diff --git a/R/INSPIREMetadataValidator.R b/R/INSPIREMetadataValidator.R
index 189e1c95..19a1266b 100644
--- a/R/INSPIREMetadataValidator.R
+++ b/R/INSPIREMetadataValidator.R
@@ -9,10 +9,11 @@
 #'
 #' @section Methods:
 #' \describe{
-#'  \item{\code{new(apiKey)}}{
+#'  \item{\code{new(url, apiKey)}}{
 #'    This method is used to instantiate an INSPIRE Metadata validator. To check 
 #'    metadata with the INSPIRE metadata validator, a user API key is now required, 
-#'    and should be specified with the \code{apiKey}.
+#'    and should be specified with the \code{apiKey}. By default, the \code{url} will be
+#'    the INSPIRE production service \url{https://inspire.ec.europa.eu/validator/v2}
 #'    
 #'    The \code{keyring_backend} can be set to use a different backend for storing 
 #'    the INSPIRE metadata validator API key with \pkg{keyring} (Default value is 'env').
@@ -21,6 +22,9 @@
 #'    Upload a XML metadata file to INSPIRE web-service. Method called internally through
 #'    \code{getValidationReport}.
 #'  }
+#'  \item{\code{getAPIKey()}}{
+#'    Get the API user key
+#'  }
 #'  \item{\code{getValidationReport(obj, file, raw)}}{
 #'    Get validation report for a metadata specified either as R object of class
 #'    \code{ISOMetadata} (from \pkg{geometa} package) or \code{XMLInternalNode} 
@@ -48,20 +52,18 @@
 INSPIREMetadataValidator <- R6Class("INSPIREMetadataValidator",
   inherit = geometaLogger,
   private = list(
-    host = "https://inspire.ec.europa.eu",
-    endpoint = "validator/v2",
     keyring_backend = NULL,
     keyring_service = NULL
   ),
   public = list(
-    url = NULL,
+    url = "https://inspire.ec.europa.eu/validator/v2",
     running = FALSE,
-    initialize = function(apiKey = NULL, keyring_backend = 'env'){
+    initialize = function(url = "https://inspire.ec.europa.eu/validator/v2",
+                          apiKey, keyring_backend = 'env'){
       if(!require("httr")){
         stop("The INSPIRE metadata validator requires the installation of 'httr' package")
       }
-      self$url <- paste(private$host, private$endpoint, sep = "/")
-      
+      self$url <- url
       private$keyring_backend <- keyring:::known_backends[[keyring_backend]]$new()
       private$keyring_service <- paste0("geometa@", self$url)
       if(!is.null(apiKey)) private$keyring_backend$set_with_value(private$keyring_service, username = "geometa_inspire_validator", password = apiKey)
@@ -94,6 +96,13 @@ INSPIREMetadataValidator <- R6Class("INSPIREMetadataValidator",
       return(out)
     },
     
+    #getAPIKey
+    getAPIKey = function(){
+      apiKey <- try(private$keyring_backend$get(service = private$keyring_service, username = "geometa_inspire_validator"), silent = TRUE)
+      if(is(apiKey, "try-error")) apiKey <- NULL
+      return(apiKey)
+    },
+    
     #getValidationReport
     getValidationReport = function(obj = NULL, file = NULL, raw = FALSE){
 
@@ -127,14 +136,13 @@ INSPIREMetadataValidator <- R6Class("INSPIREMetadataValidator",
       
