However the Defendant’s statement of final account was only issued on 20 April 2017 or even later. In this regard, s.7 in particular s. 7(3) of the CIPAA provides as follows: “7. Right to refer dispute to adjudication (1) An unpaid party or a non-paying party may refer a dispute arising from a payment claim made under section 5 to adjudication. (2) The right to refer a dispute to adjudication shall only be exercised after the expiry of the period to serve a payment response as specified under subsection 6(3). (3) A dispute referred to adjudication under this Act is subject to the Limitation Act 1953 [Act 254], Sabah Limitation Ordinance [Cap. 72] or Sarawak Limitation Ordinance [Swk. Cap. 49] as the case may be." It is provided in s. 31 of the Limitation Act 1953 as follows: “31. Provisions as to set off or counterclaim For the purposes of this Act, any claim by way of set-off or counterclaim shall be deemed to be a separate action and to have been commenced on the same date as the action in which the set-off or counterclaim is pleaded.” 37. Consequently and since the Defendant’s statement of final account was non-existent when the notice of adjudication was issued, it wasn’t a set off that had accrued in defence of the Plaintiff’s payment claim. In other words, it wasn’t an adjudicatable defence within the core jurisdiction of the Adjudicator. In the circumstances, I find and hold that the Adjudicator not only didn’t fall into error but was actually correct in refusing to assume jurisdiction to entertain the Defendant’s statement of final account. As stated by him, the position might be different if the Defendant had issued such as a negative penultimate payment certificate after payment certificate no. 15 before the issuance of notice of adjudication by the Plaintiff. 38. In the premises, I find and hold that the Defendant failed to prove there was either breach of natural justice on the part of the Adjudicator or clear error seen in the Decision.” The fact of the case was analogous to Mecomb, where the quotations for supporting the set-off