Harry Bloomfield wrote:

Would four steps mean going the steps to grab the door handle, pulling the
door open and having to reverse down the steps whilst pulling?

Yes, or standing one step down, reaching up to open the door, then making
slightly less of a reverse descent.

Seems wrong to me.

Me too, hence (presumably) the building reg requirement of a sort of outside
landing deep enough to allow the door to be opened while the opener remains
on the same level. Tricky to arrange in my case, though - to the extent
that I'm beginning to wonder about replacing the (uPVC) door with an
inward-opening one.