Renters' rights in southern California (San Diego)

I have a friend who has a lease in an apartment complex, and they are about to do major renovations. The renovations were not clearly announced in the lease, and they definitely didn't make it clear that they were going to renovate the individual apartments themselves (at first it seemed more like a facilities renovation, etc.). They are telling him that he could move out for a week during the renovations, but that's obviously kind of ridiculous.

A major concern is that his wife is newly pregnant, and so he doesn't want her to be around all the paint fumes, dust, etc.

He wants to move out as a result of this, but there is an early termination fee associated with this kind of thing. Is there anything he can do to avoid the fee, given the circumstances?

Also, they only gave him like three weeks notice before they work on his individual apartment, so time is of the essence.

Any advice would be much appreciated!