Your existing lease still controls
Renovation in the building doesn't change the deal you already signed. If you're in a fixed-term lease, your landlord generally can't cut it short just because they'd rather renovate with the unit empty, and your rent and other terms stay in effect unless you both agree otherwise. If the renovation work itself makes your unit unsafe or genuinely uninhabitable, that can trigger the same habitability protections that apply to any other serious defect — see is my landlord required to fix things in my apartment.
Quiet enjoyment doesn't disappear during construction
Every lease carries an implied promise that the landlord will secure your quiet possession of the unit for the lease term (Cal. Civ. Code § 1927). Renovation work doesn't override that promise — a landlord still generally has to give reasonable notice before entering for the work, keep disruption within reasonable bounds, and can't use the renovation as a backdoor way to pressure you into leaving. Conduct aimed at pushing a tenant out through harassment or excessive interference is treated seriously in some states specifically because of this — California, for example, makes it unlawful for a landlord to use threats or a significant violation of entry rules for the purpose of getting a tenant to vacate (Cal. Civ. Code § 1940.2).
A real example of a state limiting renovation-driven displacement
A few states specifically regulate when a landlord can end a tenancy because of planned renovations, rather than leaving it entirely to the general habitability rules. Oregon is a clear example: a landlord who wants to end a tenancy because they intend to undertake repairs or renovations within a reasonable time has to give at least 90 days' written notice, and only where the unit is or will become unsafe or unfit for occupancy during the work (Or. Rev. Stat. § 90.427(5)(a)(B)). That's a meaningfully longer notice than an ordinary no-cause termination gets in the same state, precisely because renovation-driven displacement is treated as a bigger disruption to a tenant's life. Not every state has a rule this specific, so check your own state's law before assuming a particular notice period applies to you.
When disruption might justify a rent reduction
If renovation work substantially interferes with your ability to use the apartment — prolonged loud construction during normal living hours, loss of an amenity you're paying for, a utility shutoff, or blocked access to parts of the unit or building — you may have a basis to ask for a proportional rent reduction, and in serious enough cases, this overlaps with a habitability or constructive eviction claim (see what is constructive eviction). Whether a rent reduction is something you can demand outright, negotiate, or only raise as a defense if your landlord later sues for unpaid rent, depends on your state.
A concrete example
Say your building starts a lobby and elevator renovation, and for three weeks the only access to your fourth-floor unit is a construction stairwell with intermittent power to the work lights. That kind of substantial interference with your actual use of the unit is different from routine noise during business hours, and it's worth raising in writing with your landlord — ideally before you simply stop paying full rent on your own judgment of what's fair.
Protecting yourself through the renovation
Keep a written log of the disruption: dates, hours, what specifically was affected, and any communication with your landlord or the contractor about the schedule. Ask for the renovation timeline and scope in writing if it isn't already provided. If conditions become genuinely uninhabitable rather than just inconvenient, that documentation is exactly what supports a habitability or rent-reduction claim later. Upload your lease to Honestkey to see what it already says about your landlord's right to renovate and your right to quiet enjoyment during the work.