diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/builder/FlatFileItemReaderBuilder.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/builder/FlatFileItemReaderBuilder.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b7f3bb7f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/builder/FlatFileItemReaderBuilder.java
@@ -0,0 +1,354 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.batch.item.file.builder;
+
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.HashSet;
+import java.util.Iterator;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Set;
+
+import org.springframework.batch.item.file.FlatFileItemReader;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.file.LineCallbackHandler;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.file.LineMapper;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.file.mapping.BeanWrapperFieldSetMapper;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.file.mapping.DefaultLineMapper;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.file.mapping.FieldSetMapper;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.file.separator.RecordSeparatorPolicy;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.file.separator.SimpleRecordSeparatorPolicy;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.file.transform.DefaultFieldSetFactory;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.file.transform.DelimitedLineTokenizer;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.file.transform.FieldSetFactory;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.file.transform.FixedLengthTokenizer;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.file.transform.LineTokenizer;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.file.transform.Range;
+import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
+import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
+
+/**
+ * @author Michael Minella
+ */
+public class FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<T> {
+
+	private String name;
+
+	private boolean strict = true;
+
+	private RecordSeparatorPolicy recordSeparatorPolicy =
+			new SimpleRecordSeparatorPolicy();
+
+	private Resource resource;
+
+	private int maxItemCount = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
+
+	private List<String> comments = new ArrayList<>();
+
+	private int linesToSkip = 0;
+
+	private LineCallbackHandler skippedLinesCallback;
+
+	private LineMapper<T> lineMapper;
+
+	private FieldSetMapper<T> fieldSetMapper;
+
+	private LineTokenizer lineTokenizer;
+
+	private DelimitedBuilder<T> delimitedBuilder;
+
+	private FixedLengthBuilder<T> fixedLengthBuilder;
+
+	private Class<? extends T> beanMapperClass;
+
+	private boolean saveState = true;
+
+	public FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<T> strict(boolean strict) {
+		this.strict = strict;
+		return this;
+	}
+
+	public FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<T> recordSeparatorPolicy(RecordSeparatorPolicy policy) {
+		this.recordSeparatorPolicy = policy;
+		return this;
+	}
+
+	public FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<T> resource(Resource resource) {
+		this.resource = resource;
+		return this;
+	}
+
+	public FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<T> maxItemCount(int maxItemCount) {
+		this.maxItemCount = maxItemCount;
+		return this;
+	}
+
+	public FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<T> comments(String[] comments) {
+		this.comments.addAll(Arrays.asList(comments));
+		return this;
+	}
+
+	public FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<T> addComment(String comment) {
+		this.comments.add(comment);
+		return this;
+	}
+
+	public FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<T> linesToSkip(int linesToSkip) {
+		this.linesToSkip = linesToSkip;
+		return this;
+	}
+
+	public FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<T> skippedLinesCallback(LineCallbackHandler callback) {
+		this.skippedLinesCallback = callback;
+		return this;
+	}
+
+	public FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<T> lineMapper(LineMapper<T> lineMapper) {
+		this.lineMapper = lineMapper;
+		return this;
+	}
+
+	public FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<T> fieldSetMapper(FieldSetMapper<T> mapper) {
+		this.fieldSetMapper = mapper;
+		return this;
+	}
+
+	public FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<T> lineTokenizer(LineTokenizer tokenizer) {
+		this.lineTokenizer = tokenizer;
