diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2692891..b72f962 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -266,7 +266,7 @@ Resource and maintenance requirements for Cardano blockchain components (e.g. ca
   
 | Koios Instance | Koios Java Client |
 |:--------------:|:-----------------:|
-|     1.0.9      |      1.16.2       |
+|     1.0.9      |      1.16.3       |
 |     1.0.8      |      1.15.2       |
 |     1.0.7      |      1.14.1       |
 |     1.0.6      |       1.13        |
@@ -281,13 +281,13 @@ Resource and maintenance requirements for Cardano blockchain components (e.g. ca
 <dependency>
     <groupId>io.github.cardano-community</groupId>
     <artifactId>koios-java-client</artifactId>
-    <version>1.16.2</version>
+    <version>1.16.3</version>
 </dependency>
 ```
 
 - For Gradle, add the following dependency to build.gradle
 ```
-compile group: 'io.github.cardano-community', name: 'koios-java-client', version: '1.16.2'
+compile group: 'io.github.cardano-community', name: 'koios-java-client', version: '1.16.3'
 ```
 
 ### Get Koios Backend Service
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index a85c625..9fd7b35 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
     <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
     <groupId>io.github.cardano-community</groupId>
     <artifactId>koios-java-client</artifactId>
-    <version>1.16.2</version>
+    <version>1.16.3</version>
     <name>${project.groupId}:${project.artifactId}</name>
     <description>Koios Java Client is a Java REST Client library which allows interacting with Koios Server Instances using Java Objects</description>
     <url>https://github.com/cardano-community/koios-java-client</url>
diff --git a/src/main/java/rest/koios/client/backend/api/epoch/impl/EpochServiceImpl.java b/src/main/java/rest/koios/client/backend/api/epoch/impl/EpochServiceImpl.java
index 846ac06..8546791 100644
--- a/src/main/java/rest/koios/client/backend/api/epoch/impl/EpochServiceImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/rest/koios/client/backend/api/epoch/impl/EpochServiceImpl.java
@@ -39,20 +39,7 @@ public EpochServiceImpl(BaseService baseService) {
 
     @Override
     public Result<EpochInfo> getLatestEpochInfo() throws ApiException {
-        Integer epochNo;
-        Call<List<Tip>> tipCall = networkApi.getChainTip();
-        try {
-            Response<List<Tip>> tipResponse = (Response) execute(tipCall);
-            Result<Tip> tipResult = processResponseGetOne(tipResponse);
-            if (tipResult.isSuccessful() && tipResult.getValue() != null && tipResult.getValue().getEpochNo() != null) {
-                epochNo = tipResult.getValue().getEpochNo();
-            } else {
-                throw new ApiException("Missing EpochNo Value from Tip Response: "+tipResult);
-            }
-        } catch (IOException e) {
-            throw new ApiException(e.getMessage(), e);
-        }
-        return getEpochInformationByEpoch(epochNo);
+        return getEpochInformationByEpoch(getEpochNoFromTip());
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -80,14 +67,7 @@ public Result<List<EpochInfo>> getEpochInformation(Options options) throws ApiEx
 
     @Override
     public Result<EpochParams> getLatestEpochParameters() throws ApiException {
-        Options options = Options.builder().option(Limit.of(1)).build();
-        Call<List<EpochParams>> call = epochApi.getEpochParameters(optionsToParamMap(options));
-        try {
-            Response<List<EpochParams>> response = (Response) execute(call);
-            return processResponseGetOne(response);
-        } catch (IOException e) {
-            throw new ApiException(e.getMessage(), e);
-        }
+        return getEpochParametersByEpoch(getEpochNoFromTip());
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -135,4 +115,21 @@ public Result<List<EpochBlockProtocols>> getEpochBlockProtocols(Options options)
             throw new ApiException(e.getMessage(), e);
         }
     }
+
+    private Integer getEpochNoFromTip() throws ApiException {
+        Integer epochNo;
+        Call<List<Tip>> tipCall = networkApi.getChainTip();
+        try {
+            Response<List<Tip>> tipResponse = (Response) execute(tipCall);
+            Result<Tip> tipResult = processResponseGetOne(tipResponse);
+            if (tipResult.isSuccessful() && tipResult.getValue() != null && tipResult.getValue().getEpochNo() != null) {
+                epochNo = tipResult.getValue().getEpochNo();
+            } else {
+                throw new ApiException("Missing EpochNo Value from Tip Response: "+tipResult);
+            }
+        } catch (IOException e) {
+            throw new ApiException(e.getMessage(), e);
+        }
+        return epochNo;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/src/test/java/rest/koios/client/backend/api/base/BaseServiceTest.java b/src/test/java/rest/koios/client/backend/api/base/BaseServiceTest.java
index 6d0c5c1..6f8fbba 100644
--- a/src/test/java/rest/koios/client/backend/api/base/BaseServiceTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/rest/koios/client/backend/api/base/BaseServiceTest.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ void validateHexFormatTest() {
         Assertions.assertDoesNotThrow(() -> baseService.validateHexFormat(""));
         Assertions.assertDoesNotThrow(() -> baseService.validateHexFormat("0123456789abcdef"));
         Assertions.assertThrows(ApiException.class, () -> baseService.validateHexFormat("asdf"));
+        Assertions.assertThrows(NullPointerException.class, () -> baseService.validateHexFormat(null));
     }
 
     @Test
diff --git a/src/test/java/rest/koios/client/utils/Bech32UtilTest.java b/src/test/java/rest/koios/client/utils/Bech32UtilTest.java
index 4e5b54a..a747a2c 100644
--- a/src/test/java/rest/koios/client/utils/Bech32UtilTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/rest/koios/client/utils/Bech32UtilTest.java
@@ -1,18 +1,34 @@
 package rest.koios.client.utils;
 
-import org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
+import java.lang.reflect.Constructor;
+import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
+import java.lang.reflect.Modifier;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.*;
+
 class Bech32UtilTest {
 
     @Test
     void invalidCharsTest() {
-        Assertions.assertFalse(Bech32Util.hasValidChars(null));
+        assertFalse(Bech32Util.hasValidChars(null));
 
-        Assertions.assertFalse(Bech32Util.hasValidChars(""));
+        assertFalse(Bech32Util.hasValidChars(""));
 
-        Assertions.assertFalse(Bech32Util.hasValidChars("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"));
+        assertFalse(Bech32Util.hasValidChars("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"));
 
-        Assertions.assertFalse(Bech32Util.hasValidChars("pooL1rcsezjrma577f06yp40lsz76uvwh7gne35afx3zrq2ktx50f8t8"));
+        assertFalse(Bech32Util.hasValidChars("pooL1rcsezjrma577f06yp40lsz76uvwh7gne35afx3zrq2ktx50f8t8"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testConstructorIsPrivate() throws NoSuchMethodException {
+        Constructor<Bech32Util> constructor = Bech32Util.class.getDeclaredConstructor();
+        assertTrue(Modifier.isPrivate(constructor.getModifiers()));
+        constructor.setAccessible(true);
+        InvocationTargetException exception = assertThrows(InvocationTargetException.class, constructor::newInstance);
+        assertInstanceOf(InvocationTargetException.class, exception);
+        assertInstanceOf(IllegalStateException.class, exception.getCause());
+        assertEquals("Utility Class", exception.getCause().getMessage());
     }
 }