Litchfield Building Official Retirement Creates Staffing Gap

Litchfield faces a staffing gap following James Clark's May 1 retirement as building official. His departure leaves the town without an inspector for the ongoing fire house construction project.

First Selectman Henry Tirrell plans to hire a temporary inspector from a neighboring town. The fire department will do the same. Tirrell expects Litchfield to share an inspector with other communities within months.

Six towns in the Northwest Corner lack a dedicated building official. A Connecticut Conference of Municipalities survey found that 89 percent of towns struggle to find qualified candidates for inspector positions. Approximately half of respondents named building inspector as the most difficult role to fill.

Connecticut requires building officials to complete training in state building codes, ranging from one day to several months. Officials must earn 90 continuing education credits every three years to maintain certification.

Smaller towns struggle more to recruit inspectors due to lower pay. Sharing inspectors with neighboring communities is a common solution.