+		return this;
+	}
+
+	public DelimitedBuilder<T> delimited() {
+		this.delimitedBuilder = new DelimitedBuilder<>(this);
+		return this.delimitedBuilder;
+	}
+
+	public FixedLengthBuilder<T> fixedLength() {
+		this.fixedLengthBuilder = new FixedLengthBuilder<>(this);
+		return this.fixedLengthBuilder;
+	}
+
+	public FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<T> beanMapperClass(Class beanMapperClass) {
+		this.beanMapperClass = beanMapperClass;
+		return this;
+	}
+
+	public FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<T> saveState(boolean saveState) {
+		this.saveState = saveState;
+		return this;
+	}
+
+	public FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<T> name(String name) {
+		this.name = name;
+		return this;
+	}
+
+	public FlatFileItemReader<T> build() throws Exception {
+		FlatFileItemReader<T> reader = new FlatFileItemReader<>();
+
+		reader.setName(this.name);
+		reader.setResource(this.resource);
+
+		if(this.lineMapper != null) {
+			reader.setLineMapper(this.lineMapper);
+		}
+		else {
+			DefaultLineMapper<T> lineMapper = new DefaultLineMapper<>();
+
+			if(this.lineTokenizer != null) {
+				lineMapper.setLineTokenizer(this.lineTokenizer);
+				lineMapper.setFieldSetMapper(this.fieldSetMapper);
+			}
+			else if(this.fixedLengthBuilder != null) {
+				lineMapper.setLineTokenizer(this.fixedLengthBuilder.build());
+			}
+			else if(this.delimitedBuilder != null) {
+				lineMapper.setLineTokenizer(this.delimitedBuilder.build());
+			}
+			else {
+				throw new IllegalStateException("No LineTokenizer implementation was provided");
+			}
+
+			if(this.beanMapperClass != null) {
+				BeanWrapperFieldSetMapper mapper = new BeanWrapperFieldSetMapper();
+				mapper.setTargetType(this.beanMapperClass);
+				mapper.afterPropertiesSet();
+
+				lineMapper.setFieldSetMapper(mapper);
+			}
+
+			reader.setLineMapper(lineMapper);
+		}
+
+		reader.setLinesToSkip(this.linesToSkip);
+		reader.setComments(this.comments.toArray(new String[this.comments.size()]));
+		reader.setSkippedLinesCallback(this.skippedLinesCallback);
+		reader.setRecordSeparatorPolicy(this.recordSeparatorPolicy);
+		reader.setMaxItemCount(this.maxItemCount);
+		reader.setSaveState(this.saveState);
+		reader.setStrict(this.strict);
+
+		return reader;
+	}
+
+	public static class DelimitedBuilder<T> {
+		private FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<T> parent;
+
+		private List<String> names = new ArrayList<>();
+
+		private String delimiter;
+
+		private Character quoteCharacter;
+
+		private List<Integer> includedFields = new ArrayList<>();
+
+		private FieldSetFactory fieldSetFactory = new DefaultFieldSetFactory();
+
+		private boolean strict = true;
+
+		public DelimitedBuilder(FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<T> parent) {
+			this.parent = parent;
+		}
+
+		public DelimitedBuilder<T> delimiter(String delimiter) {
+			this.delimiter = delimiter;
+			return this;
+		}
+
+		public DelimitedBuilder<T> quoteCharacter(char quoteCharacter) {
+			this.quoteCharacter = quoteCharacter;
+			return this;
+		}
+
+		public DelimitedBuilder<T> includedFields(Integer[] fields) {
+			this.includedFields.addAll(Arrays.asList(fields));
+			return this;
+		}
+
+		public DelimitedBuilder<T> addIncludedField(int field) {
+			this.includedFields.add(field);
+			return this;
+		}
+
+		public DelimitedBuilder<T> fieldSetFactory(FieldSetFactory fieldSetFactory) {
+			this.fieldSetFactory = fieldSetFactory;
+			return this;
+		}
+
+		public FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<T> names(String [] names) {
+			this.names.addAll(Arrays.asList(names));
+			return this.parent;
+		}
+
+		public DelimitedLineTokenizer build() throws Exception {
+			DelimitedLineTokenizer tokenizer = new DelimitedLineTokenizer();
+
+			tokenizer.setNames(this.names.toArray(new String[this.names.size()]));
+
+			if(StringUtils.hasText(this.delimiter)) {
+				tokenizer.setDelimiter(this.delimiter);
+			}
+
+			if(this.quoteCharacter != null) {
+				tokenizer.setQuoteCharacter(this.quoteCharacter);
+			}
+
+			if(!this.includedFields.isEmpty()) {
+				Set<Integer> deDupedFields = new HashSet<>(this.includedFields.size());
+				deDupedFields.addAll(this.includedFields);
+				deDupedFields.remove(null);
+
+				int [] fields = new int[deDupedFields.size()];
+				Iterator<Integer> iterator = deDupedFields.iterator();
+				for(int i = 0; i < fields.length; i++) {
+					fields[i] = iterator.next();