       #post metadata XML to INSPIRE web-service
       self$INFO("Sending metadata file to INSPIRE metadata validation web-service...")
-      apiKey <- try(private$keyring_backend$get(service = private$keyring_service, username = "geometa_inspire_validator"), silent = TRUE)
-      if(is(apiKey, "try-error")) apiKey <- NULL
+      
       req <- httr::POST(
         url = sprintf("%s/TestRuns", self$url),
         httr::add_headers(
           "User-Agent" = paste("geometa/",as.character(packageVersion("geometa")),sep=""),
           "Content-Type" = "application/json",
-          "X-API-key" = apiKey
+          "X-API-key" = self$getAPIKey()
         ),
         body = jsonlite::toJSON(list(
           label = jsonlite::unbox("Test run for ISO/TC 19139:2007 based INSPIRE metadata records."),
diff --git a/R/ISOAbstractObject.R b/R/ISOAbstractObject.R
index d87807ad..dd3fbb93 100644
--- a/R/ISOAbstractObject.R
+++ b/R/ISOAbstractObject.R
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@
 #'  \item{\code{decode(xml)}}{
 #'    Decodes a ISOMetadata* R6 object from XML representation
 #'  }
-#'  \item{\code{encode(addNS, validate, strict, inspire, inspireApiKey, resetSerialID, setSerialID, encoding)}}{
+#'  \item{\code{encode(addNS, validate, strict, inspire, inspireValidator, resetSerialID, setSerialID, encoding)}}{
 #'    Encodes a ISOMetadata* R6 object to XML representation. By default, namespace
 #'    definition will be added to XML root (\code{addNS = TRUE}), and validation
 #'    of object will be performed (\code{validate = TRUE}) prior to its XML encoding.
@@ -69,16 +69,18 @@
 #'    (recommended value).
 #'    Setting \code{inspire} to TRUE (default FALSE), the metadata will be checked with
 #'    the INSPIRE metadata validator (online web-service provided by INSPIRE). To check 
-#'    metadata with the INSPIRE metadata validator, a user API key is now required, and should 
-#'    be specified with the \code{inspireApiKey}.
+#'    metadata with the INSPIRE metadata validator, setting an INSPIRE metadata validator 
+#'    is now required, and should be specified with the \code{inspireValidator}. See 
+#'    \code{\link{INSPIREMetadataValidator}} for more details
 #'  }
-#'  \item{\code{validate(xml, strict, inspire, inspireApiKey)}}{
+#'  \item{\code{validate(xml, strict, inspire, inspireValidator)}}{
 #'    Validates the encoded XML against ISO 19139 XML schemas. If \code{strict} is
 #'    \code{TRUE}, a error will be raised. Default is \code{FALSE}.
 #'    Setting \code{inspire} to\code{TRUE} (default \code{FALSE}), the metadata will be 
 #'    checked with the INSPIRE metadata validator (online web-service provided by INSPIRE).
-#'    To check metadata with the INSPIRE metadata validator, a user API key is now required, 
-#'    and should be specified with the \code{inspireApiKey}.
+#'    To check metadata with the INSPIRE metadata validator, setting an INSPIRE metadata validator 
+#'    is now required, and should be specified with the \code{inspireValidator}. See 
+#'    \code{\link{INSPIREMetadataValidator}} for more details
 #'  }
 #'  \item{\code{save(file, ...)}}{
 #'    Saves the current metadata object XML representation to a file. This utility
@@ -651,7 +653,7 @@ ISOAbstractObject <- R6Class("ISOAbstractObject",
     },
     
     #encode
-    encode = function(addNS = TRUE, validate = TRUE, strict = FALSE, inspire = FALSE, inspireApiKey = NULL,
+    encode = function(addNS = TRUE, validate = TRUE, strict = FALSE, inspire = FALSE, inspireValidator = NULL,
                       resetSerialID = TRUE, setSerialID = TRUE,
                       encoding = "UTF-8"){
       
@@ -973,7 +975,7 @@ ISOAbstractObject <- R6Class("ISOAbstractObject",
       #validation vs. ISO 19139 XML schemas + eventually INSPIRE
       compliant <- NA
       if(validate){
-        compliant <- self$validate(xml = out, strict = strict, inspire = inspire, inspireApiKey = inspireApiKey)
+        compliant <- self$validate(xml = out, strict = strict, inspire = inspire, inspireValidator = inspireValidator)
       }
       if(self$isDocument()){
         if(!inspire){
@@ -1005,7 +1007,7 @@ ISOAbstractObject <- R6Class("ISOAbstractObject",
     },
     
     #validate
-    validate = function(xml = NULL, strict = FALSE, inspire = FALSE, inspireApiKey = NULL){
+    validate = function(xml = NULL, strict = FALSE, inspire = FALSE, inspireValidator = NULL){
       
       #xml
       schemaNamespaceId <- NULL
@@ -1045,15 +1047,14 @@ ISOAbstractObject <- R6Class("ISOAbstractObject",
       }
       
       if(inspire){
-        if(!is.null(inspireApiKey) && nzchar(inspireApiKey)){
-          inspireValidator <- INSPIREMetadataValidator$new(apiKey = inspireApiKey)
+        if(!is.null(inspireValidator) && is(inspireValidator, "INSPIREMetadataValidator")){
           inspireReport <- inspireValidator$getValidationReport(obj = self)
           isValid <- list(
             ISO = isValid,
             INSPIRE = inspireReport
           )
         }else{
-          self$WARN("No API key specified for INSPIRE Metadata validator, aborting INSPIRE metadata validation!")
+          self$WARN("No INSPIRE Metadata validator set, aborting INSPIRE metadata validation!")
         }
       }
       
diff --git a/man/INSPIREMetadataValidator.Rd b/man/INSPIREMetadataValidator.Rd
index d8fd0a49..c81562ad 100644
--- a/man/INSPIREMetadataValidator.Rd
+++ b/man/INSPIREMetadataValidator.Rd
@@ -16,10 +16,11 @@ INSPIREMetadataValidator
 \section{Methods}{
 
