diff --git a/cli/src/main/scala/com/ibm/sparktc/sparkbench/workload/SuiteKickoff.scala b/cli/src/main/scala/com/ibm/sparktc/sparkbench/workload/SuiteKickoff.scala
index fe442f4d..8813265d 100644
--- a/cli/src/main/scala/com/ibm/sparktc/sparkbench/workload/SuiteKickoff.scala
+++ b/cli/src/main/scala/com/ibm/sparktc/sparkbench/workload/SuiteKickoff.scala
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ import scala.collection.parallel.ForkJoinTaskSupport
 object SuiteKickoff {
 
   def run(s: Suite, spark: SparkSession): Unit = {
-    verifyCanWriteOrThrow(s.benchmarkOutput, s.saveMode, spark)
+    verifyOutput(s.benchmarkOutput, s.saveMode, spark)
 
     // Translate the maps into runnable workloads
     val workloads: Seq[Workload] = s.workloadConfigs.map(ConfigCreator.mapToConf)
diff --git a/cli/src/main/scala/com/ibm/sparktc/sparkbench/workload/Workload.scala b/cli/src/main/scala/com/ibm/sparktc/sparkbench/workload/Workload.scala
index 08321628..e8c8fd0c 100644
--- a/cli/src/main/scala/com/ibm/sparktc/sparkbench/workload/Workload.scala
+++ b/cli/src/main/scala/com/ibm/sparktc/sparkbench/workload/Workload.scala
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ trait Workload {
 
   def run(spark: SparkSession): DataFrame = {
 
-    verifyCanWriteOrThrow(output, saveMode, spark)
+    verifyOutput(output, saveMode, spark)
     if(saveMode == SaveModes.append){
       throw SparkBenchException("Save-mode \"append\" not available for workload results. " +
         "Please use \"errorifexists\", \"ignore\", or \"overwrite\" instead.")
diff --git a/cli/src/main/scala/com/ibm/sparktc/sparkbench/workload/exercise/SparkPi.scala b/cli/src/main/scala/com/ibm/sparktc/sparkbench/workload/exercise/SparkPi.scala
index 8c8da50f..fdad80b7 100644
--- a/cli/src/main/scala/com/ibm/sparktc/sparkbench/workload/exercise/SparkPi.scala
+++ b/cli/src/main/scala/com/ibm/sparktc/sparkbench/workload/exercise/SparkPi.scala
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ case class SparkPiResult(
 
 object SparkPi extends WorkloadDefaults {
   val name = "sparkpi"
-  def apply(m: Map[String, Any])  =
+  def apply(m: Map[String, Any]) =
     new SparkPi(input = m.get("input").map(_.asInstanceOf[String]),
       output = None,
       slices = getOrDefault[Int](m, "slices", 2)
diff --git a/cli/src/test/scala/com/ibm/sparktc/sparkbench/cli/HelpersTest.scala b/cli/src/test/scala/com/ibm/sparktc/sparkbench/cli/HelpersTest.scala
index 66e4f5ce..2867e2bc 100644
--- a/cli/src/test/scala/com/ibm/sparktc/sparkbench/cli/HelpersTest.scala
+++ b/cli/src/test/scala/com/ibm/sparktc/sparkbench/cli/HelpersTest.scala
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 
 package com.ibm.sparktc.sparkbench.cli
 
+import com.ibm.sparktc.sparkbench.utils.SaveModes
 import com.ibm.sparktc.sparkbench.workload.Suite
 import org.scalatest.{FlatSpec, Matchers}
 
@@ -41,7 +42,7 @@ class HelpersTest extends FlatSpec with Matchers {
       Map("z" -> 20),
       Map("z" -> 30)
     )
-    val suite = Suite.build(conf, Some("description"), 1, false, "error", Some("output"))
+    val suite = Suite.build(conf, Some("description"), 1, false, SaveModes.error, Some("output"))
     suite.description shouldBe Some("description")
     suite.repeat shouldBe 1
     suite.parallel shouldBe false
diff --git a/utils/src/main/scala/com/ibm/sparktc/sparkbench/utils/SparkFuncs.scala b/utils/src/main/scala/com/ibm/sparktc/sparkbench/utils/SparkFuncs.scala
index 1ec408db..43d224cf 100644
--- a/utils/src/main/scala/com/ibm/sparktc/sparkbench/utils/SparkFuncs.scala
+++ b/utils/src/main/scala/com/ibm/sparktc/sparkbench/utils/SparkFuncs.scala
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@ object SparkFuncs {
     case (_, Some(s))      => s
   }
 
