(1) No fees for costs of inspection. There is no fee for inspecting public records held by the OIC.

(2) Pursuant to RCW 42.56.120(2), as amended by section 3, chapter 304, Laws of 2017, the office of the insurance commissioner declares for the following reasons that it would be unduly burdensome for it to calculate the actual costs it charges for providing copies of public records: Funds were not allocated for performing a study to calculate such actual costs and the agency lacks the necessary funds to perform a study and calculations; staff resources are insufficient to perform a study and to calculate such actual costs; and a study would interfere with and disrupt other essential agency functions.

(3) Standard charges for paper photocopies or electronically produced copies. Unless otherwise requested, the OIC provides electronic copies of responsive documents in a portable document format (pdf). A requestor may obtain standard 8.5 x 11, black and white photocopies of responsive documents. Charges for electronic and paper copies shall be in accordance with the charges specified in RCW 42.56.120 (2)(b) and (c).

(4) Waiver of charges. The OIC will not charge a requestor for paper copies of fewer than three hundred pages or for electronic copies. This waiver does not apply to customized services charges as permitted by RCW 42.56.120(3) or charges for use of an outside vendor as provided in subsection (5) of this section.

(5) Use of outside vendor. With the consent of the requestor, the OIC may use an outside vendor for nonstandard copies or for voluminous requests if an outside vendor can make copies more quickly and/or less expensively than the charges specified in RCW 42.56.120. The OIC may also use an outside vendor if the OIC does not have the equipment to copy the requested records due to the format in which the records are saved (for example, if the records are saved on microfilm). In the event an outside vendor is used, the requestor may be charged the actual costs billed by the vendor.