The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 6 plus 6 letter word PATENT OFFICE
I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
P
A
T
E
N
T
O
F
F
I
C
E
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Government building" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case government building = patent office.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.