In 1909
James Fletcher senior, a builder and stonemason from Scotland, began a building business along with Englishman Albert Morris. The firm was known as
Fletcher and Morris and received their first commission on 1 June 1909. This was for a double bay wooden villa at
Broad Bay on the
Otago Peninsula and was built for £375 (New Zealand still used British pounds at that time). The house was occupied on 10 November 1909 by local merchant Hubert Green following his marriage to Agnes Galloway. However, they made no profit in this venture. It later became Fletcher Bros. The house, now known as
Fletcher House, still stands and is open to the public. However, despite being bailed out by friends their company made a net loss and they had to cease trading in 1910. In January 1911 they revitalised the firm with a bit more financial acumen, building houses in
Abbotsford and south Dunedin. In March 1911 they started their first workshop: on Cameron Street next to the railway. In the summer of 1911 the firm was joined by James' brother
William John Fletcher, who was a trained stonemason. He invested $1000 to become an equal partner. On 24 November 1911 they received their first larger (non-domestic) commission: a Coronation Hall for the
St Kilda district. This was designed by local architects
Mason & Wales. The company was renamed
Fletcher Brothers in May 1912 after the departure of Bert Morris, who took fright at their first truly large project:
Knox College, Otago. This contract was received through James' in-law
Rev Andrew Cameron who was chairman of the building committee. In 1981, Fletcher Holdings merged with Challenge Corporation Ltd and Tasman Pulp Paper Ltd to form Fletcher Challenge. Fletcher Building was formed with the split of Fletcher Challenge in 2001. In June 2025, the
SkyCity Entertainment Group sued Fletcher Construction and its sister company
Fletcher Building for NZ$330 million on the grounds that the companies had taken ten years instead of three years to build the New Zealand International Convention Centre at
SkyCity Auckland. SkyCity sought damages for losses incurred by the company caused by ongoing delays from the completion of the project, including damages resulting from the
New Zealand International Convention Centre fire in 2019. In response, Fletcher Construction said that it would defend itself against the charges, arguing that it had flagged risks associated with the Convention Centre. ==Major projects==