Tūtohi me te whakamārama IP rating

How this is calculated#

The tool answers two questions: what an IP code means, and which code a location needs.

To decode, it reads the code the way the IP code standard lays it out. After the letters IP come two characteristic numerals. The first, 0 to 6, covers solid objects and access to hazardous parts: the size of object kept out, and the part of a person kept off, from the back of a hand to a wire. The second, 0 to 8, covers water, from dripping to continuous immersion. An X stands for a numeral that is not stated. An optional additional letter, A to D, marks access protection better than the first numeral gives. Optional supplementary letters, H, M, S and W, add information for a product standard. A dual code such as IPX5/IPX7 meets both of its parts. Up to 6, a second numeral also meets every lower one, but a 7 or 8 alone is for immersion and does not meet water jets.

To select, the tool reads the least code the wiring rules name for the location, outside the zones around baths, showers, pools and spas. It says whether the clause is a requirement, a NOTE or an informative recommendation. With a device's code, it compares element by element: each numeral at or above the one required, and an access letter met by the letter or by the first numeral.

Worked examples#

• IP65. Dust-tight, with no access even by a wire, and protected against water jets from any direction.
• IPX4B. No object numeral is stated. The letter B keeps a finger off, so access is by a finger at worst, and the code resists splashing water from any direction.
• An IP44 power point outside the eave. IP44 meets IP33, the code Cl 4.1.3 sets outside the area an eave protects.
• An IP67 light in a dairy hosed at high pressure. IP67 is below IPX6: a 7 alone is for immersion, not jets.
• A sauna light marked IPX4. IPX4 is below IP24 or IPX4B: the sauna also needs the finger kept off.

Limits#

The tool reads AS 60529-2004, which stops the second numeral at 8; a 9 comes from a later IEC edition. It does not test anything: a code is what the maker has proven for the enclosure as tested. Drilling a drain hole, or a gland that does not seal, loses the code. For a bathroom, laundry, pool or spa, use the wet area zones tool: the code depends on the zone.

See also: IP ratings explained: each digit and letter, IP ratings for an outdoor point and a hosed shed and Wet Area Zones.