when in my deadline

Arizona's mechanics lien deadline is generally 120 days after the completion of the project. But, if a Notice of Completion gets recorded, then the deadline to file a mechanics lien drops to merely 60 days after that document was recorded.

Determining exactly when a project is considered complete can be challenging, as Levelset discusses here: Project Completion Date: When It Matters And Why. Luckily, the Arizona lien statute actually defines "completion" at A.R.S. § 33-993(C).

Determining "completion" in Arizona

According to that section, "completion" occurs at the earliest of these two times:

1. Thirty days after final inspection and written final acceptance by the governmental body which issued the building permit for the building, structure or improvement.
2. Cessation of labor for a period of sixty consecutive days, except when such cessation of labor is due to a strike, shortage of materials or act of God.

According to A.R.S. § 33-993(D), if there's no building permit or final inspection with written final acceptances, then "completion" will be the last date when work was done on the property.

AZ lien deadline when inspection fails

While the lien statute doesn't explicitly state what happens if the inspected work doesn't pass inspection due to an owner's failure to cooperate, it wouldn't make sense for that kind of an inspection failure to retroactively shorten the deadline to pursue a lien claim.

Still, the safest way to proceed is likely to assume that the last date of work on-site would begin the clock for the lien deadline. That way, there's no argument that a deadline was allegedly missed.