**5. Effect of delay on construction projects**

The effect of delay in construction projects is clearly visible to the parties concerned. For the contractor, the delay incurs additional administrative expenses, which were not taken into account in the initial stages of the project. On the other hand, the delay also delays the owner's use of the project and its operation, and thus deprives the owner of the expected profits at an earlier time. Zhu asserts that the discrepancy between a project's allocated projected cost and actual cost is what causes cost overruns or escalations [22]. Other impacts, like project time overruns, project cost overruns, project abandonment, and litigation, were also addressed [22].

According to Sambasivan and Soon [10]'s research, there are six ways that delays affect how well projects perform in Nigeria. These consequences include conflicts, arbitration, litigation, time and expense overruns, and complete abandonment. The main repercussions of delays and interruptions, however, include time overruns, cost overruns, poor social impact, idle resources, and disagreements [17]. According to Chileshe and Berko, delays in monthly payments to contractors, variances, inflation, and schedule slippage are the main drivers of cost overruns in the Ghanaian roadbuilding industry. Once more, these describe the reasons for delays and the consequences of cost overruns [23].
