diff --git a/Sim/SimG4Common/SimG4Common/GdmlDetectorConstruction.h b/Sim/SimG4Common/SimG4Common/GdmlDetectorConstruction.h
index 3b15b7c0f..5271c082c 100644
--- a/Sim/SimG4Common/SimG4Common/GdmlDetectorConstruction.h
+++ b/Sim/SimG4Common/SimG4Common/GdmlDetectorConstruction.h
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ class GdmlDetectorConstruction : public G4VUserDetectorConstruction {
   /**  Constructor.
    *   @param[in] aFileName Name of the GDML file with the detector description.
    */
-  explicit GdmlDetectorConstruction(const std::string& aFileName);
+  explicit GdmlDetectorConstruction(const std::string& aFileName, bool validate=false);
   virtual ~GdmlDetectorConstruction();
   /**  Create volumes using the GDML parser.
    *   @return World wolume.
diff --git a/Sim/SimG4Common/src/GdmlDetectorConstruction.cpp b/Sim/SimG4Common/src/GdmlDetectorConstruction.cpp
index afc0e30f5..5c6dc822e 100644
--- a/Sim/SimG4Common/src/GdmlDetectorConstruction.cpp
+++ b/Sim/SimG4Common/src/GdmlDetectorConstruction.cpp
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
 #include "G4SDManager.hh"
 
 namespace sim {
-GdmlDetectorConstruction::GdmlDetectorConstruction(const std::string& aFileName)
+GdmlDetectorConstruction::GdmlDetectorConstruction(const std::string& aFileName, bool validate)
     : m_msgSvc("MessageSvc", "GdmlDetectorConstruction"),
       m_log(&(*m_msgSvc), "GdmlDetectorConstruction"),
       m_fileName(aFileName) {
-  m_parser.Read(m_fileName);
+  m_parser.Read(m_fileName, validate);
 }
 
 GdmlDetectorConstruction::~GdmlDetectorConstruction() {}
diff --git a/Sim/SimG4Components/src/SimG4GdmlDetector.cpp b/Sim/SimG4Components/src/SimG4GdmlDetector.cpp
index 91e40df0e..6157a972d 100644
--- a/Sim/SimG4Components/src/SimG4GdmlDetector.cpp
+++ b/Sim/SimG4Components/src/SimG4GdmlDetector.cpp
@@ -19,5 +19,5 @@ StatusCode SimG4GdmlDetector::initialize() { return AlgTool::initialize(); }
 StatusCode SimG4GdmlDetector::finalize() { return AlgTool::finalize(); }
 
 G4VUserDetectorConstruction* SimG4GdmlDetector::detectorConstruction() {
-  return new sim::GdmlDetectorConstruction(m_gdmlFile);
+  return new sim::GdmlDetectorConstruction(m_gdmlFile, m_validate);
 }
diff --git a/Sim/SimG4Components/src/SimG4GdmlDetector.h b/Sim/SimG4Components/src/SimG4GdmlDetector.h
index 82364062a..2e1f76ef8 100644
--- a/Sim/SimG4Components/src/SimG4GdmlDetector.h
+++ b/Sim/SimG4Components/src/SimG4GdmlDetector.h
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ class SimG4GdmlDetector : public AlgTool, virtual public ISimG4DetectorConstruct
 private:
   /// name of the GDML file
   Gaudi::Property<std::string> m_gdmlFile{this, "gdml", "", "name of the GDML file"};
+  // validate gdml schema
+  Gaudi::Property<bool> m_validate{this, "validateGDMLSchema", false, "try to validate the GDML schema"};
 };
 
 #endif /* SIMG4COMPONENTS_G4GDMLDETECTOR_H */