We paid about 30% upfront but we were only paying about 4 months out.

We collect a 30% deposit on our projects.

What I don't understand in your situation is, the deposit is refundable if the town does not approve the permit.?? This is like putting the cart before the house.

On new pool inquiries we always find out from the town's what is permissible. Property set backs to any structures has an impact on proposed work. This can affect a desired pool size or location. In some cases a variance will be required but there's no guarantee a town board will approve the work.

In New Jersey, most towns have a limit on impervious lot coverage. A desired 1,000 sf patio may be cut down to 500 sf. Sometimes the pool's themselves are considered part of the coverage.

When I say impervious coverage, I mean anything other than dirt or grass on your property. Dwellings, walkways, patios, driveways, accessory buildings (sheds) are considered impervious. Those impervious items represent a certain percentage of the overall property coverage and cannot be exceeded.

It's best for you to find out from the town what you can put in your backyard. The town building department or the zoning department would help in determining this. It's sometimes based on your location within the town.

Hi. Please read the fine prints carefully. We sign a contract to have the fiberglass pool installed back in November 2019, we had the Engineering survey/plan completed by end of February the following year, then Pandemic started. Everything was put on hold. Fast forward to July 2021, we had all the permits approved to build the pool finally. Our Pool builder told us that they can no longer build that pool at the contracted price citing materials shortages, material prices has gone up, the pool model we chose is not available anytime soon, etc.. They gave us an updated/new price for the same exact pool install but different fiberglass pool model (readily available) and holy cow! it was twice the contracted price. I politely told them that it is not the price I signed for and that the new and updated price is now unaffordable, and the pool model they are offering is not what I want.
They agreed to return 100% of my deposit.