The situation lasted more than twenty-five years, without the Lisbon Municipal Council having taken the appropriate measures. The Ombudsman decided to take a position before the municipality, noting the inconsistency of the services, taking into account the age of the tenant and the fragility of the means of defense of their rights, and the local authority acceded to carry out a new survey to the place. As a result, the Municipality of Lisbon ordered the owner to carry out the preservation and rehabilitation works necessary to correct the deficiencies described in the inspection report, setting the deadline of 30 days for its beginning and nine months for its completion. • c) Remarks Cases Q-2675/14 and Q-2576/14 Entity addressed: Secretary of State for Land Development and Nature Protection Date: 2016.12.16 Subject: Legal Framework on Exceptional and Temporary Urban Regeneration. Seismic safety. Accessibility Status: Accepted A complaint was filed about the Legal Framework on Exceptional and Temporary Urban Regeneration, approved by Decree-Law No. 53/2014, of 8 April. Complainants contested that buildings to be rehabilitated under such framework were exempt of seismic reinforcement works and did not have to comply with general accessibility requirements. The Ombudsman acknowledged some weak points of the legal framework and questioned members of the Government responsible for Environment, Land Development and Energy, pointing out it was possible to regenerate buildings without prior assessment of their seismic resistance. Likewise, rules on accessibility might be waived, potentially affecting people living with disabilities, families with small children, senior citizens and residents in historic neighborhoods. Moreover, the framework did not provide scientific, technical or legal justification for non-compliance with certain technical standards: only non-compliance of legal standards on energy and heat efficiency required the presentation of a term of responsibility. The Secretary of State for the Environment agreed with the concerns raised by the Ombudsman and undertook to amend the legal regime, admitting exemptions to general construction rules merely in case of technical or economic non-viability. • 112 |