IEC 61969-3:2023

Mechanical structures for electrical and electronic equipment - Outdoor enclosures - Part 3: Environmental requirements, tests and safety aspects

IEC 61969-3:2023 specifies a set of basic environmental requirements and tests, as well as safety aspects for outdoor enclosures for electrical and electronic equipment, under conditions of non-weatherprotected locations above ground. The purpose of this document is to define a minimum level of environmental performance in order to meet requirements of storage, transport and final installation. The intention is to establish basic environmental performance criteria for outdoor enclosure compliance.

Structures mécaniques pour équipement électrique et électronique - Enveloppes de plein air - Partie 3: Exigences et essais d'environnement, et aspects liés à la sécurité

L’IEC 61969:2023 spécifie un ensemble d’exigences et d’essais d’environnement de base, ainsi que les aspects liés à la sécurité relatifs aux enveloppes de plein air pour équipement électrique et électronique, placées dans les conditions d’emplacement non protégé contre les intempéries, au-dessus du sol. L’objet du présent document est de définir un niveau minimal de performances environnementales, afin de répondre aux exigences de stockage, de transport et d’installation finale. Il s’agit d’établir des critères de performances environnementales de base en vue de la conformité des enveloppes de plein air.

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 19-Nov-2023
• ICS: 31.240 - Mechanical structures for electronic equipment
• Technical Committee: SC 48D - Mechanical structures for electrical and electronic equipment
• Drafting Committee: MT 1 - TC 48/SC 48D/MT 1
• Current Stage: PPUB - Publication issued
• Start Date: 01-Dec-2023
• Completion Date: 20-Nov-2023

Relations

• Revises: IEC 61969-3:2020 - Mechanical structures for electrical and electronic equipment - Outdoor enclosures - Part 3: Environmental requirements, tests and safety aspects
• Effective Date: 05-Sep-2023

Standards Content (Sample)

IEC 61969-3 ®
Edition 4.0 2023-11
REDLINE VERSION
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Mechanical structures for electrical and electronic equipment – Outdoor
enclosures –
Part 3: Environmental requirements, tests and safety aspects

All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from
either IEC or IEC's member National Committee in the country of the requester. If you have any questions about IEC
copyright or have an enquiry about obtaining additional rights to this publication, please contact the address below or
your local IEC member National Committee for further information.

IEC Secretariat Tel.: [phone]
3, rue de Varembé [e-mail]
CH-1211 Geneva 20 www.iec.ch
Switzerland
About the IEC
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is the leading global organization that prepares and publishes
International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

About IEC publications
The technical content of IEC publications is kept under constant review by the IEC. Please make sure that you have the
latest edition, a corrigendum or an amendment might have been published.

IEC publications search - webstore.iec.ch/advsearchform IEC Products & Services Portal - products.iec.ch
The advanced search enables to find IEC publications by a Discover our powerful search engine and read freely all the
variety of criteria (reference number, text, technical publications previews. With a subscription you will always have
committee, …). It also gives information on projects, replaced access to up to date content tailored to your needs.
and withdrawn publications.
Electropedia - www.electropedia.org
IEC Just Published - webstore.iec.ch/justpublished
The world's leading online dictionary on electrotechnology,
Stay up to date on all new IEC publications. Just Published
containing more than 22 300 terminological entries in English
details all new publications released. Available online and once
and French, with equivalent terms in 19 additional languages.
a month by email.
Also known as the International Electrotechnical Vocabulary

(IEV) online.
IEC Customer Service Centre - webstore.iec.ch/csc

If you wish to give us your feedback on this publication or need
further assistance, please contact the Customer Service
Centre: [e-mail].
IEC 61969-3 ®
Edition 4.0 2023-11
REDLINE VERSION
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
colour
inside
Mechanical structures for electrical and electronic equipment – Outdoor
enclosures –
Part 3: Environmental requirements, tests and safety aspects
INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
ICS 31.240 ISBN 978-2-8322-7928-1

