diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a52d129..58a661e 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -267,4 +267,5 @@ If you want to change core functionality of the radar, you can clone this reposi
 radar's markdown-files, config.json and about.md in the `data` folder. Run `npm run build:data` to
 parse the markdown files and create a `data.json` and then run `npm run dev` to start the
 development server, which will be available at `http://localhost:3000/techradar` or the path
-you specified via `basePath`.
+you specified via `basePath`. Run `npm run build:data -- --strict` to break the build process
+when encountering errors.
diff --git a/scripts/buildData.ts b/scripts/buildData.ts
index a460d07..2fe49b2 100644
--- a/scripts/buildData.ts
+++ b/scripts/buildData.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import path from "path";
 
 import nextConfig from "../next.config.js";
 import config from "../src/lib/config";
+import ErrorHandler, { ErrorType, TextColor } from "./errorHandler.js";
 import Positioner from "./positioner";
 
 import { Flag, Item } from "@/lib/types";
@@ -21,6 +22,7 @@ const quadrants = config.quadrants.map((q, i) => ({ ...q, position: i + 1 }));
 const quadrantIds = quadrants.map((q) => q.id);
 const tags = (config as { tags?: string[] }).tags || [];
 const positioner = new Positioner(size, quadrants, rings);
+const errorHandler = new ErrorHandler(quadrants, rings);
 
 const marked = new Marked(
   markedHighlight({
@@ -170,17 +172,25 @@ function postProcessItems(items: Item[]): {
   const filteredItems = items.filter((item) => {
     // check if the items' quadrant and ring are valid
     if (!item.quadrant || !item.ring) {
-      console.warn(`Item ${item.id} has no quadrant or ring`);
+      errorHandler.processBuildErrors(ErrorType.NoQuadrant, item.id);
       return false;
     }
 
     if (!quadrantIds.includes(item.quadrant)) {
-      console.warn(`Item ${item.id} has invalid quadrant ${item.quadrant}`);
+      errorHandler.processBuildErrors(
+        ErrorType.InvalidQuadrant,
+        item.id,
+        item.quadrant,
+      );
       return false;
     }
 
     if (!ringIds.includes(item.ring)) {
-      console.warn(`Item ${item.id} has invalid ring ${item.ring}`);
+      errorHandler.processBuildErrors(
+        ErrorType.InvalidRing,
+        item.id,
+        item.ring,
+      );
       return false;
     }
 
@@ -193,6 +203,8 @@ function postProcessItems(items: Item[]): {
     return true;
   });
 
+  errorHandler.checkForBuildErrors();
+
   const releases = getUniqueReleases(filteredItems);
   const uniqueTags = getUniqueTags(filteredItems);
   const processedItems = filteredItems.map((item) => {
@@ -230,21 +242,30 @@ function postProcessItems(items: Item[]): {
   return { releases, tags: uniqueTags, items: processedItems };
 }
 
-// Parse the data and write radar data to JSON file
-parseDirectory(dataPath("radar")).then((items) => {
+async function main() {
+  // Parse the data and write radar data to JSON file
+  const items = await parseDirectory(dataPath("radar"));
   const data = postProcessItems(items);
 
   if (data.items.length === 0) {
-    console.error("No valid radar items found.");
-    console.log("Please check the markdown files in the `radar` directory.");
-    process.exit(1);
+    errorHandler.processBuildErrors(ErrorType.NoRadarItems);
   }
 
+  errorHandler.checkForBuildErrors(true);
+
   const json = JSON.stringify(data, null, 2);
   fs.writeFileSync(dataPath("data.json"), json);
-});
 
