Suburbs, streets and blocks can be divided into sectors to allow effective management of resources. A similar number of work sites should be assigned to each sector.

Sector boundaries can be drawn along streets or natural features like rivers.

The same sector identification needs to be used by all agencies and personnel involved in the USAR operations.

Sectors can be named in many ways including:
* Compass points (such as North Sector, South Sector, etc).
* Name (such as Westleigh Sector, Northbridge Sector, etc)
* Letters (such as Sector A, Sector B, etc)
* Combination of both (such as Northbridge Sector A, Northbridge Sector B, etc).

Numbers should not be used to identify sectors. Using numbers can create confusion when work site identification is established.