Party wall act exemptions?

[Twickerhun]

I live in a fragile Victorian mid terrace house. The property next door has been bought by local small scale developers. They are planning (and have pp) to demolish the entire back of their house and rebuild it much bigger, with new living space and a new bedroom on the first floor.
In order to do this they will need to build up to the boundary wall. Also I believe will need to demolish walls attached to our house and I expect build into our existing building wall.
They are refusing too meet to discuss plans with us.
They say they don’t need to go through the party wall act as they have permissions already to do work into the party wall (possibly they said in the deeds). We haven’t given permission. Could previous owners have waived this right? They have started clearing the site already.
Could they have exemptions in the deeds? Or would they always need to go through there party wall act?
The terrace is so fragile. I’m just confused by their adamant stance they they don’t need to go through the party wall act to do the building work.
The neighbours on the other side of them are very vulnerable and have experienced damage to their house already due to the building work.
Anyone know the rules?!

Get in touch with your local council, building regs department.
We suffered damage when next door took out a chimney breast on the party wall.
It ended up in court. Stressful and so bloody unnecessary had they done the job right.
Act quickly before you incur any damage.

Planning permission and the Party Wall Act are two separate things and just because they have PP this does not mean they can commence works without a Party Wall agreement being in place (Rights to Light is a similar scenario). I would in the first instance contact a local Party Wall surveyor and get them to write a letter noting that works have commenced without agreement being in place. This should hopefully be enough to make them start to properly engage with the Party Wall process.

The deeds won't contain an exemption if it is a Victorian Property. The PWA only came into being during the last 10 years or so. I don't think there are any exemptions to the PWA.
Agree with Retro - contact a Party Wall surveyor in the first instance - and quickly! Also contact you house insurers - especially if you have legal cover in your Policy.

Party wall act, planning permission, and building regulations are all separate things

Party wall act - they cannot have permission from the previous owner as it requires all owners and occupiers of affected properties to be notified which would include you.

From what you are describing they almost certainly are covered by the party wall act. This needs to be enforced by you unfortunately as it isn't a matter covered by planning or council authorities.

You will need to employ a party wall surveyor which under the act they have to pay for. Their reluctance to engage with you may prove tricky and may mean solicitors need to get involved but they are liable for the costs of the party wall surveyor and any damage that they cause your property (this is why it is important to get P.WS involved quickly to protect them and you) As somebody has said your home insurance may have legal cover which may be worth giving a call.
If you google Party Wall Act - there is a good pdf government guide as to what it means and what legal obligations there are.

Ok thanks very much. I’ve just got a local reccomendation for a surveyor who I’ll call later.