Index: Ringtoets/Piping/src/Ringtoets.Piping.IO/Readers/PipingCalculationGroupReader.cs
===================================================================
diff -u -rd8d7d3d24763ec06d36322d9a57996a83a64653b -rd770836b6de01fc7535db4a73f7b1257d4b08fd1
--- Ringtoets/Piping/src/Ringtoets.Piping.IO/Readers/PipingCalculationGroupReader.cs	(.../PipingCalculationGroupReader.cs)	(revision d8d7d3d24763ec06d36322d9a57996a83a64653b)
+++ Ringtoets/Piping/src/Ringtoets.Piping.IO/Readers/PipingCalculationGroupReader.cs	(.../PipingCalculationGroupReader.cs)	(revision d770836b6de01fc7535db4a73f7b1257d4b08fd1)
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.IO;
 using System.Linq;
+using System.Xml;
 using System.Xml.Linq;
 using System.Xml.Schema;
 using Core.Common.IO.Exceptions;
@@ -55,6 +56,29 @@
         {
             IOUtils.ValidateFilePath(xmlFilePath);
 
+            ValidateFileExists(xmlFilePath);
+
+            XDocument xmlDocument = LoadDocument(xmlFilePath);
+
+            ValidateToSchema(xmlDocument);
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Reads the piping configuration from the XML and creates a collection of corresponding <see cref="IReadPipingCalculationItem"/>.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <returns>A collection of read <see cref="IReadPipingCalculationItem"/>.</returns>
+        public IEnumerable<IReadPipingCalculationItem> Read()
+        {
+            return Enumerable.Empty<IReadPipingCalculationItem>();
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Validates whether a file exists at the provided <paramref name="xmlFilePath"/>.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="xmlFilePath">The file path to validate.</param>
+        /// <exception cref="CriticalFileReadException">Thrown when no file is found.</exception>
+        private static void ValidateFileExists(string xmlFilePath)
+        {
             if (!File.Exists(xmlFilePath))
             {
                 string message = new FileReaderErrorMessageBuilder(xmlFilePath).Build(CoreCommonUtilsResources.Error_File_does_not_exist);
@@ -63,20 +87,32 @@
         }
 
         /// <summary>
-        /// Reads a piping configuration from XML and creates a collection of corresponding <see cref="IReadPipingCalculationItem"/>.
+        /// Loads a XML document from the provided <see cref="xmlFilePath"/>.
         /// </summary>
-        /// <returns>A collection of read <see cref="IReadPipingCalculationItem"/>.</returns>
-        public IEnumerable<IReadPipingCalculationItem> Read()
+        /// <param name="xmlFilePath">The file path to load the XML document from.</param>
+        /// <exception cref="CriticalFileReadException">Thrown when the XML document cannot be loaded.</exception>
+        private static XDocument LoadDocument(string xmlFilePath)
         {
-            return Enumerable.Empty<IReadPipingCalculationItem>();
+            try
+            {
+                return XDocument.Load(xmlFilePath);
+            }
+            catch (Exception exception)
+                when (exception is ArgumentNullException
+                      || exception is XmlException
+                      || exception is InvalidOperationException)
+            {
+                string message = new FileReaderErrorMessageBuilder(xmlFilePath).Build(CoreCommonUtilsResources.Error_General_IO_Import_ErrorMessage);
+                throw new CriticalFileReadException(message, exception);
+            }
         }
 
         /// <summary>
         /// Validates the provided XML document based on a predefined XML Schema Definition (XSD).
         /// </summary>
         /// <param name="document">The XML document to validate.</param>
         /// <exception cref="CriticalFileReadException">Thrown when the provided XML document does not match the predefined XML Schema Definition (XSD).</exception>
-        private void ValidateToSchema(XDocument document)
+        private static void ValidateToSchema(XDocument document)
         {
             XmlSchemaSet schema = LoadXmlSchema();
 
@@ -90,10 +126,10 @@
             }
         }
 
-        private XmlSchemaSet LoadXmlSchema()
+        private static XmlSchemaSet LoadXmlSchema()
         {
-            var schemaFile = AssemblyUtils.GetAssemblyResourceStream(GetType().Assembly,
-                                                                     "Ringtoets.Piping.IO.Readers.XMLPipingConfigurationSchema.xsd");
+            Stream schemaFile = AssemblyUtils.GetAssemblyResourceStream(typeof(PipingCalculationGroupReader).Assembly,
+                                                                        "Ringtoets.Piping.IO.Readers.XMLPipingConfigurationSchema.xsd");
 
             var xmlSchema = new XmlSchemaSet();
             xmlSchema.Add(XmlSchema.Read(schemaFile, null));