diff --git a/logback-access/pom.xml b/logback-access/pom.xml
index 13df6b597a..4aa86f6fd0 100755
--- a/logback-access/pom.xml
+++ b/logback-access/pom.xml
@@ -99,9 +99,10 @@
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
-        <version>${surefire.version}</version>
+        <version>${maven-surefire-plugin.version}</version>
         <configuration>
           <forkMode>once</forkMode>
+          <!--<parallel>classes</parallel>-->
           <reportFormat>plain</reportFormat>
           <disableXmlReport>true</disableXmlReport>
           <excludes>
@@ -115,6 +116,7 @@
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
+        <version>${maven-jar-plugin.version}</version>
         <configuration>
           <archive>
             <manifestFile>${project.build.outputDirectory}/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
diff --git a/logback-classic/pom.xml b/logback-classic/pom.xml
index 9b12ee3c66..c88c89179c 100755
--- a/logback-classic/pom.xml
+++ b/logback-classic/pom.xml
@@ -196,15 +196,6 @@
 
 
     <plugins>
-      <plugin>
-        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
-        <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
-        <configuration>
-          <source>1.5</source>
-          <target>1.5</target>
-        </configuration>
-      </plugin>
-
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.codehaus.gmaven</groupId>
         <artifactId>gmaven-plugin</artifactId>
@@ -235,6 +226,7 @@
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
+        <version>${maven-jar-plugin.version}</version>
         <configuration>
           <archive>
             <manifestFile>
@@ -308,10 +300,11 @@
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
-        <version>${surefire.version}</version>
+        <version>${maven-surefire-plugin.version}</version>
         <configuration>
           <!-- once, never, pertest, always -->
           <forkMode>once</forkMode>
+          <!--<parallel>classes</parallel>-->
           <reportFormat>plain</reportFormat>
           <trimStackTrace>false</trimStackTrace>
           <excludes>
diff --git a/logback-core/pom.xml b/logback-core/pom.xml
index 41d3fc7d50..cac32b23f6 100755
--- a/logback-core/pom.xml
+++ b/logback-core/pom.xml
@@ -87,23 +87,14 @@
 
   <build>
     <plugins>
-      <plugin>
-        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
-        <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
-        <configuration>
-          <source>1.5</source>
-          <target>1.5</target>
-        </configuration>
-      </plugin>
-
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
-        <version>${surefire.version}</version>
+        <version>${maven-surefire-plugin.version}</version>
         <configuration>
           <forkMode>once</forkMode>
           <reportFormat>plain</reportFormat>
-          <parallel>classes</parallel>
+          <!--<parallel>classes</parallel>-->
           <trimStackTrace>false</trimStackTrace>
           <excludes>
             <exclude>**/All*Test.java</exclude>
@@ -118,6 +109,7 @@
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
+        <version>${maven-jar-plugin.version}</version>
         <configuration>
           <archive>
             <manifestFile>${project.build.outputDirectory}/META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index f1568413da..b14fa7ac41 100755
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -47,8 +47,9 @@
   </modules>
 
   <properties>
+    <!-- target JDK version == source JDK version -->
+    <jdk.version>1.5</jdk.version>
     <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
-    <surefire.version>2.12.4</surefire.version>
     <!-- slf4j.version property is used below, in
          logback-classic/pom.xml and in setClasspath.cmd -->
     <slf4j.version>1.7.4</slf4j.version>
@@ -61,9 +62,13 @@
     <tomcat.version>7.0.21</tomcat.version>
     <jetty.version>7.5.1.v20110908</jetty.version>
     <jansi.version>1.8</jansi.version>
-    <findbugs.version>2.5</findbugs.version>
 
-     <maven-license-plugin.version>1.9.0</maven-license-plugin.version>
+    <maven-compiler-plugin.version>2.3.2</maven-compiler-plugin.version>
+    <maven-jar-plugin.version>2.3.1</maven-jar-plugin.version>
+    <maven-surefire-plugin.version>2.14.1</maven-surefire-plugin.version>
+    <maven-license-plugin.version>1.9.0</maven-license-plugin.version>
+    <findbugs-maven-plugin.version>2.5</findbugs-maven-plugin.version>
+
   </properties>
 
   <developers>
@@ -223,17 +228,17 @@
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
-        <version>2.3.2</version>
+        <version>${maven-compiler-plugin.version}</version>
         <configuration>
-          <source>1.5</source>
-          <target>1.5</target>
+          <source>${jdk.version}</source>
+          <target>${jdk.version}</target>
         </configuration>
       </plugin>
 
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
-        <version>2.10</version>
+        <version>${maven-surefire-plugin.version}</version>
       </plugin>
 
       <plugin>
@@ -249,10 +254,11 @@
           </execution>
         </executions>
       </plugin>
+
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
         <artifactId>maven-jar-plugin</artifactId>
-        <version>2.3.1</version>
+        <version>${maven-jar-plugin.version}</version>
       </plugin>
 
       <plugin>
@@ -291,7 +297,7 @@
       <plugin>
         <groupId>org.codehaus.mojo</groupId>
         <artifactId>findbugs-maven-plugin</artifactId>
-        <version>${findbugs.version}</version>
+        <version>${findbugs-maven-plugin.version}</version>
         <configuration>
           <threshold>High</threshold>
           <!--<trace>true</trace>-->