diff --git a/policy-utils/checkstyle-suppressions.xml b/policy-utils/checkstyle-suppressions.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cbf6eac
--- /dev/null
+++ b/policy-utils/checkstyle-suppressions.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+<?xml version="1.0"?>
+<!--
+  ============LICENSE_START=======================================================
+   Copyright (C) 2018 AT&T Technologies. All rights reserved.
+  ================================================================================
+  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+  
+       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+  
+  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+  limitations under the License.
+  
+  SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+  ============LICENSE_END=========================================================
+-->
+
+<!DOCTYPE suppressions PUBLIC
+     "-//Puppy Crawl//DTD Suppressions 1.0//EN"
+     "http://www.puppycrawl.com/dtds/suppressions_1_0.dtd">
+ 
+<suppressions>
+  <suppress checks="AbbreviationAsWordInName"
+    files="MDCTransaction.java"
+    lines="1-9999"/>
+  <suppress checks="OneTopLevelClass"
+    files="MDCTransaction.java"
+    lines="1-9999"/>
+</suppressions>
diff --git a/policy-utils/pom.xml b/policy-utils/pom.xml
index 6a7c9fb..0326534 100644
--- a/policy-utils/pom.xml
+++ b/policy-utils/pom.xml
@@ -31,23 +31,60 @@
     <version>1.3.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
   </parent>
 
-
-	<dependencies>    			
-		<dependency>
-			<groupId>ch.qos.logback</groupId>
-			<artifactId>logback-classic</artifactId>
-		</dependency> 	    
-		<dependency>
-			<groupId>junit</groupId>
-			<artifactId>junit</artifactId>
-			<scope>test</scope>
-		</dependency>
-		<dependency>
-			<groupId>org.onap.policy.common</groupId>
-			<artifactId>utils</artifactId>
-			<version>${project.version}</version>
-		</dependency>
-  	</dependencies>
-
-    
+    <dependencies>    			
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>ch.qos.logback</groupId>
+            <artifactId>logback-classic</artifactId>
+        </dependency> 	    
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>junit</groupId>
+            <artifactId>junit</artifactId>
+            <scope>test</scope>
+        </dependency>
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.onap.policy.common</groupId>
+            <artifactId>utils</artifactId>
+            <version>${project.version}</version>
+            </dependency>
+    </dependencies>
+    <build>
+        <plugins>
+            <plugin>
+                <artifactId>maven-checkstyle-plugin</artifactId>
+                <executions>
+                    <execution>
+                        <id>onap-java-style</id>
+                        <goals>
+                            <goal>check</goal>
+                        </goals>
+                        <phase>process-sources</phase>
+                        <configuration>
+                            <!-- Use Google Java Style Guide: https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/blob/master/src/main/resources/google_checks.xml 
+                                with minor changes -->
+                            <configLocation>onap-checkstyle/onap-java-style.xml</configLocation>
+                            <!-- <sourceDirectory> is needed so that checkstyle ignores the generated sources directory -->
+                            <sourceDirectory>${project.build.sourceDirectory}</sourceDirectory>
+                            <includeResources>true</includeResources>
+                            <includeTestSourceDirectory>true</includeTestSourceDirectory>
+                            <includeTestResources>true</includeTestResources>
+                            <excludes>
+                            </excludes>
+                            <suppressionsLocation>${project.baseUri}checkstyle-suppressions.xml</suppressionsLocation>
+                            <consoleOutput>true</consoleOutput>
+                            <failsOnViolation>true</failsOnViolation>
+                            <violationSeverity>warning</violationSeverity>
+                        </configuration>
+                    </execution>
+                </executions>
+                <dependencies>
+                    <dependency>
+                        <groupId>org.onap.oparent</groupId>
+                        <artifactId>checkstyle</artifactId>
+                        <version>${oparent.version}</version>
+                        <scope>compile</scope>
+                    </dependency>
+                </dependencies>
+            </plugin>
+        </plugins>
+    </build>
 </project>
diff --git a/policy-utils/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/drools/utils/ReflectionUtil.java b/policy-utils/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/drools/utils/ReflectionUtil.java
index f618b4c..bb6c542 100644
--- a/policy-utils/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/drools/utils/ReflectionUtil.java
+++ b/policy-utils/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/drools/utils/ReflectionUtil.java
@@ -18,10 +18,6 @@
  * ============LICENSE_END=========================================================
  */
 
-/**
- * 
- */
-
 package org.onap.policy.drools.utils;
 
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
@@ -35,7 +31,7 @@
 
     protected static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(ReflectionUtil.class);
 
-    private ReflectionUtil(){
+    private ReflectionUtil() {
     }
 
     /**
@@ -83,7 +79,7 @@
      * 
      * @param parent superclass
      * @param presumedSubclass subclass
-     * @return
+     * @return true if it is a sub class
      */
     public static boolean isSubclass(Class<?> parent, Class<?> presumedSubclass) {
         return parent.isAssignableFrom(presumedSubclass);
diff --git a/policy-utils/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/drools/utils/logging/MDCTransaction.java b/policy-utils/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/drools/utils/logging/MDCTransaction.java
index c6e78b2..61c7b0c 100644
--- a/policy-utils/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/drools/utils/logging/MDCTransaction.java
+++ b/policy-utils/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/drools/utils/logging/MDCTransaction.java
@@ -336,7 +336,7 @@
     MDCTransaction setElapsedTime(Long elapsedTime);
 
     /**
-     * sets service instance id
+     * sets service instance id.
      */
     MDCTransaction setServiceInstanceId(String serviceInstanceId);