 \describe{
- \item{\code{new(apiKey)}}{
+ \item{\code{new(url, apiKey)}}{
    This method is used to instantiate an INSPIRE Metadata validator. To check 
    metadata with the INSPIRE metadata validator, a user API key is now required, 
-   and should be specified with the \code{apiKey}.
+   and should be specified with the \code{apiKey}. By default, the \code{url} will be
+   the INSPIRE production service \url{https://inspire.ec.europa.eu/validator/v2}
    
    The \code{keyring_backend} can be set to use a different backend for storing 
    the INSPIRE metadata validator API key with \pkg{keyring} (Default value is 'env').
@@ -28,6 +29,9 @@ INSPIREMetadataValidator
    Upload a XML metadata file to INSPIRE web-service. Method called internally through
    \code{getValidationReport}.
  }
+ \item{\code{getAPIKey()}}{
+   Get the API user key
+ }
  \item{\code{getValidationReport(obj, file, raw)}}{
    Get validation report for a metadata specified either as R object of class
    \code{ISOMetadata} (from \pkg{geometa} package) or \code{XMLInternalNode} 
diff --git a/man/ISOAbstractObject.Rd b/man/ISOAbstractObject.Rd
index 85e78c4b..d5f4bf0c 100644
--- a/man/ISOAbstractObject.Rd
+++ b/man/ISOAbstractObject.Rd
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ Abstract ISO Metadata class used internally by geometa
  \item{\code{decode(xml)}}{
    Decodes a ISOMetadata* R6 object from XML representation
  }
- \item{\code{encode(addNS, validate, strict, inspire, inspireApiKey, resetSerialID, setSerialID, encoding)}}{
+ \item{\code{encode(addNS, validate, strict, inspire, inspireValidator, resetSerialID, setSerialID, encoding)}}{
    Encodes a ISOMetadata* R6 object to XML representation. By default, namespace
    definition will be added to XML root (\code{addNS = TRUE}), and validation
    of object will be performed (\code{validate = TRUE}) prior to its XML encoding.
@@ -73,16 +73,18 @@ Abstract ISO Metadata class used internally by geometa
    (recommended value).
    Setting \code{inspire} to TRUE (default FALSE), the metadata will be checked with
    the INSPIRE metadata validator (online web-service provided by INSPIRE). To check 
-   metadata with the INSPIRE metadata validator, a user API key is now required, and should 
-   be specified with the \code{inspireApiKey}.
+   metadata with the INSPIRE metadata validator, setting an INSPIRE metadata validator 
+   is now required, and should be specified with the \code{inspireValidator}. See 
+   \code{\link{INSPIREMetadataValidator}} for more details
  }
- \item{\code{validate(xml, strict, inspire, inspireApiKey)}}{
+ \item{\code{validate(xml, strict, inspire, inspireValidator)}}{
    Validates the encoded XML against ISO 19139 XML schemas. If \code{strict} is
    \code{TRUE}, a error will be raised. Default is \code{FALSE}.
    Setting \code{inspire} to\code{TRUE} (default \code{FALSE}), the metadata will be 
    checked with the INSPIRE metadata validator (online web-service provided by INSPIRE).
-   To check metadata with the INSPIRE metadata validator, a user API key is now required, 
-   and should be specified with the \code{inspireApiKey}.
+   To check metadata with the INSPIRE metadata validator, setting an INSPIRE metadata validator 
+   is now required, and should be specified with the \code{inspireValidator}. See 
+   \code{\link{INSPIREMetadataValidator}} for more details
  }
  \item{\code{save(file, ...)}}{
    Saves the current metadata object XML representation to a file. This utility
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test_INSPIREMetadataValidator.R b/tests/testthat/test_INSPIREMetadataValidator.R
index e28e20bc..468ded45 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test_INSPIREMetadataValidator.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test_INSPIREMetadataValidator.R
@@ -34,10 +34,18 @@ test_that("inspire - metadata validator",{
 
 test_that("inspire - metadata validator 'encode' shortcut",{
   testthat::skip_on_cran()
-  xml <- md$encode(inspire = TRUE, inspireApiKey = Sys.getenv("INSPIRE_API_KEY"))
+  apiKey <- Sys.getenv("INSPIRE_API_KEY")
+  if(nzchar(apiKey)){
+    inspireValidator <- INSPIREMetadataValidator$new(apiKey = apiKey)
+    xml <- md$encode(inspire = TRUE, inspireValidator = inspireValidator)
+  }
 })
 
 test_that("inspire - metadata validator 'save' shortcut",{
   testthat::skip_on_cran()
-  md$save("my-metadata.xml", inspire = TRUE, inspireApiKey = Sys.getenv("INSPIRE_API_KEY"))
+  apiKey <- Sys.getenv("INSPIRE_API_KEY")
+  if(nzchar(apiKey)){
+    inspireValidator <- INSPIREMetadataValidator$new(apiKey = apiKey)
+    md$save("my-metadata.xml", inspire = TRUE, inspireValidator = inspireValidator)
+  }
 })
\ No newline at end of file