ACT government authorities have launched an investigation into Sublime Developments, and the Mitchell-based company is due to appear in court next month in an action taken by creditors looking to put it out of business.

Home buyers have told The Canberra Times of Sublime leaving about $400,000 worth of work on their houses unfinished and then refusing to take their calls.

Glass supplier Monaro Windows dubbed the company "totally untrustworthy" after battling for more than 12 months to recover unpaid debts, and law firm Chamberlains said it was "swamped" with complaints about Sublime's conduct after the lawyers sought out creditors.

But Sublime director Minh Phan denied doing anything wrong, alleging that it was home buyers who had ripped his company off by not paying for work.

Mr Phan said his company was owed up to $500,000 and was embroiled in disputes on several fronts after standing up to debtors that would not pay for work that had been done.

David Robens of Chamberlains said he was going to court next month to wind up Sublime over a $19,000 debt owed to his client, Trussme.

"I have received a number of calls from people who have dealt with Sublime and are interested in what is happening with the winding-up," Mr Robens said.

"We have found for some time that the common behaviour of stretching credit to the limit, and trading beyond means, can result in more people being ultimately affected."

Henry Posch, founder and owner of Monaro Windows, said he had been in several rolling disputes in the past 13 months after delivering windows to houses being built by Sublime and not being paid. Mr Posch described the builder as "totally untrustworthy" and said he held out little hope for anyone owed money by Sublime.

"I'm pretty sure that nobody is going to get any money from Sublime," he said.

Mayumi Smith, spokeswoman for the ACT government's construction authority, confirmed on Wednesday that Sublime was under investigation but said that she was unable to provide details because of privacy considerations.

Most of the Sublime clients interviewed by The Canberra Times had suffered delays of at least six months, with some extending beyond a year.

Parents-of-two James and Beth Liddall cancelled their contract last year and took possession on December 5 after paying the first $350,000 for their expected $499,000

four-bedroom home in Weston. Leaving the contract has left them more than $100,000 out of pocket, with only $250,000 worth of work said to have been completed by Sublime.

Mr Liddall said the property should have been completed by May last year once the slab was poured but there was still now nearly two months of work to do, despite no explanations for the costly delay.

"We've been month-to-month [paying rent] since May," he said.

David and Lorraine Anderson have also been left in the lurch, and forced to move in with their daughter in Sydney because of continuing delays.

They signed the contract for their dual-occupancy home in August 2012 without a written completion time. The slab was not laid for eight months, but they were told by co-director Dee Sisomphou last July that their house would be completed in eight weeks.

Mr Anderson, 73, said the house was now 95 per cent complete, but upwards of an estimated $30,000 needed to be spent before it would be finished, with their solicitors setting a deadline for later this month after engagement with the company failed.

"The major issue is lack of communication,'' Mr Anderson said. ''We failed to be able to get on to him by phone, and wrote to his office in Mitchell - no reply. In the end we used all the family mobile phones with different numbers and eventually one of them got through - but with no outcome."

Tanya Nguyen signed a contract in July 2012 to have a four-bedroom, double-garage home built at Wright.

By mid-last year, frustrated by delays, she began paying about $33,000 to suppliers and contractors directly to have work done on key features including windows and ducted airconditioning.

She moved to cancel the contract in September, as her house was still without water or power a month after the expected completion, but relented after she received assurances that she would be able to move in by year's end.

Ms Nguyen said she took five weeks off work last year to organise the additions, and tens of thousands of dollars worth of work remained to be done.

"I said [to Mr Phan], 'the reason I employ a builder is because I want my house to be finished on time'."