The IP rating or code of a piece of equipment is an actual rating the equipment is tested to, in a laboratory certified by NATA or a MRA partner.
According to the international standard IEC 60529 (ensconced in Australian Standards AS60529) IP Code classifies and rates the degrees of protection provided against the intrusion of solid objects, dust, accidental contact, and water in electronic equipment or electrical enclosures.
An IP rating includes two digits preceded by the prefix “IP”. The first digit specifies the protection from solid objects and the second digit the protection from liquids. For example, IP56 means protection from harmful deposits of dust and protection from heavy seas or strong jets of water from all directions. A rating of IP65 would mean complete protection from dust and protection from low pressure jets of water from all directions. Thus IP65 is higher rated for dust and lower rated for water than IP56 (as an example).
