Portable and fixed escape ladders are widely sold and are very rarely part of a compliant means of escape. The reason is not that they fail to reach the ground; it is that a means of escape has to be usable by everybody who might have to use it, in the dark, in smoke, possibly injured, possibly carrying a child, and a ladder is not.
What a means of escape has to be
A route that leads to a place of safety, that can be used without assistance by the people who occupy the building, and that is protected for long enough to be used. Guidance builds around protected stairways and, in dwellings, around escape windows at low level and the compartmentation that buys time. A ladder satisfies almost none of that.
The cases where ladders appear legitimately
As a secondary route in specific industrial situations where the people using them are few, able bodied, trained and equipped. As access rather than escape, for plant and roofs. In a domestic setting a homeowner may keep one as a personal last resort, which is a private decision and not a compliance measure.
What the guidance expects instead
Protected escape routes, fire doors, detection that gives warning early enough to use them, and in flats a compartmentation strategy that makes staying put safe where the design supports it. Where an existing building cannot achieve a protected route, the answer is usually additional detection and a revised strategy rather than a ladder.
Escape windows
In dwellings, upper floor rooms are often served by an escape window with a specified minimum opening and a maximum sill height, reachable without a key. That is the domestic equivalent of a secondary escape and it is what building guidance actually asks for, which is worth knowing before buying hardware.
Questions people ask about fire escape ladder uk
Can a fire escape ladder satisfy a fire risk assessment?
Very rarely, and only where the assessment can show every person who might use it is able to. In most premises it cannot.
Are fixed external staircases acceptable?
An external escape stair can form part of a compliant route where it is protected from the fire and is usable in weather. That is a design matter rather than an accessory purchase.
What about a home with no second staircase?
Domestic guidance works through escape windows, detection and door construction. A homeowner keeping a ladder is making a personal choice, not meeting a requirement.