NEMA ratings and standards were established by the National Electrical Manufacturer’s Association and detail minimum enclosure construction, performance, test criteria, and corrosion resistance. When discussing enclosure standard types, two main categories exist: indoor and indoor/outdoor. It is important to note that the numbers do not always correspond to the level of protection. For example, NEMA 4X offers far more protection than a NEMA 12 industrial enclosure.

According to the official NEMA Ratings Documentation, here are the three main ratings for enclosures which are fabricated by ITSENCLOSURES (more detailed explanation below):

NEMA 12

Protects against dust, dirt, lint, grease, fibers, and splashing fluids

NEMA 4

Protects against dust, dirt, hose directed water and corrosive materials

NEMA 4X (Stainless)

Protects against dust, dirt, and hose directed fluids and corrosive materials

NEMA 12: Enclosures constructed (without knockouts) for indoor use to provide a degree of protection to personnel against access to hazardous parts; to provide a degree of protection of the equipment inside the enclosure against ingress of solid foreign objects (falling dirt and circulating dust, lint, fibers, and flyings); and to provide a degree of protection with respect to harmful effects on the equipment due to the ingress of water (dripping and light splashing).

NEMA 4: Enclosures constructed for either indoor or outdoor use to provide a degree of protection to personnel against access to hazardous parts; to provide a degree of protection of the equipment inside the enclosure against ingress of solid foreign objects (falling dirt and windblown dust); to provide a degree of protection with respect to harmful effects on the equipment due to the ingress of water (rain, sleet, snow, splashing water, and hose directed water); and that will be undamaged by the external formation of ice on the enclosure.

Type 4X: Enclosures constructed for either indoor or outdoor use to provide a degree of protection to personnel against access to hazardous parts; to provide a degree of protection of the equipment inside the enclosure against ingress of solid foreign objects (windblown dust); to provide a degree of protection with respect to harmful effects on the equipment due to the ingress of water (rain, sleet, snow, splashing water, and hose directed water); that provides an additional level of protection against corrosion; and that will be undamaged by the external formation of ice on the enclosure.

Use the following flowchart to determine what NEMA rating to choose.

Source: https://www.nema.org/Products/Documents/nema-enclosure-types.pdf

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