A locksmith is fitting a new door with an electric strike, worked by a wired keypad. Which part of the job belongs to you as the electrician?

The supply unit, the cable, the release contact, isolation and testing are wired work and belong to you. The door, lock body and cylinder belong to the door maker or locksmith, and confirming a fire door’s performance is for the door or lock maker and the person responsible for the building. Agree the split before anyone drills the frame.

Choosing the cylinder and the lock body for the door

Confirming the doorset still meets its fire performance

The power supply, cable, release contact and testing

Cutting the frame and fitting the strike to the keep

A customer wants a fail-secure electric release on the only door out of a garden annexe. What must be in place before you agree to it?

Fail-secure stays locked without power and needs power to open, so on its own it traps people the moment the supply fails. It is only acceptable where there is a mechanical way out from the inside. A bigger supply unit can still lose its feed, and an app cannot release a lock that has no power. Prove it by cutting the supply and trying to get out.

A mechanical way to open the door from inside with no power

A larger power supply unit so the release never loses its feed

An app button that can release the door during a power cut

Nothing more, since fail-secure is the safer choice for exits

You are powering a 12 V gate keypad and release. For that circuit to count as SELV, what must the supply be?

SELV depends on the source as well as the voltage. It must be one of the sources in Regulation 414.3, such as a safety isolating transformer or an electronic supply made to keep its output within the limits even under a fault. A low figure on an adaptor of unknown origin does not make it one, and an upstream RCD does not change what the source is.

Any plug-in adaptor whose label states a 12 V DC output rating

Any supply, provided its output is below 50 V AC or DC

Any supply fed from a circuit with a 30 mA RCD upstream

A source recognised in 414.3, such as a safety transformer

Free mock exam

Access, security and privacy — Smart Home Technology Practice

Free topic-focused mock exam: all 30 questions on Access, security and privacy, drawn from the wider Smart Home Technology bank. 35-minute timer, 70% to pass, worked explanation on every question. Use this when you've taken the full mock once and want to drill the topics you got wrong.

Questions: 30
Time limit: 35 min
Pass mark: 70% · 21/30
Question bank: 30

Free, no sign-up. Retake as many times as you like — the questions are reshuffled, with the answer order changed.

Sample questions

01A locksmith is fitting a new door with an electric strike, worked by a wired keypad. Which part of the job belongs to you as the electrician?
- AConfirming the doorset still meets its fire performance
- BThe power supply, cable, release contact and testing
- CChoosing the cylinder and the lock body for the door
- DCutting the frame and fitting the strike to the keep
Why: The supply unit, the cable, the release contact, isolation and testing are wired work and belong to you. The door, lock body and cylinder belong to the door maker or locksmith, and confirming a fire door’s performance is for the door or lock maker and the person responsible for the building. Agree the split before anyone drills the frame.
02A customer wants a fail-secure electric release on the only door out of a garden annexe. What must be in place before you agree to it?
- AA larger power supply unit so the release never loses its feed
- BNothing more, since fail-secure is the safer choice for exits
- CA mechanical way to open the door from inside with no power
- DAn app button that can release the door during a power cut
Why: Fail-secure stays locked without power and needs power to open, so on its own it traps people the moment the supply fails. It is only acceptable where there is a mechanical way out from the inside. A bigger supply unit can still lose its feed, and an app cannot release a lock that has no power. Prove it by cutting the supply and trying to get out.
03You are powering a 12 V gate keypad and release. For that circuit to count as SELV, what must the supply be?
- AAny supply fed from a circuit with a 30 mA RCD upstream
- BAny supply, provided its output is below 50 V AC or DC
- CAny plug-in adaptor whose label states a 12 V DC output rating
- DA source recognised in 414.3, such as a safety transformer
Why: SELV depends on the source as well as the voltage. It must be one of the sources in Regulation 414.3, such as a safety isolating transformer or an electronic supply made to keep its output within the limits even under a fault. A low figure on an adaptor of unknown origin does not make it one, and an upstream RCD does not change what the source is.

Common questions

Is the Access, security and privacy mock exam free?

Yes — 100% free, no sign-up needed. Questions are pulled at random from a substantial bank, with a worked explanation on every question after you submit.

Can I retake the mock exam?

Yes. Every attempt picks a different random selection and reshuffles the options, so each retake gives you genuinely new questions. No limit on retakes.

Does this count towards the real qualification?

No — this is independent practice material. To gain the actual qualification you need to sit the official assessment through an approved provider.