What the standard defines
IEC 60529 defines a two-digit code. The first digit describes protection against solid objects, from a hand down to dust, ending at 6 for dust-tight. The second describes water, from dripping through spray and jets to temporary and continuous immersion. IP65 is therefore dust-tight and protected against water jets from any direction; IP67 is dust-tight and protected against temporary immersion to a stated depth and duration.
The standard also defines how each test is performed — the pressure of the jet, the depth of the immersion, the duration — which is what makes two products with the same code comparable.
What it does not promise
An IP code says nothing about corrosion, ultraviolet light, temperature or pressure washing. A connector rated IP67 can still degrade in sunlight, and a panel junction box rated for rain is not rated for a pressure washer.
It also describes the enclosure, not the installation. A gland rated IP68 fitted to a cable outside its clamping range seals nothing, and a socket rated IP65 with its cap open is simply an open socket.
What it works with
IP ratings appear across this site on anything that lives outdoors: panels and their junction boxes, connectors, glands, garden lights, extension leads and vehicle sockets. They are read together with the maker’s statement about what is covered — the cells or the whole panel, the connector mated or unmated — because that qualification changes what the code means in practice.
What people ask before they order
Is IP67 better than IP65?
On water, yes: IP67 covers temporary immersion where IP65 covers jets. But the two digits are separate scales, and a higher second digit does not always imply the lower ones — the standard defines which combinations are inclusive and which are not.
Does an IP rating apply with the flap open?
No. A rating is earned in the state the maker tested, which for a socket or a connector means mated, closed and correctly tightened. An open cap is a state the rating was never assessed in.
Last reviewed 16 September 2026