diff --git a/server/src/main/java/com/hedera/block/server/config/BlockNodeConfigExtension.java b/server/src/main/java/com/hedera/block/server/config/BlockNodeConfigExtension.java
index 152526fd9..731030d4b 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/com/hedera/block/server/config/BlockNodeConfigExtension.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/com/hedera/block/server/config/BlockNodeConfigExtension.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 import com.swirlds.common.metrics.config.MetricsConfig;
 import com.swirlds.common.metrics.platform.prometheus.PrometheusConfig;
 import com.swirlds.config.api.ConfigurationExtension;
+import edu.umd.cs.findbugs.annotations.NonNull;
 import java.util.Set;
 
 /** Registers configuration types for the server. */
@@ -32,6 +33,7 @@ public class BlockNodeConfigExtension implements ConfigurationExtension {
      *
      * @return Set of configuration data types for the server
      */
+    @NonNull
     @Override
     public Set<Class<? extends Record>> getConfigDataTypes() {
         return Set.of(BasicCommonConfig.class, MetricsConfig.class, PrometheusConfig.class);
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/com/hedera/block/server/config/BlockNodeContextFactory.java b/server/src/main/java/com/hedera/block/server/config/BlockNodeContextFactory.java
index 2ecd680dc..1e400771c 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/com/hedera/block/server/config/BlockNodeContextFactory.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/com/hedera/block/server/config/BlockNodeContextFactory.java
@@ -24,13 +24,12 @@
 import com.swirlds.config.extensions.sources.SystemEnvironmentConfigSource;
 import com.swirlds.config.extensions.sources.SystemPropertiesConfigSource;
 import com.swirlds.metrics.api.Metrics;
+import edu.umd.cs.findbugs.annotations.NonNull;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 
 /** Static factory that creates {@link BlockNodeContext} */
 public class BlockNodeContextFactory {
-    private static final System.Logger logger =
-            System.getLogger(BlockNodeContextFactory.class.getName());
 
     private static final String APPLICATION_PROPERTIES_1 = "app.properties";
 
@@ -40,28 +39,25 @@ private BlockNodeContextFactory() {}
      * @return an instance of {@link BlockNodeContext} which holds {@link Configuration}, {@link
      *     Metrics} and {@link MetricsService} for the rest of the application to use.
      */
-    public static BlockNodeContext create() {
+    public static BlockNodeContext create() throws IOException {
         final Configuration configuration = getConfiguration();
         final Metrics metrics = getMetrics(configuration);
         final MetricsService metricsService = new MetricsService(metrics);
         return new BlockNodeContext(metrics, metricsService, configuration);
     }
 
-    private static Configuration getConfiguration() {
-        try {
-            return ConfigurationBuilder.create()
-                    .withSource(SystemEnvironmentConfigSource.getInstance())
-                    .withSource(SystemPropertiesConfigSource.getInstance())
-                    .withSource(new ClasspathFileConfigSource(Path.of(APPLICATION_PROPERTIES_1)))
-                    .autoDiscoverExtensions()
-                    .build();
-        } catch (IOException e) {
-            logger.log(System.Logger.Level.ERROR, "Error reading configuration", e);
-            throw new RuntimeException("Error reading configuration", e);
-        }
+    private static Configuration getConfiguration() throws IOException {
+
+        return ConfigurationBuilder.create()
+                .withSource(SystemEnvironmentConfigSource.getInstance())
+                .withSource(SystemPropertiesConfigSource.getInstance())
+                .withSource(new ClasspathFileConfigSource(Path.of(APPLICATION_PROPERTIES_1)))
+                .autoDiscoverExtensions()
+                .build();
     }
 
-    private static Metrics getMetrics(final Configuration configuration) {
+    @NonNull
+    private static Metrics getMetrics(@NonNull final Configuration configuration) {
         final DefaultMetricsProvider metricsProvider = new DefaultMetricsProvider(configuration);
         final Metrics metrics = metricsProvider.createGlobalMetrics();
         metricsProvider.start();
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/com/hedera/block/server/metrics/MetricsService.java b/server/src/main/java/com/hedera/block/server/metrics/MetricsService.java
index a5f6b0c18..9ad3d2838 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/com/hedera/block/server/metrics/MetricsService.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/com/hedera/block/server/metrics/MetricsService.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 import com.swirlds.metrics.api.Counter;
 import com.swirlds.metrics.api.LongGauge;
 import com.swirlds.metrics.api.Metrics;
+import edu.umd.cs.findbugs.annotations.NonNull;
 
 public class MetricsService {
 
@@ -34,7 +35,7 @@ public class MetricsService {
 
     public final Counter exampleCounter;
 
-    public MetricsService(final Metrics metrics) {
+    public MetricsService(@NonNull final Metrics metrics) {
         this.exampleGauge = metrics.getOrCreate(EXAMPLE_GAUGE);
         this.exampleCounter = metrics.getOrCreate(EXAMPLE_COUNTER);
     }
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/com/hedera/block/server/config/BlockNodeContextFactoryTest.java b/server/src/test/java/com/hedera/block/server/config/BlockNodeContextFactoryTest.java
index baf193aa2..cd02cd8b7 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/com/hedera/block/server/config/BlockNodeContextFactoryTest.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/com/hedera/block/server/config/BlockNodeContextFactoryTest.java
@@ -18,12 +18,13 @@
 
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.*;
 
+import java.io.IOException;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
 class BlockNodeContextFactoryTest {
 
     @Test
-    void create_returnsBlockNodeContext() {
+    void create_returnsBlockNodeContext() throws IOException {
         BlockNodeContext context = BlockNodeContextFactory.create();
 
         assertNotNull(context.metrics());