diff --git a/lib/vdyp-common/src/main/java/ca/bc/gov/nrs/vdyp/io/parse/model/VdypPolygonDescriptionParser.java b/lib/vdyp-common/src/main/java/ca/bc/gov/nrs/vdyp/io/parse/model/VdypPolygonDescriptionParser.java
index be1d07df..e81f91cb 100644
--- a/lib/vdyp-common/src/main/java/ca/bc/gov/nrs/vdyp/io/parse/model/VdypPolygonDescriptionParser.java
+++ b/lib/vdyp-common/src/main/java/ca/bc/gov/nrs/vdyp/io/parse/model/VdypPolygonDescriptionParser.java
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@ public static PolygonIdentifier parse(String description) throws ResourceParseEx
 		Integer year;
 		String name;
 
+		if (description.length() != PolygonIdentifier.ID_LENGTH) {
+			throw new ResourceParseException("Polygon description " + description + " was not 25 characters long");
+		}
+
 		if (matcher.matches() && matcher.group(2) != null) {
 			year = Integer.parseInt(matcher.group(2));
 			name = matcher.group(1).trim();
diff --git a/lib/vdyp-common/src/test/java/ca/bc/gov/nrs/vdyp/io/parse/model/VdypPolygonDescriptionParserTest.java b/lib/vdyp-common/src/test/java/ca/bc/gov/nrs/vdyp/io/parse/model/VdypPolygonDescriptionParserTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6c510617
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/vdyp-common/src/test/java/ca/bc/gov/nrs/vdyp/io/parse/model/VdypPolygonDescriptionParserTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,199 @@
+package ca.bc.gov.nrs.vdyp.io.parse.model;
+
+import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.assertThat;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.*;
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.*;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.NoSuchElementException;
+
+import org.hamcrest.Matchers;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.ParameterizedTest;
+import org.junit.jupiter.params.provider.ValueSource;
+
+import ca.bc.gov.nrs.vdyp.io.parse.common.ResourceParseException;
+import ca.bc.gov.nrs.vdyp.model.LayerType;
+import ca.bc.gov.nrs.vdyp.model.UtilizationClass;
+import ca.bc.gov.nrs.vdyp.test.MockFileResolver;
+import ca.bc.gov.nrs.vdyp.test.TestUtils;
+import ca.bc.gov.nrs.vdyp.test.VdypMatchers;
+
+import static ca.bc.gov.nrs.vdyp.test.VdypMatchers.*;
+
+class VdypPolygonDescriptionParserTest {
+
+	@Test
+	void testEmpty() throws IOException, ResourceParseException {
+		var controlMap = TestUtils.loadControlMap();
+		var resolver = new MockFileResolver("testResolver");
+
+		try (var is = TestUtils.makeInputStream("")) {
+
+			resolver.addStream("test.dat", is);
+
+			var parser = new VdypPolygonParser().map("test.dat", resolver, controlMap);
+
+			var stream = parser.get();
+
+			assertTrue(!stream.hasNext(), "stream is not empty");
+
+			assertThrows(NoSuchElementException.class, () -> stream.next());
+		}
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	void testOnePoly() throws IOException, ResourceParseException {
+		var controlMap = TestUtils.loadControlMap();
+		var resolver = new MockFileResolver("testResolver");
+
+		try (var is = TestUtils.makeInputStream("01002 S000001 00     1970")) {
+
+			resolver.addStream("test.dat", is);
+
+			var parser = new VdypPolygonDescriptionParser().map("test.dat", resolver, controlMap);
+
+			var stream = parser.get();
+
+			assertTrue(stream.hasNext(), "stream is empty");
+
+			var result = stream.next();
+
+			assertThat(result, isPolyId("01002 S000001 00", 1970));
+
+			assertTrue(!stream.hasNext(), "stream is not empty");
+
+			assertThrows(NoSuchElementException.class, () -> stream.next());
+
+		}
