReason
serviceRole
hasPlanElements
hasPrices

Every CoverageClaim must have:

completenessResult

Every RatePlanVersion should include when version labeling is used:

version

Every Price must have:

Exactly one pricing field
Temporal boundaries when the source tariff provides them

Every EligibilityRule must have:

hasConditionExpression

Every ProfileAlternative must have:

hasConditionExpression

Every ConditionExpression must have:

rootNode

Every Scenario must have at least one of:

hasCustomerProfile
hasServicePointProfile

Every PriceDefinition must have:

referencesLedger

Every RateCase must have:

caseNumber
url

Enumeration Value Validation

ChargeTypeValue - Use exact instance names:

urpx:minimumCharge
urpx:usageCharge
urpx:demandDirect
urpx:taxState

BillPortionValue - Use exact instance names:

urpx:bundledPortion
urpx:deliveryPortion
urpx:supplyPortion

ChargeCategoryValue - Use exact instance names:

urpx:adjustment
urpx:auxiliaryCharge
urpx:discount
urpx:environmental
urpx:infrastructure
urpx:regulatory
urpx:serviceCharge
urpx:taxes

JSON-LD Pattern Requirements

Correct enum reference:

{
  "urpx:chargeType": { "@id": "urpx:minimumCharge" },
  "urpx:chargeCategory": { "@id": "urpx:serviceCharge" },
  "urpx:billPortion": { "@id": "urpx:bundledPortion" }
}

Incorrect legacy identifier pattern:

{
  "@context": [
    "https://urpx.org/ns/context/releases/v0.5.1/jsonld/urpx-context.jsonld",
    { "ex": "https://example.org/qa/" }
  ],
  "@type": "urpx:RatePlan",
  "urpx:ratePlanIdentifier": "LEGACY-001"
}

Valid structured condition pattern:

{
  "@context": [
    "https://urpx.org/ns/context/releases/v0.5.1/jsonld/urpx-context.jsonld",
    { "ex": "https://example.org/qa/" }
  ],
  "@type": "urpx:EligibilityRule",
  "urpx:hasConditionExpression": {
    "@type": "urpx:ConditionExpression",
    "urpx:rootNode": {
      "@type": "urpx:ComparisonNode",
      "urpx:operator": { "@id": "urpx:greaterThanOperator" },
      "urpx:leftOperand": {
        "@type": "urpx:ObjectOperandNode",
        "urpx:referencesMetricInput": { "@id": "ex:mi-average-monthly-usage" }
      },
      "urpx:rightOperand": {
        "@type": "urpx:DatatypeOperandNode",
        "urpx:integerValue": 500,
        "urpx:referencesMetricInput": { "@id": "ex:mi-average-monthly-usage" }
      }
    }
  }
}

Valid scenario pattern:

{
  "@context": [
    "https://urpx.org/ns/context/releases/v0.5.1/jsonld/urpx-context.jsonld",
    { "ex": "https://example.org/qa/" }
  ],
  "@type": "urpx:Scenario",
  "urpx:hasCustomerProfile": {
    "@type": "urpx:CustomerProfile",
    "urpx:hasCustomerKind": { "@id": "urpx:residentialKind" }
  },
  "urpx:hasServicePointProfile": {
    "@type": "urpx:ServicePointProfile",
    "urpx:voltageLevel": { "@id": "urpx:secondaryVoltage" }
  }
}

Valid rate case traceability pattern:

{
  "@context": [
    "https://urpx.org/ns/context/releases/v0.5.1/jsonld/urpx-context.jsonld",
    { "ex": "https://example.org/qa/" }
  ],
  "@type": "urpx:RatePlanVersion",
  "urpx:forRatePlan": { "@id": "ex:rateplan-basic-res" },
  "urpx:changeReason": { "@id": "urpx:rateCase" },
  "urpx:serviceRole": { "@id": "urpx:bundledServiceRole" },
  "urpx:hasCoverageClaim": {
    "@type": "urpx:CoverageClaim",
    "urpx:completenessResult": { "@id": "urpx:complete" }
  },
  "urpx:hasPlanElements": { "@id": "ex:plan-elements-basic" },
  "urpx:hasPrices": { "@id": "ex:prices-basic" },
  "urpx:hasRateCase": [
    {
      "@type": "urpx:RateCase",
      "urpx:caseNumber": "2026-001-E",
      "urpx:url": "https://example.org/regulator/dockets/2026-001-e"
    }
  ]
}

