ABOUT
Fiona Mountfort - Mountfort Consulting Limited
Civil Construction Environmental Consultant
Civil Construction Environmental Consultant
FIONA MOUNTFORTFiona uses her industry experience in design and construction to provide environmental management advice, and management to Contractors, Clients and Council’s on all sized civil infrastructure projects. Fiona has the unique experience of understanding both Council compliance and Contractor delivery requirements.
With over 20 years’ civil construction industry experience, Fiona has managed environmental and safety management and performance on structures, roading, and infrastructure schemes across most contract types (Public Private Partnerships, Joint Ventures, Design & Construct, and Managing Contractor), for the NZ Transport Agency, the Contractor and Local and Regional Authorities. Working alongside Regional Councils, including from within as a Compliance Officer, has given Fiona a good understanding of their systems and how they work. |
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Previously Fiona was employed by HEB Construction where she worked for 12 years. Fiona joined HEB Construction at a time when environmental management requirements were gaining momentum across the industry. Having identified opportunities for improvement within HEB’s environmental systems and procedures, Fiona spent the next few years working to incite a significant culture change within the Company in terms of its overall environmental management approach. What emerged from that is a Company that was seen as an industry leader in environmental compliance, and an Environmental Manager recognised as one of the most successful in New Zealand.
The journey with HEB encompassed developing a substantial training package, maintaining a constant presence on site to advise and upskill staff, and providing the systems and background to support projects. This environmental management input across the first six years of Fiona’s engagement at HEB, led to no enforcement nationwide for 7 years and the Company gaining AS/NZS ISO14001 certification.
The journey with HEB encompassed developing a substantial training package, maintaining a constant presence on site to advise and upskill staff, and providing the systems and background to support projects. This environmental management input across the first six years of Fiona’s engagement at HEB, led to no enforcement nationwide for 7 years and the Company gaining AS/NZS ISO14001 certification.
KEY QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor of Parks, Recreation & Tourism Management (majoring in Resource Management), Lincoln University (Christchurch, New Zealand), 1996
- Diploma in Management, New Zealand Institute of Management, current study
- Erosion & Sediment Control Planning Implementers Course
EXPERIENCE
- Environmental & Safety Leadership and delivery of major projects
- D&C, ECI, Alliance, LS and PPP tendering and environmental delivery
- Strategic Management and oversight of all Safety, Quality and Environmental elements within a large Infrastructure company
- Development and delivery of numerous Environmental & Safety training packages
- Working with people and companies to positively change culture
- Specialty tender and start up experience which enables a smooth project delivery
- Develop and implement environmental and safety management plans
- Design and implement erosion and sediment controls
- Management of consents and approvals to enable on-time construction programme delivery
- Identification and appropriate management of relevant company or project environmental and safety risks
CAREER HISTORY
- Mountfort Consulting Ltd, Director
- HEB Construction, Safety, Quality, Environmental Group Manager
- HEB Construction National Environmental Manager
- Bay of Plenty Regional Council Compliance Officer
SELECTED TRAINING AND SYSTEMS EXPERIENCE
HEB Construction – 750 Employees
Development of environmental systems which ultimately lead to ISO 14001 certification. Managed all Health, Safety, Quality and Environmental systems within HEB and maintained ISO 9001, 18001 and 14001 certifications.
Development of a SQE training matrix. This included identifying role specific training at all levels and also identified integration and repeat principals across all three disciplines.
Development and delivery of Environmental Managers and Supervisors Training. This covered what Project Managers and Supervisors need to know to manage the environmental aspects of their roles.
Development and delivery of a number of technical environmental related training packages which taught constructors how to design, build and maintain environmental controls. E.g. Erosion and Sediment Controls, Spill Management, Dust Control, Noise and Vibration Management etc.
Development of a robust self-regulation system across HEB. This was based on using site visits as a training opportunity followed by writing up an inspection notice to highlight agreed actions, responsibilities and close out dates. Company KPI’s were built around this system and worked well as incentives.
Development of environmental systems which ultimately lead to ISO 14001 certification. Managed all Health, Safety, Quality and Environmental systems within HEB and maintained ISO 9001, 18001 and 14001 certifications.
Development of a SQE training matrix. This included identifying role specific training at all levels and also identified integration and repeat principals across all three disciplines.
Development and delivery of Environmental Managers and Supervisors Training. This covered what Project Managers and Supervisors need to know to manage the environmental aspects of their roles.
Development and delivery of a number of technical environmental related training packages which taught constructors how to design, build and maintain environmental controls. E.g. Erosion and Sediment Controls, Spill Management, Dust Control, Noise and Vibration Management etc.
Development of a robust self-regulation system across HEB. This was based on using site visits as a training opportunity followed by writing up an inspection notice to highlight agreed actions, responsibilities and close out dates. Company KPI’s were built around this system and worked well as incentives.
COUNCIL EXPERIENCE
Compliance Officer – 1998-99 & 2003-2005
5 years as a Compliance Officer for Bay of Plenty Regional Council. This included monitoring a significant number of permitted and consented sites to ensure compliance with Regional Plans, Consents and Permitted Activity rules.
“During this time, it became clear many of the people involved in earthwork activities and contracting did not know the rules and were being poorly advised. This lead to Fiona switching to work for a Contractor and helping them be proactive and appropriately compliant with the applicable rules”.
5 years as a Compliance Officer for Bay of Plenty Regional Council. This included monitoring a significant number of permitted and consented sites to ensure compliance with Regional Plans, Consents and Permitted Activity rules.
“During this time, it became clear many of the people involved in earthwork activities and contracting did not know the rules and were being poorly advised. This lead to Fiona switching to work for a Contractor and helping them be proactive and appropriately compliant with the applicable rules”.
RECENT REFERENCES
Noel Band – ex Structures General Manager
HEB Construction “I have had the pleasure of working with Fiona both as a colleague and more recently engaging her services as a Consultant. Fiona is always professional and extremely knowledgeable and practicable in her approach to all environmental and safety aspects of projects. Fiona is widely known and respected across the industry and we enjoy including her in our project teams where possible.” |
Alistair Cross – Manager – Environmental Regulation, Greater Wellington Regional Council
“I have worked with Fiona for three years on the Transmission Gully Project, first in her capacity as Environmental Manager, and then as a consultant engaged by GWRC on behalf of the Project. Fiona has significant and valuable experience in the construction and earthworks sector. This, coupled with a highly pragmatic approach, her strengths in building relationships, deeply personable and engaging style, and a focus and desire to follow through on significant and complex commitments, means that Fiona is a highly capable and effective operator. She has a keen ability to walk in the shoes of both consent holder/construction contractor and the regulator – which gives her a valuable perspective on understanding key issues and finding meaningful solutions.” |