Time limit for apt. renovations after fire

[quolo]

My building had a pretty serious fire 6-9 months ago that made unliveable 5 or 6 units in a 24 unit building.

The landlord/managing agent in question is a fairly prominent owner of a lot of properties in low-income neighborhoods and he's a pretty shady character.

It seems to me to be taking a long time for the damaged apartments to be renovated, and several families have been completely displaced in that time. They just resumed work on the apartments after a 4-month hiatus where the landlord was trying to acquire the necessary permits for renovation. Furthermore, though he must have collected insurance from the fire, but as always is having the super of this building and his assistant do most of the work. This slows down the process and yields a less-than-ideal level of craftsmanship, as the super has this building and the one next door to attend to. Also worth noting, the landlord has always used the cheapest materials and fixtures available in all apartments, which is frustrating.

My question is:
1. Is the building owner required to spend the entire fire insurance disbursement on repairs to the building, and if so, is there a way to enforce that this is indeed occurring?
2. Is there some sort of reasonable time limit in which he is expected to make said repairs?