Mr Barr's spokesman said on Monday night he would also to look to change regulations after the election to ensure such a situation never happened again.

"People should not be given a certificate of occupancy on a property if it is yet to be hooked up to power and water," Mr Barr's spokesman said.

Residents at the new building in Franklin have hot water but are running extension cords to outside power points for lamps and other appliances, with Actew saying on Friday it would take up to nine weeks to connect the apartments.

On Monday, Actew changed its tune, saying given the inconvenience and the "extenuating circumstances", it was "endeavouring to provide connections within five to 10 business days".

Alistair Nitz bought an apartment at the Ivy as an investment. An accident this year has left him in a wheelchair and with his sick leave running out, Mr Nitz said the property would be a "huge burden" while he made loan repayments without rental income.

After being told by the builder six weeks ago that he must organise his own meter, Mr Nitz called ActewAGL to arrange the connection and thought it was in hand until he read about the impasse facing other owners on the weekend. He called Actew back on Monday to learn there was no meter and he must now wait, like others.

"I don't know how we're in a situation where a builder has washed his hands of it, and ActewAGL which is half owned by the government is not doing anything either, and we have an election coming and the government is not doing anything any either," he said.

Mr Nitz is just one of a number of owners unable to move in or living without power. The building has 125 apartments, some of which are owned by the developer. Those do have power and have been rented for some weeks.

Developer Krnc Group could not be reached for comment. Builder Chase has blamed Actew. Real-estate agent Metropolis has declined to comment. The government's fair trading and building compliance sections did not respond to questions on Monday.

While developers have historically installed meters, Actew began charging in July 2015 and it seems the Ivy developers did not want to wear the extra cost of $563 per apartment, so residents are being told to do it themselves.

A second problem appears to have arisen at Actew when residents who spoke to Actew's retail arm to set up a new account say they weren't told that they had to speak separately with the company's distribution arm to organise a meter.

Susan and her husband had a meter installed a month ago but still have no power, despite long calls to Actew, and being told by one person that planning-directorate consent was still needed and another that it was the builder's responsibility.

"When we signed the contract [to buy] over a year ago we did not expect we would have to look into the contract and insert a clause saying it should be electricity ready," she said. "It's a fundamental thing, it's like water. It's not like they didn't install the water meter."

She and her husband argued strongly against having to settle on their new apartment without power, but they had been told they would face penalty interest.

Regina said she was concerned the delay risked the 90-day window that residents had to submit any defects, with no ability to test, air-conditioning, the dishwasher, dryer, lights or other appliances for defects

Sara is paying a double mortgage while she waits for the Ivy apartment to be liveable, unable to rent out her current property.

She said the developer's lawyer had insisted the developer was under no obligation to install meters and rejected the suggestion that there was an implied obligation, also rejecting any extension to the settlement date.

"The whole thing is just ridiculous," Sara said.

The issue was brought to light by the Greens, whose candidate Caroline Le Couteur said the Greens would enforce more mandatory assessments at different stages of building.

"The community shouldn't suffer for the profit margins of big developers," she said.