🔨 IK code — classification of the degrees of protection of enclosures for electrical equipment against external mechanical impacts (IK00–IK11, impact energy from 0.14 J to 50 J), hammer test conditions and evaluation of the enclosure, PN-EN 62262

Electronics and EMC PN-EN 62262

Overview

WHAT THE STANDARD COVERS. Scope from the PKN card of the Polish version (in full, before amendment A1; our translation): "This standard refers to the classification of the degrees of protection provided by enclosures against external mechanical impacts, against external mechanical impacts, of equipment with a rated voltage not exceeding 72.5 kV. This standard applies only to enclosures of equipment for which the relevant standard specifies degrees of protection of the enclosure against external mechanical impacts (called impacts in this standard). The object of this standard is to give: a) definitions for the degrees of protection provided by enclosures of electrical equipment as regards protection of that equipment inside the enclosure against harmful effects of mechanical impacts; b) designations for the degrees of protection; c) requirements for each designation; d) tests carried out to verify that the enclosure meets the requirements of this standard. The individual technical committees will be responsible for decisions on the extent and manner in which the classification is used in their standards and for defining the "enclosure" as it is understood as applied to their equipment. It is recommended, however, that for a given classification the tests do not differ from those specified in this standard. Complementary requirements may be included in the relevant product standards if necessary. For a particular type of equipment a committee may specify different requirements provided that at least the same level of safety is ensured. This standard deals only with those enclosures which in all other respects are suitable for their intended use as specified in the relevant product standard and whose material and workmanship ensure that the assigned degree of protection is maintained under normal conditions of use. This standard also applies to empty enclosures, provided that they meet the general test requirements and that the selected degree of protection is suitable for that type of equipment". We have a sample extract of the consolidated version IEC 62262:2002+AMD1:2021 (edition 1.1, 2021-09, the version with marked changes) with the whole normative content — Clauses 1–7 — and a sample extract of the amendment IEC 62262:2002/AMD1:2021 itself with the full text of the changes. The IEC standard is based on the CENELEC publication EN 50102 (foreword).

IK CODE AND TEST (IEC 62262 with AMD1:2021, Clauses 3–7). The IK code consists of the letters IK and a two-digit "characteristic group numeral" from 00 to 11; each corresponds to an impact energy (Table 1): IK00 — not protected according to this standard, IK01 — 0.14 J, IK02 — 0.2 J, IK03 — 0.35 J, IK04 — 0.5 J, IK05 — 0.7 J, IK06 — 1 J, IK07 — 2 J, IK08 — 5 J, IK09 — 10 J, IK10 — 20 J, IK11 — 50 J. Note to the table: IK11 can be specified for special enclosures or protection grids for extremely harsh outdoor applications; it does not substitute the sandbag test when this is required by the product standard. The degree of protection applies to the complete enclosure; parts with a different degree are indicated separately. Tests (Clause 5): unless otherwise specified in the product standard, under the standard atmospheric conditions of IEC 60068-1 — temperature from 15 °C to 35 °C, air pressure from 86 kPa to 106 kPa; above 2000 m altitude the height of fall shall be adjusted to obtain the specified energy; the enclosure clean and new, complete. The product standard shall specify: what the enclosure is, the hammer (pendulum, spring or vertical), the number of samples, the mounting (e.g. an artificial wall, ceiling or floor), pre-conditioning, whether to test energised and with moving parts in motion, the number and points of impacts — without such specifications the conditions of this standard apply. The test (Clause 6) is a type test: the enclosure is mounted on a rigid support (sufficiently rigid — displacement not greater than 0.1 mm under an impact with the energy of the degree concerned), five impacts are applied on each exposed face, evenly distributed, with no more than three in the surroundings of the same point. The acceptance criteria (admissible damage, continuity of safety and reliability) are given by the product standard; amendment A1 added a general criterion for when they are missing: no damage is accepted that impairs the specified IP code. Apparatus (Clause 7): one of the hammers described in IEC 60068-2-75, the type being indicated by the product standard.

