SkyCity fire: 'Months' before Fletcher can look at restarting construction work

Fletcher Building says it will be "a number of months" before it can restart construction work on Auckland's $703m NZ International Convention Centre.

A multi-stage process would begin and the site would be handed back to the builder, after investigations which would examine the cause of the fire and extent of the damage, it has just announced.

"There is now a multi-stage process we must follow to move the project forward. Firstly, Fire and Emergency teams will remain on site until the fire is successfully extinguished and the site is declared safe to re-enter. Once the site is handed back to us, investigations can begin to determine the cause of the fire and the extent of the damage," the company said.

"That will take some time and must be completed in a measured way and with the safety of everyone top of mind. We will work with fire and emergency services, SkyCity, regulators and insurers to complete these assessments. We will then be in a position to look at how we reset the project and determine the impact on the delivery timeline.

"This process is likely to take a number of months to complete," the business said.

"As we do this, our people and subcontractors will remain our number one priority. As you can imagine, our team of people at NZICC have been through a lot over the last two days and have responded and performed brilliantly.

"Through this we are ensuring they have the appropriate support services around them while we work on our plans to get back onto the site and reboot the project as quickly as possible."

Fletcher's Ross Taylor yesterday. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Ross Taylor, Fletcher chief executive, expressed relief at the fire being put out.

"News that the fire is now under control is just the first step in the recovery process," he said.

"The news is extremely welcome and on behalf of Fletcher Building I want to extend our sincere gratitude to the Fire and Emergency teams for their bravery and long hours of work in battling the fire and ensuring the safety of everyone in the Auckland city centre," Taylor said in the statement to the NZX.

"We are all devastated to see the project we have worked so hard on impacted this way and while our timeline will change, our resolve will not – and together with SkyCity we remain committed to delivering a world-class convention centre for Auckland and New Zealand."