Other experience has taught me that the overflow is normally long enough to take the water away from the wall - all though at the ground level splashing etc may cause the wall at the base to become wet.
Can anyone advice me if there are any building regulations requiring an overflow pipe to extend sufficiently from the wall to prevent direct running of water down the wall?
As a consequence of the resulting wet wall the owner of the ground floor flat (I have not managed to talk to the flat directly below me on the first floor) is seeking looking for damages due to internal decorating which have been damaged. The Management company put a temporary solution in place by extending the overflow pipe - which begs the question why was it not longer in the first place.