Richard J. Brown was appointed as the City’s new Chief Building Official at the December City Council meeting. He has been with the City of Bristol for 16 months, serving as an Assistant Building Inspector.

He replaces Thomas Lozier who retired in November.

“I am excited and looking forward to working with the many different departments to help the residents and occupants of the City of Bristol,” said Brown.

“We are looking forward to seeing Rick step in and run the department, oversee code enforcement, and work with the many projects that are coming to the City,” said Mayor Ellen Zoppo-Sassu.  “Despite the challenges of Covid this past year, the Building Department is surpassing the number of permits that it anticipated issuing this year,” the Mayor said, noting that building permit revenue for last year was $1.44 million and is already at $815,815 through November 30^, with 7 months left in the fiscal year.

Councilman Scott Rosado added, “Having recently worked with Rick as we relocate our business to Riverside Ave, I greatly appreciated his customer service skills and assistance in explaining to me all the requirements and various permits that I needed.”

A graduate of Porter & Chester Technical School, Rick earned a certificate in Architectural Design and has used that along with his courses in Construction Management and his years of apprenticeship to become a licensed and certified Building Official since 2012. 

In addition to his time in Bristol, Brown worked as a building official in Thomaston; and, in construction management including his own company as well as project management for 13 years with W.R. Allen Co.

He will serve a 4 year term with a salary of $90,000 annually.