IP - International Protection

Definition

The IP standard defines two construction parameters for a product:

• The first defines the level of protection against the intrusion of solid bodies and the value is placed immediately after the "P" of IP.
• The second defines the level of protection against water penetration into the interior and the value is placed at the end.

For example, a value of IP67 indicates a protection against the penetration of solid objects of "6" and a protection against water of "7".
The higher the value, the more protected the object is.

For the marine sector

In the marine environment, the degree of protection against the intrusion of solid bodies is of relative importance, because it is an environment often almost free of dust or other bodies that could penetrate inside, while protection against water is of fundamental importance.

For this reason, in the marine sector, the first parameter is often omitted and an "x" is placed in its place. So a value of IPx7, will only consider the protection against water.

Sometimes in the marine sector, the degree of protection against water is measured in Jis, which is still a measure derived from the IP standard, so the value of IPx7 is similar to Jis7.

Table of water protection values