IEC 60721-3-1:2018

Overview

IEC 60721-3-1:2018 - Classification of environmental conditions - Part 3-1: Storage - defines how to classify the groups of environmental parameters and their severities that products (together with their packaging, if any) are exposed to during storage. This edition (3.0, 2018) is a technical revision of the 1997 edition and incorporates Corrigendum 1 (2024‑10). It focuses only on environmental conditions that can directly affect product performance during storage and excludes fire/explosion, ionizing radiation and offshore locations. The standard provides a common vocabulary and environmental classification framework for storage-related design, testing and procurement.

Key topics and technical content

• Classification of environmental parameter groups and severity levels for storage scenarios.
• Main parameter groups covered:
  • Climatic conditions (K) - completely new class structure (three groups) aligned with IEC 60721-2-1 revisions.
  • Special climatic conditions (Z) - includes new classes for solar radiation and snow load.
  • Biological conditions (B).
  • Chemically active substances (C) - updated classes; Annex A provides informative details.
  • Mechanically active substances (S) - fully revised classes.
  • Mechanical conditions (M) - new mechanical condition classes and shock/vibration considerations.
• Tables and annexes: updated Table 1 (climatic classes), Table 2 (special climatic), Table 5 (mechanically active substances), Table 6 (mechanical conditions), plus sets of class combinations and explanatory annexes.
• General rules: severities are maximum/limit values with a low probability of being exceeded; combinations of parameters may increase risk; transfer during storage and handling are outside scope.

Practical applications

• Use IEC 60721-3-1:2018 to define realistic storage environment requirements for products and packaging.
• Create procurement and specification language that references standardized environmental classes and severities.
• Guide laboratory and field environmental testing and acceptance criteria for stored goods.
• Support packaging design, warehouse planning and logistics by identifying relevant climatic, chemical and mechanical stressors.
• Feed into reliability assessments, risk analyses and maintenance planning by clarifying environmental exposures during storage.

Who should use this standard

• Product designers and engineers (electrical/electronic equipment)
• Reliability and test engineers
• Packaging and supply chain professionals
• Test laboratories and conformity assessment bodies
• Procurement and warehouse managers specifying storage conditions

Related standards

• IEC 60721-1 (environmental parameters and severities)
• IEC 60721-2-1 (temperature and humidity climate types)
• Other IEC 60721-3 parts (transportation, stationary use at protected/unprotected locations)

Using IEC 60721-3-1:2018 helps organizations standardize how they classify and communicate storage environmental conditions, enabling clearer specifications, better testing, and improved product protection during storage.