Wareham Director of Inspectional Services Myles Burke has again been denied his request to take the state building official certification exam.

Burke says he will appeal the decision to the Superior Court.

The July 6 decision is the latest in Burke's ongoing pursuit of certification the state says he needs to continue his job as inspection chief in Wareham.

The state Building Official Certification Committee has maintained that Burke lacks the required five years of experience in the supervision of building construction or design, and thus does not meet the minimum qualifications necessary to take the certification exam.

Burke appealed the Certification Committee's decision to the State Building Code Appeals Board in September, 2011, and was granted an opportunity to present further information about his qualifications.

Burke appeared before the committee in December of last year with dozens of documents, including letters from supporters and a packet of copies of various certifications he holds. He later provided a two-page timeline outlining what he considers his supervisory experience.

In January of this year, the Certification Committee upheld its decision that Burke did not possess the qualifications necessary to sit for the exam.

Burke again appealed the committee's decision to the State Building Code Appeals Board. A hearing was held in June, and according to Appeals Board documents dated July 6, Burke "did not present any new information regarding this experience prior to being appointed as Inspector of Buildings for the Town of Wareham."

The Appeals Board again upheld the Certification Committee's ruling that Burke does not qualify to take the exam.

"After a review of the appellant's experience and qualifications, the [Certification] Committee determined that the appellant did not possess the necessary experience [i]n the supervision of building construction or design experience and that his experience was instead largely of an administrative project management nature," members of the Appeals Board wrote. "The [Appeals] Board stated that, absent the appellant's presentation of new evidence, the Board would defer to the [Certification] Committee's expertise and uphold its determination."

Burke said he's weighing several options, but is preparing to appeal.

"I'm appealing based on the fact that, I said to them, 'If you can't tell me that I've falsified any of this documentation, you're looking at 26 years of verifiable service," Burke explained.

Burke was hired in April 2010. He and former Town Administrator Mark Andrews maintained that becoming certified was not a requirement of the position of Director of Inspectional Services – because the director need only supervise those who perform the actual inspections.

Burke says that obtaining certification was always his goal, but the state has maintained that, as a building official, Burke must be certified.

The job posting for Burke’s position indicated that the successful candidate must “be able to obtain within six months of employment Certification as an Inspector of Buildings/Building Commissioner.”

Critics accused Andrews of cronyism, since he and Burke had worked together when both held jobs with the City of Lawrence, because Burke was able to negotiate for a salary $24,000 above the $51,000 salary posted for the Wareham job, and because Burke was not state-certified.

Andrews left Wareham earlier this year for an interim town administrator position in Wenham, Mass.

Interim Town Administrator John Foster did not immediately return a request for comment on the matter.