The building owners, registered as Choi and Lau Enterprises and J and S Chan, face repair bills in the hundreds of thousands with WorkSafe also investigating whether they breached ACT legislation. If that were the case, they could also face potential prosecution and sizeable fines.

The formal orders, which were handed to all parties on Wednesday afternoon, also place the future of two automotive businesses working from the building under a cloud as they will remain sealed until the roof issue is resolved.

The contents of both workshops, including tools, equipment and cars, will also be off limits until they are forensically cleaned of asbestos particles by a licensed asbestos cleaner – adding to the hefty repair bill.

Meanwhile, Lucky’s Barber, one of three businesses within the building allowed to continue operating because it is protected from immediate risk by a false ceiling, reported that people were so fearful of entering the building over the past fortnight that business had fallen off dramatically.

Hairdresser Thanittha Prommahom said she was considering whether the business would need to move.

"People see the [WorkSafe prohibition notice] signs and turn around and walk back out," Ms Prommahom said.

Work Safety inspectors closed two workshops, CNS Transmission and Morris Bros Automotive and Marine, on January 24 after they acted on a report that asbestos was falling from the roof. This was later confirmed in testing.

CNS could not be contacted and Morris Bros did not wish to comment on Wednesday.

The building’s co-owners are the Chan family behind the well-known and popular Ruby Restaurant. The family said they were cooperating fully with WorkSafe ACT and were in the process of organising decontamination for the affected businesses, as well as their own storeroom, which has also been sealed off.

The family said they planned to have the roof replaced.

The other co-owner, Henry Lau, could not be contacted.

Ruby Restaurant is in a separate and adjacent building fronting onto Woolley Street and it has not been affected by loose asbestos.

ACT Work Safety Commissioner Mark McCabe said a formal investigation into the building owners still continued to determine whether they had the proper Asbestos Management Plan in place and whether they had followed it.

“Business and owners of buildings being used for commercial purposes must have an Asbestos Management Plan, prepared by a qualified professional, which identifies if asbestos is present in their workplace, where it is present, and what must be done to eliminate or manage any risks arising from that material," Mr McCabe said.

"Asbestos is a fairly ubiquitous material in our built environment, not only here but across Australia. When it is properly managed it should not present a health and safety risk to either workers or the general public. When it is not properly managed, however, it has the potential to present an unacceptable level of risk to health and safety.

"It is incumbent on businesses and property owners to meet their obligations in respect of managing the risks associated with asbestos. Failure to do so can not only put workers and the public at risk, but could lead to severe business consequences, including prosecution for failure to comply with their legislative obligations."

Canberra Asbestos Removal manager Wade Rogers said the costs of removing the roof of the building could rise above $250,000 and that loose asbestos falling from sheeting, known as Super 6, was a ticking time bomb across many commercial and industrial businesses in Canberra.

“People should be thinking about managing and removing it sooner rather than later,” he said.

The costs of sealing the space was a short-term solution and could also cost in excess of $100,000, he said.

It would mean the building could no longer be used or tenanted.

Mr McCabe also warned there were likely to be a number of other local businesses in the ACT with similar roof sheeting, which were deteriorating over time.

“The owners of those businesses should check that they have an Asbestos Management Plan for their premises and that they are responding to any action identified as necessary in that plan."

Mr Wade said there was a lot of fear surrounding the issue of asbestos.

“It is a difficult situation, and I feel for everyone, it’s not nice for the tenant, who’s business gets shut down, but someone has got to take responsibility and that’s the owner.”