diff --git a/partition-core/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/logging/AuditLogger.java b/partition-core/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/logging/AuditLogger.java
index 472d5e260d0acbdb1097abe7211046477b8e2730..959272553e124202f5636de487ad6367846924b4 100644
--- a/partition-core/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/logging/AuditLogger.java
+++ b/partition-core/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/logging/AuditLogger.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import org.springframework.web.context.annotation.RequestScope;
 public class AuditLogger {
 
   private final JaxRsDpsLog logger;
+
   private AuditEvents events = null;
 
   private AuditEvents getAuditEvents() {
diff --git a/partition-core/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/model/PartitionInfo.java b/partition-core/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/model/PartitionInfo.java
index 4f2ce72d010428f55661593bcad008f00e91e5c8..ca0750b3d57e96d45eba8d447ed87706cdf8f58e 100644
--- a/partition-core/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/model/PartitionInfo.java
+++ b/partition-core/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/model/PartitionInfo.java
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
 package org.opengroup.osdu.partition.model;
 
+import javax.validation.constraints.NotEmpty;
 import lombok.AllArgsConstructor;
 import lombok.Builder;
 import lombok.Data;
@@ -28,6 +29,7 @@ import java.util.Map;
 @NoArgsConstructor
 public class PartitionInfo {
 
+    @NotEmpty
     @Builder.Default
     Map<String, Property> properties = new HashMap<>();
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/provider/partition-gcp/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/provider/gcp/security/AuthorizationService.java b/provider/partition-gcp/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/provider/gcp/security/AuthorizationService.java
index 5e3798f407e195c673503e330ce693efeabeefa4..b19b061ba369931346107deb371d5a6779238748 100644
--- a/provider/partition-gcp/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/provider/gcp/security/AuthorizationService.java
+++ b/provider/partition-gcp/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/provider/gcp/security/AuthorizationService.java
@@ -45,9 +45,6 @@ public class AuthorizationService implements IAuthorizationService {
     try {
       AuthorizationResponse authorizationResponse = authorizationServiceImpl
           .authorizeAny(headers, PARTITION_ADMIN_ROLE);
-      if (Objects.nonNull(authorizationResponse)) {
-        headers.put("user", authorizationResponse.getUser());
-      }
     } catch (AppException e) {
       throw e;
     } catch (Exception e) {
diff --git a/provider/partition-gcp/src/main/resources/application.properties b/provider/partition-gcp/src/main/resources/application.properties
index 971d962852a40cada339c9f1a5b20d60a422add0..3f9c4e0ded14515f36e82c034a1fb3de189d4ba6 100644
--- a/provider/partition-gcp/src/main/resources/application.properties
+++ b/provider/partition-gcp/src/main/resources/application.properties
@@ -19,6 +19,5 @@ KMS_KEY=${kms-key}
 GOOGLE_CLOUD_PROJECT=${google-cloud-project}
 
 #logging configuration
-logging.level.org.springframework.web=DEBUG
-logging.level.org.opengroup.osdu=debug
+logging.level.org.springframework.web=${LOG_LEVEL:DEBUG}
 
diff --git a/provider/partition-gcp/src/main/resources/logback.xml b/provider/partition-gcp/src/main/resources/logback.xml
index e6bb61f96ec8c70237a16b73f2b6d2ede74a19fd..a67f87124e3484f2eda2acc19da68e232cfbf6db 100644
--- a/provider/partition-gcp/src/main/resources/logback.xml
+++ b/provider/partition-gcp/src/main/resources/logback.xml
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
 <configuration>
   <include resource="org/springframework/boot/logging/logback/defaults.xml"/>
+  <logger name="org.opengroup.osdu" level="${LOG_LEVEL}"/>
   <springProfile name="local">
     <appender name="CONSOLE" class="ch.qos.logback.core.ConsoleAppender">
       <encoder>
@@ -8,7 +9,7 @@
         <charset>utf8</charset>
       </encoder>
     </appender>
-    <root level="DEBUG">
+    <root level="info">
       <appender-ref ref="CONSOLE"/>
     </root>
   </springProfile>
@@ -28,7 +29,7 @@
       </encoder>
     </appender>
 
-    <root level="debug">
+    <root level="info">
       <appender-ref ref="stdout"/>
     </root>
   </springProfile>
diff --git a/testing/partition-test-core/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/api/UpdatePartitionTest.java b/testing/partition-test-core/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/api/UpdatePartitionTest.java
index 6d6736f6f4adc0144baa30448de73930d1f8ea48..12ac8aa44a5d8870af5bb047367a1c26e81a031d 100644
--- a/testing/partition-test-core/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/api/UpdatePartitionTest.java
+++ b/testing/partition-test-core/src/main/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/api/UpdatePartitionTest.java
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ public abstract class UpdatePartitionTest extends BaseTestTemplate {
         return sb.toString();
     }
 
-    private String getValidBodyForUpdatePartition() {
+    protected String getValidBodyForUpdatePartition() {
         StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer();
         sb.append("{\n");
         sb.append("  \"properties\": {")
diff --git a/testing/partition-test-gcp/src/test/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/api/TestCreatePartition.java b/testing/partition-test-gcp/src/test/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/api/TestCreatePartition.java
index 31b9eb1f65216e0a8be37e7cffee36c056f72f8b..dd143a3cf1d05aa37eab1095e77d1c9349362e39 100644
--- a/testing/partition-test-gcp/src/test/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/api/TestCreatePartition.java
+++ b/testing/partition-test-gcp/src/test/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/api/TestCreatePartition.java
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ public class TestCreatePartition extends CreatePartitionTest {
   @Override
   @Test
   public void should_return40XResponseCode_when_makingRequest_withInvalidPayload() throws Exception {
-    String invalidPayload = "invalidPayload";
+    String invalidPayload = "{\"properties_invalid\":{}}";
     ClientResponse response = descriptor.runWithCustomPayload(getId(), invalidPayload, testUtils.getAccessToken());
     assertEquals(400, response.getStatus());
   }
diff --git a/testing/partition-test-gcp/src/test/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/api/TestUpdatePartition.java b/testing/partition-test-gcp/src/test/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/api/TestUpdatePartition.java
index df5742718eaf15a07b14072a44d77a9001112a56..35aec46a000c8e3b9ccd2a02384c20d9e463286a 100644
--- a/testing/partition-test-gcp/src/test/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/api/TestUpdatePartition.java
+++ b/testing/partition-test-gcp/src/test/java/org/opengroup/osdu/partition/api/TestUpdatePartition.java
@@ -25,13 +25,13 @@ public class TestUpdatePartition extends UpdatePartitionTest {
 
   @Override
   @Before
-  public void setup() throws Exception {
+  public void setup() {
     this.testUtils = new GCPTestUtils();
   }
 
   @Override
   @After
-  public void tearDown() throws Exception {
+  public void tearDown() {
     this.testUtils = null;
   }
 }