North Carolina Locksmith Practice Exam

What is the purpose of stop works in a lock?

1. To prevent accidental locking of a door

2. To ensure a knob or lever cannot be operated

3. To provide more than one key operation

4. To adjust the resistance of a latch

The correct answer is: To ensure a knob or lever cannot be operated

The purpose of stop works in a lock primarily centers around ensuring that the knob or lever cannot be operated under certain conditions. This is achieved by creating a mechanism that physically prevents the operation of the lock when certain criteria are not met, which often relates to the lock’s design and intended use. For instance, stop works can limit operations to specific keys or key combinations, maintaining security by restricting access. While other options present different aspects of lock functionality, they do not encapsulate the specific role of stop works. Preventing accidental locking of a door relates to different mechanisms or design features, providing more than one key operation pertains to master key systems rather than stop works, and adjusting latch resistance is related to the overall tension and operation of the lock rather than the stop work’s function in ensuring operational integrity of the knob or lever. Thus, the specific mechanism of stop works is crucial for maintaining controlled access and operational security in locking systems.