diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/shared/project/install/ProjectInstaller.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/shared/project/install/ProjectInstaller.java
index aa078e2..0ddc46c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/shared/project/install/ProjectInstaller.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/shared/project/install/ProjectInstaller.java
@@ -70,8 +70,10 @@
      * @throws IOException In case of problems related to checksums.
      * @throws ArtifactInstallerException In case of problems to install artifacts.
      * @throws NoFileAssignedException If no file has been assigned to the project.
+     * @throws IllegalArgumentException in case of parameter <code>projectBuildingRequest</code> is <code>null</code> or
+     *             parameter <code>projectInstallerRequest</code> is <code>null</code>.
      */
     void install( ProjectBuildingRequest projectBuildingRequest, ProjectInstallerRequest projectInstallerRequest )
-        throws IOException, ArtifactInstallerException, NoFileAssignedException;
+        throws IOException, ArtifactInstallerException, NoFileAssignedException, IllegalArgumentException;
 
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/shared/project/install/internal/DefaultProjectInstaller.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/shared/project/install/internal/DefaultProjectInstaller.java
index 227e537..5d277d3 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/shared/project/install/internal/DefaultProjectInstaller.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/maven/shared/project/install/internal/DefaultProjectInstaller.java
@@ -68,13 +68,14 @@
      * {@inheritDoc}
      */
     @Override
-    public void install( ProjectBuildingRequest buildingRequest, ProjectInstallerRequest request )
-        throws IOException, ArtifactInstallerException, NoFileAssignedException
+    public void install( ProjectBuildingRequest buildingRequest, ProjectInstallerRequest installerRequest )
+        throws IOException, ArtifactInstallerException, NoFileAssignedException, IllegalArgumentException
     {
 
-        MavenProject project = request.getProject();
-        boolean createChecksum = request.isCreateChecksum();
-        boolean updateReleaseInfo = request.isUpdateReleaseInfo();
+        validateParameters( buildingRequest, installerRequest );
+        MavenProject project = installerRequest.getProject();
+        boolean createChecksum = installerRequest.isCreateChecksum();
+        boolean updateReleaseInfo = installerRequest.isUpdateReleaseInfo();
 
         Artifact artifact = project.getArtifact();
         String packaging = project.getPackaging();
@@ -145,6 +146,18 @@
         installChecksums( metadataFiles );
     }
 
+    private void validateParameters( ProjectBuildingRequest buildingRequest, ProjectInstallerRequest installerRequest )
+    {
+        if ( buildingRequest == null )
+        {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException( "The parameter buildingRequest is not allowed to be null." );
+        }
+        if ( installerRequest == null )
+        {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException( "The parameter installerRequest is not allowed to be null." );
+        }
+    }
+    
     /**
      * Installs the checksums for the specified artifact if this has been enabled in the plugin configuration. This
      * method creates checksums for files that have already been installed to the local repo to account for on-the-fly
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/shared/project/install/internal/DefaultProjectInstallerTest.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/shared/project/install/internal/DefaultProjectInstallerTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7d1cc8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/maven/shared/project/install/internal/DefaultProjectInstallerTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+package org.apache.maven.shared.project.install.internal;
+
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you 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.
+ */
+
+import static org.mockito.Mockito.mock;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+
+import org.apache.maven.project.ProjectBuildingRequest;
+import org.apache.maven.shared.artifact.install.ArtifactInstallerException;
+import org.apache.maven.shared.project.NoFileAssignedException;
+import org.apache.maven.shared.project.install.ProjectInstaller;
+import org.junit.Rule;
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.rules.ExpectedException;
+
+/**
+ * Check the parameter contracts which have been made based on the interface {@link ProjectInstaller}.
+ * 
+ * @author Karl Heinz Marbaise <a href="mailto:khmarbaise@apache.org">khmabaise@apache.org</a>
+ */
+public class DefaultProjectInstallerTest
+{
+    @Rule
+    public ExpectedException thrown = ExpectedException.none();
+
+    @Test
+    public void installShouldReturnIllegalArgumentExceptionWhereBuildingRequestIsNull()
+        throws IOException, ArtifactInstallerException, NoFileAssignedException
+    {
+        DefaultProjectInstaller dai = new DefaultProjectInstaller();
+
+        thrown.expect( IllegalArgumentException.class );
+        thrown.expectMessage( "The parameter buildingRequest is not allowed to be null." );
+        dai.install( null, null );
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void installShouldReturnIllegalArgumentExceptionWhereInstallerRequestIsNull()
+        throws IOException, ArtifactInstallerException, NoFileAssignedException
+    {
+        DefaultProjectInstaller dai = new DefaultProjectInstaller();
+
+        thrown.expect( IllegalArgumentException.class );
+        thrown.expectMessage( "The parameter installerRequest is not allowed to be null." );
+        ProjectBuildingRequest pbr = mock( ProjectBuildingRequest.class );
+        dai.install( pbr, null );
+    }
+
+
+
+}