+  def verifyOutput(outputDir: Option[String], saveMode: String, spark: SparkSession, fileFormat: Option[String] = None): Unit = {
+    verifyCanWriteOrThrow(outputDir, saveMode, spark, fileFormat)
+    verifyFormatOrThrow(outputDir, fileFormat)
+  }
+  
   def verifyCanWrite(outputDir: String, saveMode: String, spark: SparkSession, fileFormat: Option[String] = None): Boolean = {
     if(outputDir == Formats.console) true
     else {
@@ -43,6 +48,53 @@ object SparkFuncs {
     }
   }
 
+  def verifyFormat(outputDir: String, fileFormat: Option[String] = None): Boolean = {
+    val format = parseFormat(outputDir, fileFormat)
+
+    format match {
+      case Formats.parquet => true
+      case Formats.csv => true
+      case Formats.orc => true
+      case Formats.avro => true
+      case Formats.json => true
+      case Formats.console => true
+      case _ => false
+    }
+  }
+
+  def pathExists(path: String, spark: SparkSession): Boolean = {
+    val conf = spark.sparkContext.hadoopConfiguration
+    val fs = org.apache.hadoop.fs.FileSystem.get(conf)
+    fs.exists(new org.apache.hadoop.fs.Path(path))
+  }
+
+  def verifyPathExistsOrThrow(path: String, errorMessage: String, spark: SparkSession): String = {
+    if (pathExists(path, spark)) { path } // "It is true that this file exists"
+    else { throw SparkBenchException(errorMessage) }
+  }
+
+  def verifyPathNotExistsOrThrow(path: String, errorMessage: String, spark: SparkSession): String = {
+    if (!pathExists(path, spark)) { path } // "It is true that this file does not exist"
+    else { throw SparkBenchException(errorMessage) }
+  }
+
+  def verifyCanWriteOrThrow(outputDir: Option[String], saveMode: String, spark: SparkSession, fileFormat: Option[String] = None): Unit = {
+    if(outputDir.nonEmpty) {
+      if(!verifyCanWrite(outputDir.get, saveMode, spark, fileFormat)){
+        throw SparkBenchException(s"File ${outputDir.get} already exists and save-mode $saveMode prevents further action")
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  def verifyFormatOrThrow(outputDir: Option[String], fileFormat: Option[String] = None): Unit = {
+    if(outputDir.nonEmpty) {
+      if(!verifyFormat(outputDir.get, fileFormat)) {
+        throw new Exception(s"Unrecognized or unspecified save format. " +
+          s"Please check the file extension or add a file format to your arguments: $outputDir")
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
   def writeToDisk(outputDir: String, saveMode: String, data: DataFrame, spark: SparkSession, fileFormat: Option[String] = None): Unit = {
 
     val format = parseFormat(outputDir, fileFormat)
@@ -54,7 +106,7 @@ object SparkFuncs {
       case Formats.avro => data.write.mode(saveMode).avro(outputDir)
       case Formats.json => data.write.mode(saveMode).json(outputDir)
       case Formats.console => data.show()
-      case _ => throw new Exception(s"Unrecognized or unspecified save format. " +
+      case _ => throw new Exception(s"Unrecognized or unspecified save format: $format. " +
         s"Please check the file extension or add a file format to your arguments: $outputDir")
     }
   }
@@ -77,29 +129,7 @@ object SparkFuncs {
     }
   }
 
-  def pathExists(path: String, spark: SparkSession): Boolean = {
-    val conf = spark.sparkContext.hadoopConfiguration
-    val fs = org.apache.hadoop.fs.FileSystem.get(conf)
-    fs.exists(new org.apache.hadoop.fs.Path(path))
-  }
 
-  def verifyPathExistsOrThrow(path: String, errorMessage: String, spark: SparkSession): String = {
-    if (pathExists(path, spark)) { path } // "It is true that this file exists"
-    else { throw SparkBenchException(errorMessage) }
-  }
-
-  def verifyPathNotExistsOrThrow(path: String, errorMessage: String, spark: SparkSession): String = {
-    if (!pathExists(path, spark)) { path } // "It is true that this file does not exist"
-    else { throw SparkBenchException(errorMessage) }
-  }
-
-  def verifyCanWriteOrThrow(outputDir: Option[String], saveMode: String, spark: SparkSession, fileFormat: Option[String] = None): Unit = {
-    if(outputDir.nonEmpty) {
-      if(!verifyCanWrite(outputDir.get, saveMode, spark, fileFormat)){
-        throw SparkBenchException(s"File ${outputDir.get} already exists and save-mode $saveMode prevents further action")
-      }
-    }
-  }
 
   def addConfToResults(df: DataFrame, m: Map[String, Any]): DataFrame = {
     def dealWithNones(a: Any): Any = a match {