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	void testMultiplePoly() throws IOException, ResourceParseException {
+		var controlMap = TestUtils.loadControlMap();
+		var resolver = new MockFileResolver("testResolver");
+
+		try (
+				var is = TestUtils.makeInputStream(
+						"01002 S000001 00     1970", "01002 S000002 00     1970", "01002 S000003 00     1973"
+
+				)
+		) {
+
+			resolver.addStream("test.dat", is);
+
+			var parser = new VdypPolygonDescriptionParser().map("test.dat", resolver, controlMap);
+
+			var stream = parser.get();
+
+			assertTrue(stream.hasNext(), "stream is empty");
+
+			var result = stream.next();
+
+			assertThat(result, isPolyId("01002 S000001 00", 1970));
+
+			assertTrue(stream.hasNext(), "stream is empty");
+
+			result = stream.next();
+
+			assertThat(result, isPolyId("01002 S000002 00", 1970));
+
+			assertTrue(stream.hasNext(), "stream is empty");
+
+			result = stream.next();
+
+			assertThat(result, isPolyId("01002 S000003 00", 1973));
+
+			assertTrue(!stream.hasNext(), "stream is not empty");
+
+			assertThrows(NoSuchElementException.class, () -> stream.next());
+
+		}
+	}
+
+	@ParameterizedTest
+	@ValueSource(
+			strings = { "01002 S000001 00     XXXX", "01002 S000001 00     199X", "01002 S000001 00      999",
+					"01002 S000001 00     999 ", "01002 S000001 00     19 9", "01002 S000001 00         " }
+	)
+	void testIDsWithoutAValidYear(String id) throws IOException, ResourceParseException {
+		var controlMap = TestUtils.loadControlMap();
+		var resolver = new MockFileResolver("testResolver");
+
+		try (var is = TestUtils.makeInputStream(id)) {
+
+			resolver.addStream("test.dat", is);
+
+			var parser = new VdypPolygonDescriptionParser().map("test.dat", resolver, controlMap);
+
+			var stream = parser.get();
+
+			assertTrue(stream.hasNext(), "stream is empty");
+
+			var ex = assertThrows(ResourceParseException.class, () -> stream.next());
+
+		}
+
+	}
+
+	@ParameterizedTest
+	@ValueSource(
+			strings = { "01002 S000001 00    2024", // short (24)
+					"01002 S000001 00      2024" // long (26)
+			}
+	)
+	void testIdsWithWrongLength(String id) throws IOException, ResourceParseException {
+		var controlMap = TestUtils.loadControlMap();
+		var resolver = new MockFileResolver("testResolver");
+
+		try (var is = TestUtils.makeInputStream(id)) {
+
+			resolver.addStream("test.dat", is);
+
+			var parser = new VdypPolygonDescriptionParser().map("test.dat", resolver, controlMap);
+
+			var stream = parser.get();
+
+			assertTrue(stream.hasNext(), "stream is empty");
+
+			var ex = assertThrows(ResourceParseException.class, () -> stream.next());
+
+		}
+
+	}
+
+	@ParameterizedTest
+	@ValueSource(
+			strings = { "01002 S000001 00     XXXX", // bad year
+					"01002 S000001 00    2024", // short
+					"01002 S000001 00      2024" // long
+			}
+	)
+	void testCanProgressToNextLineAfterError(String id) throws IOException, ResourceParseException {
+		var controlMap = TestUtils.loadControlMap();
+		var resolver = new MockFileResolver("testResolver");
+
+		try (var is = TestUtils.makeInputStream(id, "01002 S000002 00     1970")) {
+
+			resolver.addStream("test.dat", is);
+
+			var parser = new VdypPolygonDescriptionParser().map("test.dat", resolver, controlMap);
+
+			var stream = parser.get();
+
+			assertTrue(stream.hasNext(), "stream is empty");
+
+			var ex = assertThrows(ResourceParseException.class, () -> stream.next());
+
+			assertTrue(stream.hasNext(), "stream is empty");
+
+			var result = stream.next();
+
+			assertThat(result, isPolyId("01002 S000002 00", 1970));
+
+		}
+
+	}
+
+}