+				}
+
+				tokenizer.setIncludedFields(fields);
+			}
+
+			tokenizer.setFieldSetFactory(this.fieldSetFactory);
+			tokenizer.setStrict(this.strict);
+
+			tokenizer.afterPropertiesSet();
+
+			return tokenizer;
+		}
+	}
+
+	public static class FixedLengthBuilder<T> {
+		private FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<T> parent;
+
+		private List<Range> ranges = new ArrayList<>();
+
+		private int maxRange = 0;
+
+		private List<String> names = new ArrayList<>();
+
+		private boolean strict = true;
+
+		private FieldSetFactory fieldSetFactory = new DefaultFieldSetFactory();
+
+		public FixedLengthBuilder(FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<T> parent) {
+			this.parent = parent;
+		}
+
+		public FixedLengthBuilder<T> ranges(Range[] ranges) {
+			this.ranges.addAll(Arrays.asList(ranges));
+			return this;
+		}
+
+		public FixedLengthBuilder<T> addRange(Range range) {
+			this.ranges.add(range);
+			return this;
+		}
+
+		public FixedLengthBuilder<T> addRange(Range range, int index) {
+			this.ranges.add(index, range);
+			return this;
+		}
+
+		public FixedLengthBuilder<T> maxRange(int maxRange) {
+			this.maxRange = maxRange;
+			return this;
+		}
+
+		public FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<T> names(String [] names) {
+			this.names.addAll(Arrays.asList(names));
+			return this.parent;
+		}
+
+		public FixedLengthBuilder<T> strict(boolean strict) {
+			this.strict = strict;
+			return this;
+		}
+
+		public FixedLengthBuilder<T> fieldSetFactory(FieldSetFactory factory) {
+			this.fieldSetFactory = factory;
+			return this;
+		}
+
+		public FixedLengthTokenizer build() {
+			FixedLengthTokenizer tokenizer = new FixedLengthTokenizer();
+
+			tokenizer.setNames(this.names.toArray(new String[this.names.size()]));
+			tokenizer.setColumns(this.ranges.toArray(new Range[this.ranges.size()]));
+			tokenizer.setFieldSetFactory(this.fieldSetFactory);
+			tokenizer.setStrict(this.strict);
+
+			return tokenizer;
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/builder/FlatFileItemReaderBuilderTests.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/builder/FlatFileItemReaderBuilderTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9e95b5fd7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/test/java/org/springframework/batch/item/file/builder/FlatFileItemReaderBuilderTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,232 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.batch.item.file.builder;
+
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import org.springframework.batch.item.ExecutionContext;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.file.FlatFileItemReader;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.file.separator.DefaultRecordSeparatorPolicy;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.file.transform.DefaultFieldSet;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.file.transform.Range;
+import org.springframework.core.io.ByteArrayResource;
+import org.springframework.core.io.FileSystemResource;
+import org.springframework.core.io.Resource;
+
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNull;
+
+/**
+ * @author Michael Minella
+ */
+public class FlatFileItemReaderBuilderTests {
+
+	@Test
+	public void testSimpleFixedLength() throws Exception {
+		FlatFileItemReader<Foo> reader = new FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<Foo>()
+				.name("fooReader")
+				.resource(getResource("1  2  3"))
+				.fixedLength()
+				.ranges(new Range[] {new Range(1, 3), new Range(4, 6), new Range(7)})
+				.names(new String[] {"first", "second", "third"})
+				.beanMapperClass(Foo.class)
+				.build();
+
+		reader.open(new ExecutionContext());
+		Foo item = reader.read();
+		assertEquals(1, item.getFirst());
+		assertEquals(2, item.getSecond());
+		assertEquals("3", item.getThird());
+		assertNull(reader.read());
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testSimpleDelimited() throws Exception {
+		FlatFileItemReader<Foo> reader = new FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<Foo>()
+				.name("fooReader")
+				.resource(getResource("1,2,3"))
+				.delimited()
+				.names(new String[] {"first", "second", "third"})
+				.beanMapperClass(Foo.class)
+				.build();
+
+		reader.open(new ExecutionContext());
+		Foo item = reader.read();
+		assertEquals(1, item.getFirst());
+		assertEquals(2, item.getSecond());
+		assertEquals("3", item.getThird());
