(1) Claims for services provided by a consultant/contractor, or subcontractor, including services of its employees, must be categorized by labor code according to the list of codes maintained by the board. This requirement does not apply to any service provided by an individual that does not closely approximate one of the categories in the board's list.

(2) A consultant/contractor/subcontractor may file with the board, and amend, not more than once a year (unless further amendment is approved by the board staff) , the rates at which it bills clients in Montana for the services described in the board's fee schedule list. Rate schedules and amendments must be maintained in confidence by and accessible only to the board staff, as the consultant's expectation of privacy is reasonable and outweighs the merits of public disclosure.

(3) (a) The board staff shall calculate the industry standard once a year after receipt of rate schedules from companies whose invoices the board frequently reviews and which have been filed in a number sufficient for a meaningful statistical analysis. In calculating the industry standard, the board staff shall compute a range of allowable rates for each code listed in the board's consultant/contractor code list, which will be the mean rate for each code plus the standard deviation, not to exceed 10% of that mean. The board staff shall then notify each filing firm whether its rates exceed the range of allowable rates, and if so, by how much. The amount by which a consultant's rate for a particular code exceeds the range of allowable rates will be presumed unreasonable.

(b) Board staff may request a detailed explanation of rate structures when a submitted rate appears to vary significantly from those submitted by other consultants/contractors/subcontractors for the same code. Board staff may refuse to use rates that significantly vary from similar rates submitted by others, rates from persons who have not submitted claims for reimbursement, rates from persons who have not submitted proper documentation for claim reimbursement, and other rates not deemed acceptable by the board.

(4) A consultant/contractor/subcontractor who has not filed its schedule of rates must submit its invoices for services formatted in accordance with (1) . Any rates which exceed the range of allowable rates will be presumed unreasonable.

(5) An owner or operator or consultant/contractor, or subcontractor may overcome the presumption that a rate is unreasonable by presenting evidence to the board as provided under ARM 17.58.336(6) .

(6) Copies of the list, which establishes categories and codes of consultant/contractor/subcontractor services, may be obtained from the board.