Be prepared your material cost may escalate in the next 6 months . The political climate , Tariffs that are being put on imported building materials are set to take place and this could cause a building material shortage . The recent fires in California that have 11,000 homes burnt down could case a shortage of materials ,along with the shortage will cause your material costs to rise and maybe even delay your project .You will need to be prepared . There are a few ways you can prepare yourself . EzEstimater app has a feature that updates material directly from Home Depot that updates twice a week. This will help you on new projects that you are bidding to make sure you have the most current pricing . The other protection would to have a escalation clause if the project starts later than 30 days after you sign the contract. Most large projects will definitely take more than 30 days because of plan check phase through the building department which can take 3 to 6 months or longer for approval. During the plan check process you may be surprised material may double in price and eat your profits.