Groton — The town's new manager of inspection services already is a familiar face.

Peter W. Zvingilas, the town's assistant building official/zoning enforcement officer, started last month in his new role after former Manager of Inspection Services Kevin Quinn retired from the town.

"We're thrilled to have Peter grow and be promoted to this critical role in the department of manager of inspection services," Planning and Development Services Director Jon Reiner said.

Zvingilas, 48, whose father was a building official in Griswold for more than 30 years, said he always was interested in construction and code development. He started his career working for his father's construction company while in high school and opened up his own construction company while in college.

After graduation, he went into the building business and was hired in 1999 as the zoning enforcement officer for Voluntown and became the zoning enforcement officer and building official in 2005, he said. He was hired in 2013 as the full-time building official in Windham and worked there until becoming assistant building official in Groton in 2017.

Zvingilas said he was drawn to Groton for its community, professionalism and the anticipated growth from Electric Boat.

"I knew that the expansion from EB was going to create some unique experiences down here with the possibilities," he said. "We're getting ready for a significant expansion in the area. The job growth and the building growth down in this area was just too much to really pass up to come down to this area."

He said managing the department during the growth period, potentially expanding it as needed, and ensuring it's a "highly functioning unit" will be "a unique challenge." 

Zvingilas said that is what he loves about the job. 

In his position, he said he sees all types of projects, ranging from small additions on residential homes to multimillion-dollar commercial projects. He looks forward to coming to work every morning and that no two days are the same.

"It’s day to day, and you’re always learning," he said. "You never stop learning at this job, which is great."

Zvingilas, an ICC-certified building official, said he is a firm believer in education and he is in the process of obtaining his Master Code Professional qualification, the highest certification for building officials and one that only about 800 people have attained, according to the ICC's website.

He said he is on the ICC's Certification Committee and the co-chair for ICC's Code Development Committee, which establishes subcommittees of volunteers to work on reviewing all code proposals and determines whether to support or oppose the proposals.

Zvingilas is the president of the Southeastern Connecticut Building Officials Association and past president of the Connecticut Building Officials Association, which during his tenure was named Chapter of the Year by the International Code Council. 

He also said he was among a group that was instrumental in changing the statutory language to streamline the code adoption process for Connecticut.

Zvingilas lives in Griswold, where he also grew up, with his wife, Trisha, and two children, Cheyenne and Colby. 

Reiner said Zvingilas brings expertise in the field and his leadership role, not only in the state but also nationally as a member of the Code Committee. That knowledge of the building code and what will be coming into the future building codes is a great asset for the town, especially with the amount of construction that is happening and will continue in Groton.

"Pete has a lot of years of both public service work as well as doing private construction so he knows what it’s like to be in the shoes of the applicant coming to the front desk, and he has a great way with people," Reiner said.

k.drelich@theday.com