Cook Costello

What Cook Costello does

Cook Costello is a privately held New Zealand engineering consultancy founded in 1976 in Whangārei, now operating from four offices across Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Whangārei. The firm delivers multidisciplinary engineering services — geotechnical, civil, structural, land surveying, and geophysics — under a single integrated team model, supplemented by IANZ-accredited materials testing through its sister company GeoCivil. Its service portfolio spans foundation and earthworks investigation, structural and seismic assessment (including Detailed Seismic Assessments), land development from feasibility through construction, geophysical subsurface imaging (GPR, ERT, MASW), land surveying, and independent property damage assessment following natural hazard events.

The firm operates a project-based professional services revenue model, billing clients per engagement with scope-dependent fees, and entering new client relationships through a complimentary 45-minute Development Planning Meeting with a senior engineer. Its go-to-market is sales-led and direct — clients engage via phone, email, website forms, or office visits, with no intermediaries or resellers — supplemented by professional referrals from architects, builders, councils, and insurers. Marketing relies on technical blog content, SEO, LinkedIn, industry conference participation, and university engagement rather than paid advertising.

Cook Costello has built its reputation through long-duration work in New Zealand's seismic and natural hazard environment, notably completing more than 10,000 residential property assessments and 1,000+ home re-levelling projects during the Canterbury Earthquake recovery, alongside subsequent disaster responses including the Kaikōura earthquake, Cyclone Gabrielle, and Auckland anniversary storms. The firm holds accreditations across Engineering New Zealand, NZSEE, NZ Geotechnical Society, SESOC, Concrete NZ, and Timber Design Society, and operates as a Stakeholder Listed Supplier for government contracts.

Name

Cook Costello

Legal name

Cook Costello

Website

https://coco.co.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

1976

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cook Costello is a New Zealand multidisciplinary engineering consultancy, founded in 1976, delivering integrated geotechnical, civil, structural, surveying, and geophysics services across four offices to residential, commercial, land development, and government clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Engineering Consulting Services

NAICS

Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (541360), Utility System Construction (2371)

SIC

Water, Sewer, Pipeline, Comm & Power Line Construction (1623)

akta.pro primary industry

Water, Wastewater & Hydraulics Engineering Consulting (BPAHAIAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Urban Planning & Master Planning (BPAHAKAD)

Keywords

• Geotechnical engineering services
• Civil structural engineering
• Land surveying services
• Property damage assessment
• Land development consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Whangarei

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Engineering Consulting Services: Professional engineering consulting services billed on a project basis for geotechnical investigations, civil design, structural engineering, property damage assessments, and land development projects. Fees vary based on project scope, complexity, and investigation requirements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Cook Costello is a multidisciplinary engineering consultancy combining geotechnical, civil, structural, surveying, and geophysics capabilities under one roof. The firm delivers ground investigation, land development, structural design and seismic assessment, subsurface imaging, land surveying, and property damage assessment services to residential, commercial, infrastructure, and government clients across New Zealand. It also offers complimentary Development Planning Meetings with senior engineers to assess site feasibility and project scope.

Product overview

Cook Costello is a multidisciplinary engineering consultancy offering integrated civil, structural, and geotechnical engineering services, supplemented by in-house geophysics capabilities and land surveying. Their core service portfolio includes Geotechnical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Structural Engineering, Geophysics, Land Surveying, Land Development, and Property Damage Assessment. The firm distinguishes itself by combining these disciplines under one roof, enabling early risk identification and coordinated project delivery from planning through construction. Additional services include Development Planning Meetings for early-stage project guidance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Geotechnical Engineering Ground investigation and analysis services that identify soil, rock, and groundwater conditions to inform foundation design, earthworks, and construction decisions for residential, commercial, and infrastructure projects.
• Civil Engineering Land development services including earthworks, roading, stormwater, wastewater, and water supply infrastructure design for subdivisions and development projects.
• Structural Engineering Structural design and assessment for new and existing buildings, including seismic analysis, Detailed Seismic Assessments (DSA), and construction monitoring.
• Geophysics Non-invasive subsurface investigation using techniques including MASW, GPR, ERT, and seismic surveys to identify ground conditions, voids, and hazards without digging.
• Land Surveying Boundary clarification, level measurements, and construction set-out services ensuring land decisions are based on accurate survey information.
• Land Development Integrated development services from planning through construction, coordinating civil, geotechnical, and structural engineering to identify and manage risks early.
• Property Damage Assessment Independent, evidence-based damage assessment following natural hazards, storms, floods, landslips, or earthquakes, with clear repair and remediation advice for owners, insurers, and councils.
• Development Planning Meeting

Quantifiable outcome

• 10,000+ residential property assessments completed following major natural hazard events
• +4 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• GeoCivilcoreTechnology or IntegrationIANZ-accredited sister company providing geotechnical and materials testing laboratory services. GeoCivil delivers accredited soil classification, strength testing, and compaction verification that complements Cook Costello's field investigation capabilities, enabling integrated investigation and testing solutions for clients.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Stantec New Zealand: Stantec is a global engineering, architecture, and environmental consulting firm with NZ operations spanning water, infrastructure, and buildings. Comparable as a broad international incumbent competing in NZ engineering consulting.
• GHD: GHD is a global engineering, architecture, and environmental consulting firm with established New Zealand operations. Comparable broad incumbent offering multi-discipline engineering services overlapping Cook Costello's portfolio.
• WSP in New Zealand: WSP is a global engineering professional services firm with substantial NZ operations across property, transport, environment, and water. Comparable as a broad incumbent with overlapping civil, structural, and geotechnical capabilities in NZ.
• Aurecon: Aurecon is a global engineering and infrastructure advisory firm with significant New Zealand operations across buildings, transport, and water. Comparable as a larger incumbent with multi-discipline engineering services competing in NZ.
• Beca Group: Beca is one of the largest New Zealand-headquartered engineering consultancies, operating across infrastructure, building, and industrial sectors with multi-discipline capabilities. Comparable as a broader NZ engineering incumbent with overlapping civil, structural, and geotechnical practices.

Direct peers

• Babbage Consultants: Babbage Consultants is a New Zealand engineering consultancy with structural, civil, and geotechnical capabilities serving building and infrastructure clients. Comparable mid-sized NZ multidisciplinary engineering peer.
• Tonkin + Taylor: Tonkin + Taylor is a New Zealand-based environmental and engineering consultancy with deep geotechnical, civil, and natural hazard capabilities. Highly comparable to Cook Costello in NZ market focus, multidisciplinary engineering offering, and disaster-recovery work.
• Riley Consultants: Riley Consultants is a New Zealand geotechnical and engineering consultancy specialising in ground engineering, foundations, and slope stability. Directly comparable mid-sized competitor operating in the same NZ geotechnical/civil/structural engineering space.
• Kirk Roberts Consulting Engineers: Kirk Roberts is a New Zealand multi-discipline engineering consultancy offering structural, civil, geotechnical, and fire engineering services. Closely comparable in scope, size, and NZ market focus to Cook Costello.

Emerging players

• Geotech Consulting: Geotech Consulting is a New Zealand geotechnical engineering consultancy specialising in ground investigation and foundation design. Comparable as a smaller specialist peer focused on a subset of Cook Costello's service portfolio.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/cookcostello
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cook-costello
• Instagraminstagram.com/cookcostello
• Xx.com/CookCostello

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cook Costello