Documentation Quality

Code Example Requirements

All examples must:

Use current v0.5.1 property names
Use ratePlanUniqueIdentifier, not ratePlanIdentifier
Use timezoneIdentifier, not timeZoneIdentifier
Use hasConditionExpression, not hasCondition / hasConditionLogic
Include targetURPXVersion when the example includes a URPXPackage
Include proper @context in JSON-LD examples
Validate against the current SHACL file

Terminology Standards

Rate Plan Terminology

Requirement: Never use the bare word "rate" in URPX data, annotations, or documentation. Pick the unambiguous term for what is meant:

"rate plan" for the complete package (RatePlan)
"price" for a single value (Price): "the summer energy price", not "the summer rate"
"rate group" for a utility's named grouping within a service class (RateGroup): e.g. Rate I within SC 1

Correct Usage:

"rate plan data"
"rate plan structure"
"residential rate plan"
"rate plan information"
"price calculations", "rate plan eligibility"

Incorrect Usage:

"rate data"
"rate structure"
"residential rate"
"rate information"
"rate calculations", "rate eligibility"

Exceptions: established terms of art and published names are kept as-is: "rate case" (RateCase), "rate-setting", "rate regulation", "flat-rate billing", and utilities' own published names such as "Rate I". Quoted utility source material is never rewritten. See the FAQ Terminology section for the full explanation.

Article Before "URPX"

URPX documentation, annotations, and data write "an URPX", never "a URPX": "an URPX package", "an URPX rate plan", "an URPX fact", "an URPX-native property".

Validation Workflow

Reference the ontology first - Confirm current classes and properties in urpx-ontology.ttl
Validate syntax - Check JSON-LD or Turtle syntax before semantic review
Validate with SHACL - Use shacl/urpx-shacl.ttl
Check business logic - Verify price structure, time coverage, and rule intent against the source tariff

Edge-Case Coverage

The repository maintains an edge-case register at test-cases/urpx-edge-cases.csv: a catalog of difficult real-world tariff and rate plan features, each with the publishing utility, a source link, and the exact source language.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Property Name Errors:

Using ratePlanIdentifier instead of ratePlanUniqueIdentifier
Using timeZoneIdentifier instead of timezoneIdentifier
Using retired condition-model properties from earlier drafts

Enum Value Errors:

Using string literals instead of @id references where IRIs are required
Inventing values not defined in the ontology

Structural Errors:

Omitting targetURPXVersion on URPXPackage
Omitting forRatePlan or hasCoverageClaim on RatePlanVersion
Nesting versions under the plan instead of linking top-level version nodes back via forRatePlan
Omitting hasConditionExpression on EligibilityRule
Omitting hasConditionExpression on ProfileAlternative
Modeling eligibility inputs outside a Scenario

Support

Validation Tools: See test-cases/ for current example datasets
Issue Reporting: GitHub Issues
Questions: GitHub Discussions

Quality assurance guidelines for URPX v0.5.1. For latest updates, visit the URPX GitHub repository.

Table of Contents​

Overview​

Quality Principles​

Ontology Validation​

Required Ontology Files​

Common Validation Errors​

SHACL Constraint Validation​

SHACL Validation Files​

Critical SHACL Constraints​

Rate Plan Data Quality​

Required Properties​

Enumeration Value Validation​

JSON-LD Pattern Requirements​

Documentation Quality​

Code Example Requirements​

Terminology Standards​

Rate Plan Terminology​

Article Before "URPX"​

Validation Workflow​

Edge-Case Coverage​

Common Pitfalls to Avoid​

Support​

Table of Contents