diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 0b81cba..edf1f20 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -3,11 +3,12 @@
 
 	<groupId>org.sitenv.vocabulary</groupId>
 	<artifactId>codevalidator-api</artifactId>
-	<version>1.0.26</version>
+	<version>1.0.27</version>
 	<name>Code Validator API</name>
 	<url>http://www.sitenv.org</url>
 
     <properties>
+    	<java.version>1.8</java.version>
         <org.springframework.version>4.1.0.RELEASE</org.springframework.version>
     </properties>
 
@@ -134,8 +135,8 @@
 				<artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
                 <version>3.1</version>
 				<configuration>
-					<source>1.7</source>
-					<target>1.7</target>
+					<source>${java.version}</source>
+					<target>${java.version}</target>
 				</configuration>
 			</plugin>
             <plugin>