STATUS (state of the cards on 30 September 2026). The card of PN-EN 62262:2003 (Polish version) has no "Withdrawn" header — the standard is CURRENT: publication date 14-11-2024, 20 pages, price group K, Electrical Engineering Sector, KT 77 for Low-Voltage Switchgear and Controlgear, ICS 29.020, "Introduces: EN 62262:2002 [IDT], IEC 62262:2002 [IDT]", additional element: PN-EN 62262:2003/A1:2022-06. The card of the English version: published 15-06-2003, 14 pages, additional elements A1:2022-06 and Ap1:2022-01. Amendment PN-EN 62262:2003/A1:2022-06 (Polish version: published 30-12-2024, 9 pages, introduces EN 62262:2002/A1:2021 and IEC 62262:2002/AMD1:2021 [IDT]) — the "Scope" field of its card lists the changes: the second and the last paragraph were removed from the scope (on application only to enclosures for which the product standard specifies degrees of protection, and on empty enclosures), the references were updated, the title of Clause 3 was changed to "Terms and definitions", definition 3.1 was aligned with IEC 60529, IK11 was added to Table 1 and a general evaluation criterion to 6.5; the card also mentions "a new definition 3.1 direct contact [according to IEV 826-12-03]", which we did not find in the text of IEC 62262:2002/AMD1:2021 — there 3.1 is still "enclosure" with a new note. The national corrigendum PN-EN 62262:2003/Ap1:2022-01 (file from the card of the English version, read) changes only the title on the national title page; its heading carries the addition "(IDT PN-EN 50102:2001)". The PKN search for "PN-EN 62262" (30 September 2026): four items — the standard and amendment A1, each in the Polish and the English version, none withdrawn. The card of PN-EN 50102:2001 (Polish version; EN 50102:1995 with A1:1998) — "Withdrawn": published 20-09-2001, "Withdrawal date: 22-11-2022", without a "Replaced by" field; its corrigendum AC:2011 is also withdrawn. IEC pages (30 September 2026): IEC 62262:2002 — edition 1.0 of 2002-02-12, 15 pages, stability date 2026; consolidated version 1.1 of 2021-09-03.

HOW MANY LABORATORIES AND IN WHAT FORM (copy of the accreditation-scope database, data loaded up to 17 September 2026, read on 30 September 2026). All notations of number 62262: 15 records at 10 laboratories; in the current PCA documents the number stands in 12 cells of reference documents (35 notations, because some laboratories give PN-EN, EN and IEC side by side, plus amendment A1) — the copy splits the AB 324 cell shared by several tests of prefabricated transformer substations into four records. Amendment A1 is recorded by 7 laboratories (AB 003, AB 024, AB 044, AB 261, AB 324, AB 1340, AB 1552; AB 044 also, and AB 1340 exclusively, in the form "PN-EN 62262:2003+A1:2022-06"), corrigendum Ap1:2022-01 — by AB 024 and AB 261; the 2003 standard alone — AB 001 and AB 074, without a year — AB 665. AB 001 marks the entry with an asterisk (a test on the basis of which the laboratory formulates opinions and interpretations). The "Laboratories" tab looks for notations that BEGIN with "PN-EN 62262" and will show 9 laboratories — it will not show AB 024, whose string in the copy begins with "PN-EN 60068-2-75:2000 PN-EN 60068-2-75:2015-01 PN-EN 62262…"; checked with the tab's query on the production server labcoda.pl on 30 September 2026: 9. Current scopes on the PCA website (read on 30 September 2026, issues from 21.08.2025 to 01.09.2026): all entries are in the issues in force and none is suspended.

ITEMS AND RANGE. Enclosures of electrical equipment — AB 001, AB 044, AB 074, AB 665, AB 1552; electrotechnical and electronic products — AB 024; electrical, telecommunication and electronic products and equipment — AB 261; luminaires — AB 003 (in an entry of safety assessments according to standards of the 60598 series); lighting and electrical installation equipment — AB 044; machinery and equipment — AB 1340; electrical equipment and prefabricated transformer substations — AB 324. Ranges: IK10 (AB 001), up to IK10 (AB 074), from IK01 to IK10 (AB 003, AB 1340), from IK01 to IK10 and "IK 50J" (AB 1552), up to IK 06 (AB 261), IK07, IK09 and IK10 (AB 324). The hammer type is given by 4 laboratories: vertical — test Ehc (AB 001, AB 1340, AB 1552), spring — Ehb (AB 261); AB 044 has, in the adjacent entry, impacts with energies from 0.2 J to 20 J with a pendulum hammer (test Eha).

ALONGSIDE THIS STANDARD. Hammer tests according to PN-EN 60068-2-75 (a separate Knowledge Base entry) stand in the same entries at AB 001, AB 024, AB 074, AB 1340 and AB 1552, and at AB 044, AB 261 and AB 665 in the adjacent entry. PN-EN 50102:2001, withdrawn on 22-11-2022 (EN 50102, on which IEC 62262 was based), is recorded next to PN-EN 62262 by four laboratories: AB 044, AB 261, AB 665 and AB 1552. In entries with the IK code without this standard there are PN-EN 62208 — empty enclosures for low-voltage switchgear assemblies (AB 044, AB 1552) — and luminaire standards of the 60598 series (AB 003). The IP code, which an impact must not impair, is described by PN-EN 60529 (a separate Knowledge Base entry).

