Short answer. Yes, within limits. Civil Code Article 1662 obliges you to tolerate urgent repairs that cannot wait until the lease ends, even if the work is disruptive. But if it runs past forty days your rent is reduced proportionally, and if it leaves your home uninhabitable you may rescind the lease instead of enduring it.
What the law says
the lessee is obliged to tolerate the work, although it may be very annoying to him, and although during the same, he may be deprived of a part of the premises
Civil Code, Article 1662 — Urgent Repairs During the Lease. Read the full provision →
What the law says
If the repairs last more than forty days the rent shall be reduced in proportion to the time - including the first forty days - and the part of the property of which the lessee has been deprived.
Civil Code, Article 1662 — Urgent Repairs During the Lease. Read the full provision →
The tolerance duty, and what triggers it
Article 1662 applies when it becomes necessary to make some urgent repairs upon the thing leased, which cannot be deferred until the termination of the lease. Where that condition is met, the lessee is obliged to tolerate the work, although it may be very annoying to him, and although during the same, he may be deprived of a part of the premises. The key word is urgent: repairs that could reasonably wait until you move out do not carry this obligation. What forces you to tolerate the work is that it genuinely cannot be put off.
Your rent drops once the work drags on
Tolerance is not the same as bearing the cost silently. If the repairs last more than forty days the rent shall be reduced in proportion to the time — including the first forty days — and the part of the property of which the lessee has been deprived. So if repairs stretch past forty days, you are entitled to a proportional rent reduction covering the entire period from day one, not just the days beyond the fortieth, and the reduction also accounts for how much of the property you actually lost the use of.
When the disruption goes too far
Tolerance has an outer limit tied to the purpose of your lease. Where the work makes the portion you and your family need for dwelling uninhabitable, you may rescind the contract if the main purpose of the lease is to provide you a dwelling place. This is a separate remedy from the rent reduction: it is not about paying less for a home you can still live in, but about ending the lease altogether when the repairs make that home unlivable.
What to do if repairs are being forced on you
Ask what makes the repair urgent rather than merely convenient for the landlord to do now, since that is what the tolerance duty actually turns on. Track the start date, since it fixes when the forty-day count begins and whether a rent reduction has kicked in. If the affected area includes where you actually live and sleep, note how much of it you have lost the use of, because that measures both the rent reduction and whether rescission is even on the table. Keep photos and dated notes throughout.