Our Story

We're an engineering and environmental consultancy, offering solutions for environmental issues through our specialised range of services.

In 1986, with the raising of environmental awareness in New Zealand, our first two staff members, Keith Delamore and Alan Pattle, created PDP with a view to providing consulting services in groundwater and engineering geology. The advent of a major hydrocarbon spill in Auckland in 1987 sparked the initiation of the contaminated land industry in New Zealand and development of a corresponding core PDP environmental services offering. In 1989, the Christchurch Office was opened followed by the Wellington office in 1994, servicing the municipal and industrial water supply, irrigation, contaminated land and mining sectors. 

 

A new development: geotech & water infrastructure

In 1994 geotechnical services were added to support dam, tunnel, pipeline corridor and mining projects with complementary hydrogeological and geotechnical capabilities. In 1996, services in industrial and municipal wastewater treatment and stormwater started, providing investigation, design, commissioning and operational support for municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants, effluent disposal systems, and stormwater reticulation, treatment and disposal.  Building on existing client projects, and to suit some staff location preferences, the Tauranga office opened in 2011 providing PDP’s water infrastructure, environmental, and groundwater services to the Bay of Plenty and middle North Island.

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Contaminated Land & Infrastructure Advisory

In 2016 the raised awareness of environmental issues associated with per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) had PDP respond by building on existing contaminated land and groundwater expertise to develop appropriate field sampling, assessment and management capabilities to lead significant PFAS investigation and management projects nationwide for clients.  Since the introduction of the Health and Safety at Work (Asbestos) Regulations 2016, PDP has been at the forefront in the identification and management of asbestos in the workplace.

Infrastructure advisory services were added in 2018 to support our engineering services, and market growth and client project support requirements led to the opening of our Invercargill and Hamilton offices in 2019.  The company was then going through a rapid growth phase with staff full time equivalents having increased by about 50 since 2015.

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Always people focused

PDP has always had a people-focused culture, aiming to provide a "safe and fun" workplace where our people want to do their best for our clients using creative thinking and sound advice, to grow our contribution to solving the important infrastructure and environmental challenges facing New Zealand.

In 2023, PDP has now clocked over 35 years in business, having grown to a head count of nearly 250 staff in offices located across New Zealand and continues to be a New Zealand employee-owned and operated company.

PDP Graduates