– 2 – IEC 61969-3:2023 RLV © IEC 2023
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
INTRODUCTION . 5
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 8
4 Coordination dimensions .
4 Environmental requirements, tests and safety aspects – Classification of
environmental conditions . 8
5 Environmental test conditions . 8
5.1 General . 8
5.2 Pass/fail criteria tests . 9
5.3 Climatic tests . 11
5.4 Biological tests . 13
5.5 Tests of resistance against chemically active substances . 13
5.6 Tests of resistance against mechanically active substances . 15
6 Mechanical tests . 15
6.1 General Operational related mechanical tests . 15
6.2 Transport tests . 16
6.3 Lifting and stiffness test . 17
7 Safety aspects . 18
7.1 General . 18
7.2 Locking devices . 18
7.3 Vandalism resistance . 18
7.4 Firearms resistance (optional for outdoor metal enclosures) . 18
8 Seismic requirements . 19
9 Electromagnetic shielding performance . 19
10 Thermal management . 19
11 Acoustic noise emission . 19
Bibliography . 20

Table 1 – Pass/fail criteria tests . 10
Table 2 – Climatic conditions for environmental classes 1 and 2 . 11
Table 3 – Biological tests . 13
Table 4 – Tests of resistance against mechanically active substances .
Table 4 – Tests of resistance against chemically active substances . 14
Table 5 – Mechanical tests (operational) . 16
Table 5 – Vibration and shock test .

INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
MECHANICAL STRUCTURES FOR ELECTRICAL AND
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT – OUTDOOR ENCLOSURES –

Part 3: Environmental requirements, tests and safety aspects

FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote international
co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To this end and
in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications, Technical Reports,
Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC Publication(s)”). Their
preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested in the subject dealt with
may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-governmental organizations liaising
with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely with the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence between
any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in the latter.
5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity
assessment services and, in some areas, access to IEC marks of conformity. IEC is not responsible for any
services carried out by independent certification bodies.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) IEC draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a)
patent(s). IEC takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in
respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, IEC had not received notice of (a) patent(s), which
may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent
the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at https://patents.iec.ch. IEC
shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
This redline version of the official IEC Standard allows the user to identify the changes
made to the previous edition IEC 61969-3:2020. A vertical bar appears in the margin
wherever a change has been made. Additions are in green text, deletions are in
strikethrough red text.
– 4 – IEC 61969-3:2023 RLV © IEC 2023
IEC 61969-3 has been prepared by subcommittee 48D: Mechanical structures for electrical and
electronic equipment, of IEC technical committee 48: Electrical connectors and mechanical
structures for electrical and electronic equipment. It is an International Standard.
This fourth edition cancels and replaces the third edition published in 2020. This edition
constitutes a technical revision.
This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous
edition:
a) alignment with the content of ETSI EN 300 019 and IEC 60721 series latest editions,
particularly with the actualization of climate conditions;
b) rationale for the selected operating conditions from IEC 60721-3-4 are added;
c) tests are grouped according to the classification of conditions in IEC 60721-3-4;
d) test severities for vibration and shock tests are aligned with ETSI EN 300 019-2-4;
e) addition of pass/fail criteria for each test.
The text of this International Standard is based on the following documents:
Draft Report on voting
48D/765/FDIS 48D/766/RVD
Full information on the voting for its approval can be found in the report on voting indicated in
the above table.
The language used for the development of this International Standard is English.
This document was drafted in accordance with ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2, and developed in
accordance with ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1 and ISO/IEC Directives, IEC Supplement, available
at www.iec.ch/members_experts/refdocs. The main document types developed by IEC are
described in greater detail at www.iec.ch/publications.
This International Standard is to be used in conjunction with IEC 61969-1:2023.
A list of all parts in the IEC 61969 series, published under the general title Mechanical structures
for electrical and electronic equipment – Outdoor enclosures, can be found on the IEC website.
The committee has decided that the contents of this document will remain unchanged until the
stability date indicated on the IEC website under webstore.iec.ch in the data related to the
specific document. At this date, the document will be
• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn, or
• revised.
IMPORTANT – The "colour inside" logo on the cover page of this document indicates
that it contains colours which are considered to be useful for the correct understanding
of its contents. Users should therefore print this document using a colour printer.

INTRODUCTION
The products covered by IEC 61969 series are empty enclosures for outdoor locations, to be
equipped with application-specific combinations of electrical and electronic equipment, and to
be used at non-weatherprotected locations above ground.
IEC 61969 series consists of:
– a design guidelines general
...