WHERE A SEEMINGLY CORRECT RESULT IS EASY TO GET. First — the IK code alone does not define the test: the hammer, the number of samples, the mounting, conditioning, testing when energised, the points of impact and the acceptance criteria are given by the product standard; a result "IK08" without the product standard and the hammer does not say how it was obtained. Second — support: the enclosure shall stand on a support that moves by no more than 0.1 mm under the impact; a soft mounting absorbs part of the energy and gives a better result than reality. Third — number and distribution of impacts: five on each exposed face, no more than three around one point, unless the product standard specifies otherwise. Fourth — IK11 (50 J) exists only since amendment A1:2021; without it the highest degree is IK10, and 50 J was only a recommended value in a note to the table. Fifth — evaluation: when the product standard gives no criteria, amendment A1 requires at least that the impacts do not impair the specified IP code — the enclosure then has to be checked for this as well. Sixth — altitude: above 2000 m the height of fall of the hammer has to be adjusted.

WHAT WE DO NOT GIVE. The parameters of the hammers (mass, radius, height of fall for a given energy) — they are described in IEC 60068-2-75 (separate entry); requirements of product standards; the Polish text of the standard beyond the "Scope" field of the PKN card. The extract of the consolidated version has marked changes (deleted and added text side by side) — we take the wording after the change from the text of amendment AMD1:2021 itself.

Method principle

The enclosure of electrical equipment, clean, new and complete, is mounted on a rigid support (displacement under the impact not greater than 0.1 mm) and struck with a hammer according to IEC 60068-2-75 with the energy corresponding to the declared IK degree — from 0.14 J (IK01) to 20 J (IK10), and since amendment A1:2021 up to 50 J (IK11) — five times on each exposed face. The enclosure meets the requirement when the damage is within the criteria of the product standard, and without such criteria — when the impacts have not impaired the specified IP code.

Applications

• Enclosures of electrical and electronic equipment — IK code from IK01 to IK10, at AB 1552 also 50 J — in the scopes of 10 laboratories
• Luminaires, electrical installation equipment, machinery and equipment, prefabricated transformer substations — in entries of assessments according to product standards (AB 003, AB 044, AB 1340, AB 324)

Key parameters

Standard

Standard number

PN-EN 62262:2003 (wersja polska z 14-11-2024 i wersja angielska; EN 62262:2002, IEC 62262:2002 IDT) ze zmianą PN-EN 62262:2003/A1:2022-06 (EN 62262:2002/A1:2021, IEC 62262:2002/AMD1:2021 IDT)

Title (PL)

Stopnie ochrony przed zewnętrznymi uderzeniami mechanicznymi zapewnianej przez obudowy urządzeń elektrycznych (Kod IK)

Title (EN)

Degrees of protection provided by enclosures for electrical equipment against external mechanical impacts (IK code)

Step-by-step procedure

1. Product standard and status

   Establish the product standard (enclosure, hammer, number of samples, mounting, conditioning, points of impact, criteria); PN-EN 62262:2003 with A1:2022-06 current (state of the cards on 30 September 2026).

2. Preparation of the enclosure

   Enclosure clean, new, complete; mounted on a rigid support (≤ 0.1 mm); conditions 15–35 °C and 86–106 kPa unless the product standard specifies otherwise.

3. Energy and hammer

   Energy according to Table 1 for the declared code (IK01 0.14 J … IK10 20 J, IK11 50 J); hammer according to IEC 60068-2-75; above 2000 m adjust the height of fall.

4. Impacts

   Five impacts on each exposed face, evenly distributed, no more than three in the surroundings of the same point, unless the product standard gives another number and other points.

5. Evaluation

   According to the criteria of the product standard; without them — no damage may impair the specified IP code (criterion added by amendment A1).

Required equipment and apparatus

Health and safety (OHS)

• Impact energy up to 50 J — guarding of the hammer zone and protection against fragments of the enclosure; testing when energised only if required by the product standard, with electrical safety rules
• SUBSTANTIVE NOTE: the IK code without the product standard does not define the hammer, the number of samples or the criteria; IK11 (50 J) exists only since amendment A1:2021

Frequently asked questions