If you want to actually swim next summer, the planning window starts earlier than most homeowners assume.
What actually drives this
Demand and construction scheduling in the Phoenix area push toward fall through early spring, tied to the desert climate rather than to any holiday. Mid-summer genuinely gets harder, both for ground conditions and for crew working hours in the heat. That means the firms doing good work are booking up well before the season most people start thinking about a pool.
If you want to actually swim next summer, you need to be signing a contract by fall at the latest, not calling in April. Once the ground gets too hot to work comfortably and everybody else is calling around at the same time, the good crews are already booked. Most people are surprised how far ahead they actually needed to start. Phoenix's own summer climate normals explain why: the stretch that makes ground work hardest for a crew is the same stretch that makes everyone start calling at once.
A rough range or answer for this business
Plan on signing a contract in the fall if a finished pool or backyard by next summer matters to you. From contract to substantial completion, plan on roughly two to five months depending on scope, permitting, and whether your property sits inside an HOA design-review community, which can add real time of its own. See how much a project like that typically costs before you start budgeting for a fall start.
Before signing with anyone, it is worth checking a contractor's license status directly with the Arizona Registrar of Contractors rather than taking a business card's word for it.
See how a project actually runs, step by step, read Marcus's own background, or book a design walk-through before the fall booking window fills up.