Index: src/test/java/org/jboss/arquillian/impl/XmlConfigurationBuilderTestCase.java
===================================================================
--- src/test/java/org/jboss/arquillian/impl/XmlConfigurationBuilderTestCase.java	(revision 4510)
+++ src/test/java/org/jboss/arquillian/impl/XmlConfigurationBuilderTestCase.java	(working copy)
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@
 
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.Collections;
+import javax.validation.constraints.NotNull;
+import javax.validation.constraints.Size;
 
 import org.jboss.arquillian.spi.Configuration;
 import org.jboss.arquillian.spi.ConfigurationException;
@@ -84,7 +86,22 @@
       Assert.assertEquals("char", containerConfig.getC());
       
    }
-   
+
+   @Test(expected = ConfigurationException.class)
+   public void testConfigurationWithInvalidValues() throws Exception
+   {
+      // create a mock ServiceLoader that returns our MockContainerConfiguration
+      ServiceLoader serviceLoader = new MockServiceLoader();
+
+      // build the configuration
+      ConfigurationBuilder builder = new XmlConfigurationBuilder("arquillian_invalid.xml", serviceLoader);
+      Configuration configuration = builder.build();
+      Assert.assertNotNull(configuration);
+
+      // retrieve the container configuration
+      configuration.getContainerConfig(MockContainerConfiguration.class);
+   }
+
    /**
     * Should throw a ConfigurationException if 
     * @throws Exception
@@ -136,7 +153,7 @@
       }
    }
 
-   class AbstractMockContainerConfiguration
+   public class AbstractMockContainerConfiguration
    {
       private String propertyInherited;
 
@@ -156,7 +173,7 @@
     * 
     * @author <a href="mailto:german.escobarc@gmail.com">German Escobar</a>
     */
-   class MockContainerConfiguration extends AbstractMockContainerConfiguration implements ContainerConfiguration
+   public class MockContainerConfiguration extends AbstractMockContainerConfiguration implements ContainerConfiguration
    {
       private String propertyString;
       
@@ -174,7 +191,8 @@
       {
          return ContainerProfile.STANDALONE;
       }
-      
+
+      @Size(min = 1, max = 5)
       public String getPropertyString()
       {
          return propertyString;
@@ -225,6 +243,7 @@
          this.propertyBoolean = propertyBoolean;
       }
 
+      @NotNull
       public String getC()
       {
          return c;
Index: src/test/resources/arquillian_invalid.xml
===================================================================
--- src/test/resources/arquillian_invalid.xml	(revision 0)
+++ src/test/resources/arquillian_invalid.xml	(revision 0)
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<arquillian xmlns="http://jboss.com/arquillian"
+		xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+		xmlns:mock="urn:arq:org.jboss.arquillian.impl">
+
+	<mock:container>
+		<mock:propertyString>too long</mock:propertyString>
+	</mock:container>	
+
+</arquillian>
Index: src/main/java/org/jboss/arquillian/impl/XmlConfigurationBuilder.java
===================================================================
--- src/main/java/org/jboss/arquillian/impl/XmlConfigurationBuilder.java	(revision 4510)
+++ src/main/java/org/jboss/arquillian/impl/XmlConfigurationBuilder.java	(working copy)
@@ -20,8 +20,14 @@
 import java.lang.reflect.Method;
 import java.util.Collection;
 import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.logging.Logger;
+import javax.validation.ConstraintViolation;
+import javax.validation.Validation;
+import javax.validation.Validator;
+import javax.validation.ValidatorFactory;
 
 import javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilder;
 import javax.xml.parsers.DocumentBuilderFactory;
@@ -62,6 +68,8 @@
    
    private ServiceLoader serviceLoader;
 
+   private Validator validator;
+
    /**
     * Constructor. Initializes with the default resource path and service loader.
     */
@@ -89,6 +97,7 @@
    {
       this.resourcePath = resourcePath;
       this.serviceLoader = serviceLoader;
+      this.validator = Validation.buildDefaultValidatorFactory().getValidator();
    }
 
    /* (non-Javadoc)
@@ -113,6 +122,7 @@
          if(arquillianConfiguration != null)
          {
             populateConfiguration(arquillianConfiguration, containersConfigurations);
+            validationContainerConfigurations(containersConfigurations);
             populateConfiguration(arquillianConfiguration, configuration);
          }
       } 
@@ -239,6 +249,45 @@
          }
       }
    }
+
+   private void validationContainerConfigurations(Collection<ContainerConfiguration> configs)
+   {
+      boolean violationsFound = false;
+      StringBuilder builder = new StringBuilder();
+      for (ContainerConfiguration config : configs)
+      {
+         Set<ConstraintViolation<ContainerConfiguration>> violations = validator.validate(config);
+         if (!violations.isEmpty())
+         {
+            if (violationsFound)
+            {
+               builder.append("\n");
+            }
+            else
+            {
+               violationsFound = true;
+            }
+            builder.append("Invalid values applied to configuration in namespace ");
+            builder.append(config.getClass().getPackage().getName());
+            builder.append("\n{");
+            for (ConstraintViolation<ContainerConfiguration> violation : violations)
+            {
+               builder.append("\n   ")
+                     .append("")
+                     .append(violation.getPropertyPath())
+                     .append(" = \"")
+                     .append(violation.getInvalidValue())
+                     .append("\" => ")
+                     .append(violation.getMessage());
+            }
+            builder.append("\n}");
+         }
+      }
+      if (violationsFound)
+      {
+         throw new IllegalArgumentException(builder.toString());
+      }
+   }
    
    /**
     * Creates all the properties from a single Node element. The element must be a child of the
Index: pom.xml
===================================================================
--- pom.xml	(revision 4464)
+++ pom.xml	(working copy)
@@ -54,6 +54,12 @@
          <artifactId>shrinkwrap-spi</artifactId>
       </dependency>
 
+      <dependency>
+         <groupId>org.hibernate</groupId>
+         <artifactId>hibernate-validator</artifactId>
+         <version>4.0.0.GA</version>
+      </dependency>
+
       <!-- 
     External Projects
      -->
@@ -69,6 +75,13 @@
          <scope>test</scope>
       </dependency>
 
+      <dependency>
+         <groupId>org.slf4j</groupId>
+         <artifactId>slf4j-simple</artifactId>
+         <version>1.5.10</version>
+         <scope>test</scope>
+      </dependency>
+
    </dependencies>
 
    <build>