Peterborough Building Inspector and Zoning Administrator Dario Carrara has been named Building Inspector of the Year by the state’s Building Officials Association.
“My favorite part of the job is helping property owners achieve their goals. Whether its building a new house, remodeling, putting on an addition or opening a new business,” said Carrara, a lifelong Peterborough resident.
In addition to being the full-time building inspector in Peterborough, Carrara is also the building inspector in Antrim, Bennington and Hancock. Carrara also has served as the secretary for the New Hampshire Building Officials Association for the last four years.
The Building Officials Association was formed in 2002, and recognizes a member each year for dedication and service in promoting the Association’s goals – namely achieving safer communities though education and compliance to state building and fire codes.
Carrara’s job involves reviewing permit applications, issuing permits and performing inspections, working with property owners to reach their goals within the existing regulations.
“One of the hard things is that I’m the end of the road,” said Carrara. “Architects, homeowners, builders come to me, and say ‘Can I do this?’ And my answer holds a lot of weight and has the ability to really affect people’s lives. It can be difficult. Sometimes you have to tell people they can’t do things.”
But, on the flip side, he said, he also gets to see when a project does move forward – like the construction of the new Scott Farrar independent and assisted living building.
“It was very exciting, because it started as an empty lot. And it ended up my mom’s apartment,” said Carrara. “Filling buildings that are vacant, that’s exciting, too.”
Carrara first began as a building inspector in 2010, taking over the position in Peterborough from his predecessor, Tom Weeks.
Carrara is also a member of the International Code Council and National Fire Protection Association and holds residential building, plumbing and electrical certification with the International Code Council and is a certified plans examiner with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from UNH Durham.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.