[mick53]

I have been a general contractor for about 40 years in a few states including California. A contractor can lock in a price months in advance by paying for it an taking delivery later. The reason most contractors don't want to do this is they hope the price will go down. I have also given bids for projects that don't start for a while with provisional material cost. This protects the customer and the contractor. Also upon winning the bid I have had customers pay the entire material cost to lock it in. I now do projects in the 15-50 million dollar range but it applied when I was doing small residential also. Getting a price on a job that is not yet permitted is looked at by the contractor as possible waisted time. The bids may be free for you but they cost time and money for the contractor. In an industry where the average win ratio is about 10% that counts. My advice is get your permit and then call 3 contractors with good reputations. You will be surprised how close the bids are. Always read the contract carefully an see what is and is not included. Never sigh a vague contract that is not itemized with a completion date. Just my $.02 worth. Thank you for your time.