Businesses at the London Circuit end of the building have been closed and boarded up since the February fire.

After negotiations between insurers, owners, lessees, a private building certifier has issued a commencement notice, with work expected to begin soon.

Restoration is in the hands of the private sector, and the building contractors have indicated to the ACT government they expect work to be completed by March 2015.

Some light demolition has been done already but heavy gear such as cranes are yet to be seen on site.

Project manager Terry Ryan said bringing in materials and heavy-duty machinery would be difficult, given the building's central location and the location of the bus interchange.

ACT planning said no money from the public purse was going to the restoration. The Government had not been involved in rebuilding since the stabilisation of tiles shortly after the fire to stop them blowing off the roof.

The delays have frustrated fellow business owners. Croissant D'Or manager Virginia Carvalho said there were fewer customers.

"They've opened up a small path [through the scaffolding]," Ms Carvalho said. "No one wants to walk through it; they all say 'why should I have to go through there?'

"The store is open, no problem, but less people come through."

Lack of foot traffic has also been a concern for Eung Bhummabhuti, owner of Thai restaurant Zen Yai Thai, who said the scaffolding had lowered the chances for walk-in customers.

"People don't come this way anymore, there is nothing visibly open at our end so no one window shops as there's nothing to look at," Mr Bhummabhuti said. "People only come here if they are purposefully coming for a meal.

"The foot traffic has basically stopped; our turnover has probably lessened by a third so it's extremely hard. We are struggling at the moment, definitely."

Zen Yai Thai had struggled to regain any business "since day one", and the extended presence of the scaffolding made him "not happy".

"There's really nothing we can do about it," he said. "We've tried doing discounts, internet deals, but it just doesn't work."

Construction services director Craig Simmons said neither government nor private contractors had been dragging their feet on the repairs.

"There's nothing particularly unusual about the amount of time this is taking. This is the sort of time you would expect on a project of this nature, this extent to take. It's an old building with serious damage, you don't want to rush in and collapse a part of the building because you didn't take proper care."

One of the challenges facing engineers was how to safely remove all the debris from premises with structural damage, work that had taken some months.

"[They] had to stabilise the structure to allow the demolition to take place."

Burnt-out timber in the damaged part of the buildings was in some parts holding up masonry walls, Mr Simmons said.

There were also difficulties in assessing the extent of the damage.

"A lot of the damage you can't actually see. The roof of the London suffered a lot of damage because that's where the fire escaped the roof, but it doesn't look damaged at all."

"Until you get into the roof, pull ceilings down, look at the structural damage to timbers – can they be replaced? What effect will it have on the structure if you take them out? It just takes time."

Contractors would provide a monthly report, he said.

ACT Fire and Rescue and ACT Policing have wrapped up their investigations into the fire and their reports are before the territory's Coroner.

Coroner Peter Morrison said his inquiries into the matter were ongoing and he had not yet made a decision as to whether a formal hearing would be required.

- with Megan Gorrey