From my perspective as a new director of the RMC (Residents' Management Company) for 3 storey purpose built flats, I would say it is totally failing, except possibly, where there is a managing agent involved - and even then, I suspect it is failing in many cases (someone that I know is director of a managed block doesn't seem to have been nudged into doing an FRA, by their managing agents.
Although I sometimes see our own RMC as particularly bad, I suspect the truth is that no similar RMC in the area has done an FRA, and that makes it easy for the other directors and leaseholders, who haven't researched the law, to say "I don't know of any other block that does this, why should we?", or "we've never done that in the past, why should we do it now?", for any health and safety legislation.
Of course, because we have less than 5 employees, even though there could be up to 100 people at risk, and likely to compromise safety, (although not all in the same block), we don't have to have anything in writing, which might make it difficult for an auditor to be sure we didn't have an FRA.
Taking one point:
As I posted on the other thread, I reckon its down to the perception that fire safety is a simple matter of controling a "triangle of fire" this coupled with the CLG guides has resulted in many below par risk assessments.
I tried to get advice from LFB, but in a short discussion of some points, they contradicted their own residential fire safety leaflet, it basically came down to they were only interested in mixed use developments, and that it was "all common sense", but you could look at the CLG guides.
The problem with the CLG guides is that they tend to conflict with the LFB position that maintaining the original fire precautions is sufficient, even if they predate the 1991 Building Regulations. The net result is that there are too many judgement calls, where the leaseholders, particularly those who are sub-letting, will always err towards the do nothing option, as it appears cheapest. Whilst it would be easy to say that common areas should be completely sterile, enforcing that would be difficult, or very unpopular.
On the other hand, I don't think it is ever going to be reasonable to go into detailed calculations in this sort of environment.
I will probably come back with some of the more difficult questions in the near future.
(Even in the previous fire certificate regime, in offices, use of the big red door stops was common practice. I even saw it in public area of public libraries.)