diff --git a/src/semeio/forward_models/__init__.py b/src/semeio/forward_models/__init__.py
index 979795b5c..a795e1ee7 100644
--- a/src/semeio/forward_models/__init__.py
+++ b/src/semeio/forward_models/__init__.py
@@ -4,10 +4,13 @@
     ForwardModelStepDocumentation,
     ForwardModelStepJSON,
     ForwardModelStepPlugin,
+    ForwardModelStepValidationError,
+    ForwardModelStepValidationWarning,
 )
 
 from .scripts.design2params import description as design2params_description
 from .scripts.design_kw import description as design_kw_description
+from .scripts.design_kw import design_kw as DesignKWScript
 
 
 class Design2Params(ForwardModelStepPlugin):
@@ -45,7 +48,8 @@ class DesignKW(ForwardModelStepPlugin):
     def __init__(self):
         super().__init__(
             name="DESIGN_KW",
-            command=["design_kw", "<template_file>", "<result_file>"],
+            command=["design_kw", "<template_file>", "<result_file>", "<VALIDATE>"],
+            default_mapping={"<VALIDATE>": "false"},
         )
 
     def validate_pre_realization_run(
@@ -54,7 +58,15 @@ def validate_pre_realization_run(
         return fm_step_json
 
     def validate_pre_experiment(self, fm_step_json: ForwardModelStepJSON) -> None:
-        pass
+        errors = DesignKWScript.validate_configuration(fm_step_json.get("argList")[0])
+        should_fail_on_validation_error = (
+            fm_step_json.get("argList")[2].lower() == "true"
+        )
+        error_message = f"DESIGN_KW configuration validation failed:\n{errors}"
+        if errors and should_fail_on_validation_error:
+            raise ForwardModelStepValidationError(error_message)
+        if errors:
+            raise ForwardModelStepValidationWarning(error_message)
 
     @staticmethod
     def documentation() -> Optional[ForwardModelStepDocumentation]:
diff --git a/src/semeio/forward_models/design_kw/design_kw.py b/src/semeio/forward_models/design_kw/design_kw.py
index 0557c6304..432a761ae 100644
--- a/src/semeio/forward_models/design_kw/design_kw.py
+++ b/src/semeio/forward_models/design_kw/design_kw.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import logging
+import os
 import re
 import shlex
 from typing import List
@@ -6,6 +7,7 @@
 _STATUS_FILE_NAME = "DESIGN_KW.OK"
 
 _logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+errors = []
 
 
 def run(
@@ -65,7 +67,9 @@ def all_matched(line, template_file_name, template):
                 f"but this is probably an xml file"
             )
         else:
-            _logger.error(f"{unmatched} not found in design matrix")
+            error_msg = f"{unmatched} not found in design matrix"
+            _logger.error(error_msg)
+            errors.append(error_msg)
             valid = False
     return valid
 
@@ -178,3 +182,39 @@ def rm_genkw_prefix(paramsdict, ignoreprefixes="LOG10_"):
         for keyvalue in keyvalues
         if keys.count(keyvalue[0]) == 1
     }
+
+
+def validate_configuration(
+    template_file_name: str, parameters_file_name: str = "parameters.txt"
+) -> List[str]:
+    try:
+        if not os.path.exists(template_file_name):
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"Argument template_file: '{template_file_name}' is not an existing file"
+            )
+
+        if not os.path.exists(parameters_file_name):
+            raise ValueError(
+                f"Could not find required parameters file from DESIGN2PARAMS: '{parameters_file_name}'"
+            )
+        with open(parameters_file_name, encoding="utf-8") as parameters_file:
+            parameters = parameters_file.readlines()
+
+        key_vals = extract_key_value(parameters)
+
+        key_vals.update(rm_genkw_prefix(key_vals))
+
+        with open(template_file_name, encoding="utf-8") as template_file:
+            template = template_file.readlines()
+
+        for line in template:
+            if not is_comment(line):
+                for key, value in key_vals.items():
+                    line = line.replace(f"<{key}>", str(value))
+
+                all_matched(line, template_file_name, template)
+
+    except ValueError as e:
+        errors.append(str(e))
+
+    return errors
diff --git a/src/semeio/forward_models/scripts/design_kw.py b/src/semeio/forward_models/scripts/design_kw.py
index 84669e31a..a249473c6 100755
--- a/src/semeio/forward_models/scripts/design_kw.py
+++ b/src/semeio/forward_models/scripts/design_kw.py
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@
 Example: If ``parameters.txt`` has the line ``MULTFLT:FLT_A10_B18 0.001``, both
 of the templates ``<MULTFLT:FLT_A10_B18>`` and ``<FLT_A10_B18>`` will expand to
 ``0.001``.
+
+Configuration validation pre experiment can be disabled by explicitly setting ``<VALIDATION>=false``
 """
 
 
@@ -44,7 +46,7 @@ def create_parser():
         default="WARNING",
         type=logging.getLevelName,
     )
-
+    parser.add_argument("--validate", required=False, type=bool, default=True)
     return parser