IEC 61969-3 ®
Edition 4.0 2023-11
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Mechanical structures for electrical and electronic equipment – Outdoor
enclosures –
Part 3: Environmental requirements, tests and safety aspects

Structures mécaniques pour équipement électrique et électronique –
Enveloppes de plein air –
Partie 3: Exigences et essais d'environnement, et aspects liés à la sécurité
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from
either IEC or IEC's member National Committee in the country of the requester. If you have any questions about IEC
copyright or have an enquiry about obtaining additional rights to this publication, please contact the address below or
your local IEC member National Committee for further information.

Droits de reproduction réservés. Sauf indication contraire, aucune partie de cette publication ne peut être reproduite ni
utilisée sous quelque forme que ce soit et par aucun procédé, électronique ou mécanique, y compris la photocopie et
les microfilms, sans l'accord écrit de l'IEC ou du Comité national de l'IEC du pays du demandeur. Si vous avez des
questions sur le copyright de l'IEC ou si vous désirez obtenir des droits supplémentaires sur cette publication, utilisez
les coordonnées ci-après ou contactez le Comité national de l'IEC de votre pays de résidence.

IEC Secretariat Tel.: [phone]
3, rue de Varembé [e-mail]
CH-1211 Geneva 20 www.iec.ch
Switzerland
About the IEC
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is the leading global organization that prepares and publishes
International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies.

About IEC publications
The technical content of IEC publications is kept under constant review by the IEC. Please make sure that you have the
latest edition, a corrigendum or an amendment might have been published.

IEC publications search - webstore.iec.ch/advsearchform IEC Products & Services Portal - products.iec.ch
The advanced search enables to find IEC publications by a Discover our powerful search engine and read freely all the
variety of criteria (reference number, text, technical publications previews. With a subscription you will always have
committee, …). It also gives information on projects, replaced access to up to date content tailored to your needs.
and withdrawn publications.
Electropedia - www.electropedia.org
IEC Just Published - webstore.iec.ch/justpublished
The world's leading online dictionary on electrotechnology,
Stay up to date on all new IEC publications. Just Published
containing more than 22 300 terminological entries in English
details all new publications released. Available online and once
and French, with equivalent terms in 19 additional languages.
a month by email.
Also known as the International Electrotechnical Vocabulary

(IEV) online.
IEC Customer Service Centre - webstore.iec.ch/csc

If you wish to give us your feedback on this publication or need
further assistance, please contact the Customer Service
Centre: [e-mail].
A propos de l'IEC
La Commission Electrotechnique Internationale (IEC) est la première organisation mondiale qui élabore et publie des
Normes internationales pour tout ce qui a trait à l'électricité, à l'électronique et aux technologies apparentées.

A propos des publications IEC
Le contenu technique des publications IEC est constamment revu. Veuillez vous assurer que vous possédez l’édition la
plus récente, un corrigendum ou amendement peut avoir été publié.

Recherche de publications IEC -  IEC Products & Services Portal - products.iec.ch
webstore.iec.ch/advsearchform Découvrez notre puissant moteur de recherche et consultez
La recherche avancée permet de trouver des publications IEC gratuitement tous les aperçus des publications. Avec un
en utilisant différents critères (numéro de référence, texte, abonnement, vous aurez toujours accès à un contenu à jour
comité d’études, …). Elle donne aussi des informations sur les adapté à vos besoins.
projets et les publications remplacées ou retirées.

Electropedia - www.electropedia.org
IEC Just Published - webstore.iec.ch/justpublished
Le premier dictionnaire d'électrotechnologie en ligne au monde,
Restez informé sur les nouvelles publications IEC. Just
avec plus de 22 300 articles terminologiques en anglais et en
Published détaille les nouvelles publications parues.
français, ainsi que les termes équivalents dans 19 langues
Disponible en ligne et une fois par mois par email.
additionnelles. Egalement appelé Vocabulaire

Electrotechnique International (IEV) en ligne.
Service Clients - webstore.iec.ch/csc

Si vous désirez nous donner des commentaires sur cette
publication ou si vous avez des questions contactez-nous:
[e-mail].
IEC 61969-3 ®
Edition 4.0 2023-11
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Mechanical structures for electrical and electronic equipment – Outdoor

enclosures –
Part 3: Environmental requirements, tests and safety aspects

Structures mécaniques pour équipement électrique et électronique –

Enveloppes de plein air –
Partie 3: Exigences et essais d'environnement, et aspects liés à la sécurité

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
INTERNATIONALE
ICS 31.240  ISBN 978-2-8322-7748-5

