Section 4A. There shall be within the department a division to be known as the division of inspection. The commissioner shall appoint a chief or chiefs of inspections, who shall not be subject to the provisions of chapter thirty-one, who may be removed for cause, and the position of chief of inspections shall be classified in accordance with section forty-five of chapter thirty and the salary shall be determined in accordance with section forty-six C of said chapter thirty. The commissioner shall establish the requirements and qualifications for inspectors who are employed by the division of inspection and appointed pursuant to section six and shall have administrative responsibility over such inspectors.

The commissioner shall establish districts within the commonwealth, each of which shall be supervised by an inspector appointed pursuant to this section and said section six, whose responsibilities shall be to make periodic reviews of all local building inspection practices, to provide technical assistance and advice to the local inspectors in the implementation of the state building code, and to supervise the enforcement of the state building code within such district. The commissioner may review, on his own initiative or on the application of any inspector, any action or refusal or failure of action by any local inspector the result of which does not comply with the uniform implementation of the state building code; and may reverse, modify, or annul, in whole or in part, such action except with respect to the specialized codes as described in section ninety-six of chapter one hundred and forty-three; provided, however, that no order or action of the commissioner shall reverse, modify, annul, or contravene any order, action, determination, interpretation or any decision by the state board of building regulations and standards or the state building code appeals board.