Major construction projects at the University of Cyprus suffered prolonged delays and significant cost overruns, according to an audit office report released on Tuesday.

The report examines the three largest projects on the university campus, the engineering school, the biological sciences building and the medical school.

It finds unjustified delays ranging from 11 per cent to 35 per cent of the original contractual duration, while approved time extensions reached as high as 145 per cent.

Cost increases ranged between 5 per cent and 25 per cent.

According to the audit office, the findings expose shortcomings in planning and contract supervision, stressing that such practices undermine adherence to schedules and the safeguarding of the public interest.

The most severe case concerns the engineering school.

The project began in January 2016 with a contractual duration of 40 months but was completed in June 2025, after 112 months.

The total delay reached six years, with 14 months classified as unjustified, resulting in contractual penalties of €1.63 million.

The project’s cost rose from an initial €55.1 million to an estimated €68.7 million, an increase of around €13.6 million.

The report highlights approvals of partial handovers not foreseen in the contract, including retroactive approvals, outside the agreed schedules.

For the biological sciences building, works started in June 2020 and were contractually due for completion in May 2023.

By September 2025, an unjustified delay of five months had been recorded, leading to penalties of €1.5 million.

The project’s cost increased by €1.25 million due to approved changes and additional requirements.

The audit office draws attention to delays of up to eight months in forwarding change requests to the competent authorities, which disrupted progress.

The medical school, launched in January 2022 with a 36-month duration, was scheduled for completion in January 2025.

The audit identified an unjustified delay of four months, penalties of €196,000 and a cost increase of €349,980.

In its response, the University of Cyprus attributed the delays and cost increases to a combination of technical challenges, design changes, additional requirements and external factors.

It stated that penalties were imposed where delays were deemed unjustified and said steps have been taken to improve the planning and management of major construction projects.

The university rejected general claims of mismanagement, stating that decisions in complex projects were taken under “objectively difficult conditions”.