– 2 – IEC 61969-3:2023 © IEC 2023
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3
INTRODUCTION . 5
1 Scope . 6
2 Normative references . 6
3 Terms and definitions . 8
4 Classification of environmental conditions . 8
5 Environmental test conditions . 8
5.1 General . 8
5.2 Pass/fail criteria tests . 8
5.3 Climatic tests . 9
5.4 Biological tests . 11
5.5 Tests of resistance against chemically active substances . 11
5.6 Tests of resistance against mechanically active substances . 12
6 Mechanical tests . 12
6.1 Operational related mechanical tests . 12
6.2 Transport tests . 13
6.3 Lifting and stiffness test . 14
7 Safety aspects . 14
7.1 General . 14
7.2 Locking devices . 14
7.3 Vandalism resistance . 14
7.4 Firearms resistance (optional for outdoor metal enclosures) . 14
8 Seismic requirements . 15
9 Electromagnetic shielding performance . 15
10 Thermal management . 15
11 Acoustic noise emission . 15
Bibliography . 16

Table 1 – Pass/fail criteria tests . 9
Table 2 – Climatic conditions for environmental classes 1 and 2 . 10
Table 3 – Biological tests . 11
Table 4 – Tests of resistance against chemically active substances . 12
Table 5 – Mechanical tests (operational) . 13

INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION
____________
MECHANICAL STRUCTURES FOR ELECTRICAL AND
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT – OUTDOOR ENCLOSURES –

Part 3: Environmental requirements, tests and safety aspects

FOREWORD
1) The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a worldwide organization for standardization comprising
all national electrotechnical committees (IEC National Committees). The object of IEC is to promote international
co-operation on all questions concerning standardization in the electrical and electronic fields. To this end and
in addition to other activities, IEC publishes International Standards, Technical Specifications, Technical Reports,
Publicly Available Specifications (PAS) and Guides (hereafter referred to as “IEC Publication(s)”). Their
preparation is entrusted to technical committees; any IEC National Committee interested in the subject dealt with
may participate in this preparatory work. International, governmental and non-governmental organizations liaising
with the IEC also participate in this preparation. IEC collaborates closely with the International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) in accordance with conditions determined by agreement between the two organizations.
2) The formal decisions or agreements of IEC on technical matters express, as nearly as possible, an international
consensus of opinion on the relevant subjects since each technical committee has representation from all
interested IEC National Committees.
3) IEC Publications have the form of recommendations for international use and are accepted by IEC National
Committees in that sense. While all reasonable efforts are made to ensure that the technical content of IEC
Publications is accurate, IEC cannot be held responsible for the way in which they are used or for any
misinterpretation by any end user.
4) In order to promote international uniformity, IEC National Committees undertake to apply IEC Publications
transparently to the maximum extent possible in their national and regional publications. Any divergence between
any IEC Publication and the corresponding national or regional publication shall be clearly indicated in the latter.
5) IEC itself does not provide any attestation of conformity. Independent certification bodies provide conformity
assessment services and, in some areas, access to IEC marks of conformity. IEC is not responsible for any
services carried out by independent certification bodies.
6) All users should ensure that they have the latest edition of this publication.
7) No liability shall attach to IEC or its directors, employees, servants or agents including individual experts and
members of its technical committees and IEC National Committees for any personal injury, property damage or
other damage of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or indirect, or for costs (including legal fees) and
expenses arising out of the publication, use of, or reliance upon, this IEC Publication or any other IEC
Publications.
8) Attention is drawn to the Normative references cited in this publication. Use of the referenced publications is
indispensable for the correct application of this publication.
9) IEC draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a)
patent(s). IEC takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent rights in
respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, IEC had not received notice of (a) patent(s), which
may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that this may not represent
the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at https://patents.iec.ch. IEC
shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
IEC 61969-3 has been prepared by subcommittee 48D: Mechanical structures for electrical and
electronic equipment, of IEC technical committee 48: Electrical connectors and mechanical
structures for electrical and electronic equipment. It is an International Standard.
This fourth edition cancels and replaces the third edition published in 2020. This edition
constitutes a technical revision.
This edition includes the following significant technical changes with respect to the previous
edition:
a) alignment with the content of ETSI EN 300 019 and IEC 60721 series latest editions,
particularly with the actualization of climate conditions;
b) rationale for the selected operating cond
...