Edgar's Inn on the ground floor will close for two weeks after this weekend's trading while the 10-day removal is underway.

Work Safety Commissioner Greg Jones said the removal company, Caylamax, would access the first floor space from behind, setting up a decontamination chamber at the back first-floor entry to the building. Fully-suited removalists would enter and leave the flat through the decontamination chamber, which would ensure no asbestos fibres left the building. The loose-fill asbestos would be double-bagged, removed the same way, and taken to the Mugga Lane tip.

The area will be scaffolded, and the government says what the community will see is mostly just the plastic cover.

Mr Jones said the inside of the first-floor would be stripped, including carpet, internal walls and ceilings, which would be taken to the West Belconnen asbestos dump site. The wall cavities would be cleaned, and the cavities between the corner building and the neighbouring building would be cleaned from the inside. Equipment would allow removalists to vacuum down the wall cavities, then cameras would be lowered to check on the success of removing fibres, he said. Work on Fluffy-contaminated houses has shown extensive contamination in wall cavities and sub-floors.

The internal surfaces of the cleaned flat would be sprayed to catch remnant fibres, then the building would be tested - including testing downstairs at Edgar's - before it would be declared safe for use.

Negative-air suction units would be set up to ensure no fibres or dust escaped the building during the clean-up, he said, insisting that neighbouring businesses, local residents and visitors could continue to use the shops as usual in complete safety. Air monitoring would be done inside and outside the building and if any abnormal readings were recorded work would stop.

"There is no risk to those people in that area or those tenants and customers next door," Mr Jones said on Friday.

The clean-up process was the same as being used in the demolition of the more than 1000 Fluffy asbestos-contaminated houses in Canberra, Mr Jones said. "The principals and the processes are exactly the same," he said.

Investigations in February and March showed the Fluffy asbestos installed in the ceiling of the corner building at Ainslie, No 1 Edgar Street, had migrated into the ceiling of the neighbouring building, which houses a newsagency and laundromat on the ground floor and a therapeutic massage business on the first floor. A positive sample was also returned from the building next to that, which houses a bakery and takeaway.

Mr Jones said Nos 3 and 5 would be cleaned probably in February when trade at the shops was quieter. The leaking roof would be replaced at the same time.

The clean-up of the Ainslie shops asbestos has angered residents who have been forced to sell their houses to the government under the mass buyback and demolition. Residents say if the Ainslie shops building can be made safe, their homes should likewise have been considered safe.

But Mr Jones said Nos 1, 3 and 5 would ultimately have to be demolished, like the homes.

A government spokeswoman denied any inconsistency, pointing out that some people were still living in their Fluffy homes, with the buyback and demolition allowing them to stay until 2020. A small number had refused to join the scheme and remained in their homes under asbestos management plans.

Mr Jones said the Ainslie shops building would continue to have an asbestos management plan after the clean-up, which would be regularly reviewed. Decisions on how the space could be used would depend on the asbestos management plan.

Asked whether the floor of the floor upstairs flat would be taken up to clean underneath, Mr Jones said Worksafe has waiting for advice on what state the floor was in and how it linked to the ceiling of Edgar's below.

In March, Mr Jones said his best guess was that Nos 1 and 3 would have to be demolished within three to five years, but the government now says the buildings might be allowed to stand longer, depending on the report of the asbestos assessors.

The work is being paid for by building owner Jeff Darwin. The government says workers or tenants with health concerns should contact their doctor for advice.