Ltd. has spent $17.8 million on the construction and renovation for their new head office on Front Street -- some $9.8 million alone during the financial year to June 30.

The project, which began April 1993, was scheduled to be finished by the latter part of this year, yet the just released annual report is now projecting a completion date by the second half of the 1996 financial year.

And that projection may already be out of date.

Butterfield's executive vice president for personnel and administration, Mr.

Victor Garcia, has just indicated that the latest projection for completion is late summer or early fall of next year.

He agreed that could mean that the project could be as much as a year behind schedule, at the worst, not finishing until September or October 1996.

Mr. Garcia explained that there had been delays.

He said: "When workmen were digging on the Front Street site, they ran into unusually hard rock. It was not expected and the type of hammering that was required to dig it out was such that the bank felt it should only be done before 9 a.m. or after 5 p.m.'' But he said there were other time-consuming delays, which included dealing with reinforced concrete footings. And the transfer of some staff from the old building into the new, was delayed for a month over the Christmas period, as the bank felt it unwise to inconvenience customers over the holiday period.

"We have very good control over costs at this stage,'' Mr. Garcia said. "The delays are largely legitimate either for business reasons, or because they were unexpected.'' The project was originally estimated to cost about $20 million, including an original construction tender that was accepted at $15.2 million.