(a) A verbatim record of the hearing shall be made by whatever means the office deems appropriate.

(b) A transcription of the hearing shall be made available to any party requesting it upon payment of the cost of transcription by the requesting party. If more than one party requests the transcript, the cost will be allocated among the parties.

(c) The office may waive the transcript cost upon a showing of hardship by the requesting party. Requests for transcripts and for waiver of transcript costs must be made in writing to the commissioner and must be submitted no later than the first day of the hearing.