-// write about data to JSON file
-const about = readMarkdownFile(dataPath("about.md"));
-fs.writeFileSync(dataPath("about.json"), JSON.stringify(about, null, 2));
-console.log("ℹ️ Data written to data/data.json and data/about.json");
+  // write about data to JSON file
+  const about = readMarkdownFile(dataPath("about.md"));
+  fs.writeFileSync(dataPath("about.json"), JSON.stringify(about, null, 2));
+  console.log(
+    "ℹ️ Data written to data/data.json and data/about.json\n\n" +
+      errorHandler.colorizeBackground(
+        " Build was successfull ",
+        TextColor.Green,
+      ),
+  );
+}
+
+main();
diff --git a/scripts/errorHandler.ts b/scripts/errorHandler.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e2db03b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/errorHandler.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+import { Quadrant, Ring } from "@/lib/types";
+
+export enum ErrorType {
+  NoQuadrant = "Item {0} has no quadrant or ring",
+  InvalidQuadrant = "Item {0} has invalid quadrant {1}\n\tvalid quadrants are: {2}",
+  InvalidRing = "Item {0} has invalid ring {1}\n\tvalid rings are: {2}",
+  NoRadarItems = "No valid radar items found. Please check the markdown files in the `radar` directory.",
+}
+
+export enum TextColor {
+  Default = 0,
+  Black,
+  Red = 31,
+  Green = 32,
+  Yellow = 33,
+  Blue = 34,
+  Mangenta = 35,
+  Cyan = 36,
+  White = 37,
+}
+
+export default class ErrorHandler {
+  private buildErrors: string[] = [];
+  private quadrants: Quadrant[];
+  private rings: Ring[];
+  private isStrict: boolean;
+  private supportsColor: boolean;
+
+  constructor(quadrants: Quadrant[], rings: Ring[]) {
+    this.isStrict = process.argv.slice(2).includes("--strict");
+    this.supportsColor = process.stdout.isTTY && process.env.TERM !== "dumb";
+    this.quadrants = quadrants;
+    this.rings = rings;
+    console.log(`ℹ️ Build is${this.isStrict ? "" : " not"} in strict mode\n`);
+  }
+
+  public processBuildErrors(errorType: ErrorType, ...args: string[]) {
+    const errorHint = this.getErrorHint(errorType);
+    const errorMsg = this.formatString(
+      errorType.toString(),
+      errorHint ? [...args, errorHint] : args,
+    );
+    this.buildErrors.push(errorMsg);
+  }
+
+  public checkForBuildErrors(exitOnErr: boolean = false) {
+    if (this.buildErrors.length > 0) {
+      console.warn(
+        this.colorizeBackground(
+          `There ${this.buildErrors.length > 1 ? "are" : "is"} ${this.buildErrors.length} error${this.buildErrors.length > 1 ? "s" : ""} in your data build`,
+          TextColor.Red,
+        ) +
+          "\n\n" +
+          this.buildErrors
+            .map((error, index) => `${index + 1}. ${error}`)
+            .join("\n") +
+          "\n",
+      );
+
+      if (this.isStrict || exitOnErr) {
+        process.exit(1);
+      }
+
+      this.buildErrors = [];
+    }
+  }
+
+  private getErrorHint(errorType: ErrorType) {
+    switch (errorType) {
+      case ErrorType.InvalidQuadrant:
+        return this.quadrants.map((quadrant) => quadrant.id).join(", ");
+      case ErrorType.InvalidRing:
+        return this.rings.map((ring) => ring.id).join(", ");
+      default:
+        break;
+    }
+  }
+
+  public colorizeBackground(str: string, backgroundColor: TextColor) {
+    if (this.supportsColor) {
+      return `\x1b[${backgroundColor + 10}m${str}\x1b[${TextColor.Default}m`;
+    }
+
+    return str;
+  }
+
+  private formatString(msg: string, inserts: string[]) {
+    return inserts.reduce(
+      (acc, cur, index) =>
+        acc.replaceAll(
+          `{${index}}`,
+          this.colorizeString(
+            cur,
+            index === 2 ? TextColor.Green : TextColor.Red,
+          ),
+        ),
+      msg,
+    );
+  }
+
+  private colorizeString(str: string, textColor: TextColor) {
+    if (this.supportsColor) {
+      return `\x1b[${textColor}m${str}\x1b[${TextColor.Default}m`;
+    }
+
+    return str;
+  }
+}