+		assertNull(reader.read());
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testAdvancedDelimited() throws Exception {
+		final List<String> skippedLines = new ArrayList<>();
+
+		FlatFileItemReader<Foo> reader = new FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<Foo>()
+				.name("fooReader")
+				.resource(getResource("1,2,3\n4,5,$1,2,3$\n@this is a comment\n6,7, 8"))
+				.delimited()
+				.quoteCharacter('$')
+				.names(new String[] {"first", "second", "third"})
+				.beanMapperClass(Foo.class)
+				.linesToSkip(1)
+				.skippedLinesCallback(skippedLines::add)
+				.addComment("@")
+				.build();
+
+		ExecutionContext executionContext = new ExecutionContext();
+		reader.open(executionContext);
+
+		Foo item = reader.read();
+		assertEquals(4, item.getFirst());
+		assertEquals(5, item.getSecond());
+		assertEquals("1,2,3", item.getThird());
+
+		item = reader.read();
+		assertEquals(6, item.getFirst());
+		assertEquals(7, item.getSecond());
+		assertEquals("8", item.getThird());
+
+		reader.update(executionContext);
+
+		assertNull(reader.read());
+
+		assertEquals("1,2,3", skippedLines.get(0));
+		assertEquals(1, skippedLines.size());
+
+		assertEquals(1, executionContext.size());
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testAdvancedFixedLength() throws Exception {
+		FlatFileItemReader<Foo> reader = new FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<Foo>()
+				.name("fooReader")
+				.resource(getResource("1 2%\n  3\n4 5%\n  6\n@this is a comment\n7 8%\n  9\n"))
+				.fixedLength()
+				.ranges(new Range[] {new Range(1, 2), new Range(3, 5), new Range(6)})
+				.names(new String[] {"first", "second", "third"})
+				.beanMapperClass(Foo.class)
+				.recordSeparatorPolicy(new DefaultRecordSeparatorPolicy("\"", "%"))
+				.maxItemCount(2)
+				.saveState(false)
+				.build();
+
+		ExecutionContext executionContext = new ExecutionContext();
+
+		reader.open(executionContext);
+		Foo item = reader.read();
+		assertEquals(1, item.getFirst());
+		assertEquals(2, item.getSecond());
+		assertEquals("3", item.getThird());
+
+		item = reader.read();
+		assertEquals(4, item.getFirst());
+		assertEquals(5, item.getSecond());
+		assertEquals("6", item.getThird());
+
+		reader.update(executionContext);
+
+		assertNull(reader.read());
+		assertEquals(0, executionContext.size());
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testStrict() throws Exception {
+		FlatFileItemReader<Foo> reader = new FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<Foo>()
+				.name("fooReader")
+				.resource(new FileSystemResource("this/file/does/not/exist"))
+				.delimited()
+				.names(new String[] {"first", "second", "third"})
+				.beanMapperClass(Foo.class)
+				.strict(false)
+				.build();
+
+		reader.open(new ExecutionContext());
+
+		assertNull(reader.read());
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testCustomLineTokenizerFieldSetMapper() throws Exception {
+		FlatFileItemReader<Foo> reader = new FlatFileItemReaderBuilder<Foo>()
+				.name("fooReader")
+				.resource(getResource("|1|&|2|&|  3|\n|4|&|5|&|foo|"))
+				.lineTokenizer(line -> new DefaultFieldSet(line.split("&")))
+				.fieldSetMapper(fieldSet -> {
+					Foo item = new Foo();
+
+					item.setFirst(Integer.valueOf(fieldSet.readString(0).replaceAll("\\|", "")));
+					item.setSecond(Integer.valueOf(fieldSet.readString(1).replaceAll("\\|", "")));
+					item.setThird(fieldSet.readString(2).replaceAll("\\|", ""));
+
+					return item;
+				})
+				.build();
+
+		reader.open(new ExecutionContext());
+		Foo item = reader.read();
+
+		assertEquals(1, item.getFirst());
+		assertEquals(2, item.getSecond());
+		assertEquals("  3", item.getThird());
+
+		item = reader.read();
+
+		assertEquals(4, item.getFirst());
+		assertEquals(5, item.getSecond());
+		assertEquals("foo", item.getThird());
+
+		assertNull(reader.read());
+	}
+
+	private Resource getResource(String contents) {
+		return new ByteArrayResource(contents.getBytes());
+	}
+
+	public static class Foo {
+		private int first;
+		private int second;
+		private String third;
+
+		public int getFirst() {
+			return first;
+		}
+
+		public void setFirst(int first) {
+			this.first = first;
+		}
+
+		public int getSecond() {
+			return second;
+		}
+
+		public void setSecond(int second) {
+			this.second = second;
+		}
+
+		public String getThird() {
+			return third;
+		}
+
+		public void setThird(String third) {
+			this.third = third;
+		}
+	}
+
+}