Fletcher yesterday announced a boardroom shakeup that will see long-serving chairman Rod Deane retire in March.
He will be replaced by former chief executive Ralph Waters.
Deane will remain a director of Woolworths but said he had been gradually retreating from corporate life.
He was inaugural chairman of Fletcher Building
when it was listed but said he had a close association with the wider Fletcher businesses for 16 continuous years.
"I was chairman of Fletcher Challenge in 1999 and oversaw that huge restructuring," he said.
"I've loved it but life moves on and it's time for a change and it will be good for the company. In 2003, the directors agreed on our retirement plans. It's part of the renewal process that we have agreed to several years ago."
Current market conditions were tough, Deane said.
"It's the deepest and longest recession I've experienced in my lifetime," he said, citing his experience on boards of Telecom, ANZ National Bank and Te Papa art gallery.
But he was confident he was leaving Fletcher Building in good shape.
"Rule number one is to make sure you are in good shape in terms of costs and we've been around 100 years so our balance sheet and basic financials are in good shape and our costs are reduced."
Deane will retire from the board on March 31 next year.
His replacement was chief executive until August 2006 when fellow Australian Jonathan Ling took the helm. Waters' other directorships include Fonterra, Westpac New Zealand and Fisher & Paykel Appliances.
Paul Baines and Geoff McGrath have resigned as directors from the end of this month and will be replaced from September 1 by Gene Tilbrook and Alan Jackson. Tilbrook was finance director at Australia's Wesfarmers and Jackson is the Sydney-based Australasian chairman of The Boston Consulting Group.
