diff --git a/refarch-gateway/pom.xml b/refarch-gateway/pom.xml
index 8553660f..189de292 100644
--- a/refarch-gateway/pom.xml
+++ b/refarch-gateway/pom.xml
@@ -17,21 +17,30 @@
     <name>refarch-gateway</name>
 
     <properties>
+        <!-- Compilation -->
         <java.version>21</java.version>
         <maven.compiler.source>${java.version}</maven.compiler.source>
         <maven.compiler.target>${java.version}</maven.compiler.target>
         <maven.compiler.release>${java.version}</maven.compiler.release>
 
-        <jacoco.version>0.8.12</jacoco.version>
-        <maven-surefire-plugin.version>3.3.1</maven-surefire-plugin.version>
+        <!-- Core Frameworks -->
+        <spring-cloud.version>2023.0.3</spring-cloud.version>
+
+        <!-- Logging -->
+        <logstash-logback-encoder.version>8.0</logstash-logback-encoder.version>
+
+        <!-- Linting & Formatting -->
         <spotless-maven-plugin.version>2.34.0</spotless-maven-plugin.version>
         <itm-java-codeformat.version>1.0.10</itm-java-codeformat.version>
-        <maven-checkstyle-plugin.version>3.4.0</maven-checkstyle-plugin.version>
 
-        <spring-cloud.version>2023.0.3</spring-cloud.version>
-        <logstash-logback-encoder.version>8.0</logstash-logback-encoder.version>
-        <hazelcast.version>5.5.0</hazelcast.version>
+        <!-- Testing -->
+        <jacoco.version>0.8.12</jacoco.version>
+
+        <!-- Utility -->
         <apache-commons-lang.version>3.16.0</apache-commons-lang.version>
+
+        <!-- Additional required dependencies -->
+        <hazelcast.version>5.5.0</hazelcast.version>
     </properties>
 
     <dependencyManagement>
@@ -83,7 +92,7 @@
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.projectlombok</groupId>
             <artifactId>lombok</artifactId>
-            <optional>true</optional>
+            <scope>provided</scope>
         </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>org.apache.commons</groupId>
@@ -133,7 +142,9 @@
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
                 <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
-                <version>${maven-surefire-plugin.version}</version>
+                <configuration>
+                    <argLine>-Dfile.encoding=${project.build.sourceEncoding}</argLine>
+                </configuration>
             </plugin>
             <plugin>
                 <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>