diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 9e8c9e4ae6fb9c3dd26ed650d678dddb626b391f..c64dbcc9ad7365a7e8603160cbe485b8fb0d7332 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ pre-build-checks:
   stage: pre-build-checks
   script:
     - scripts/check-format-cpp.sh
+  allow_failure: true
 
 # Build petrack and petrack unit_tests
 build_linux:
diff --git a/.gitlab/merge_request_templates/merge_request.md b/.gitlab/merge_request_templates/merge_request.md
index 5a322092f280b2499cc2cd2f0562cb4dcdcef8a8..2cddf8440ce9fe8c580af1855cb914cd76d27e03 100644
--- a/.gitlab/merge_request_templates/merge_request.md
+++ b/.gitlab/merge_request_templates/merge_request.md
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@
 
 # Reviewer Checklist
 
+## Formatting
+- [ ] the pre-build checks succeed 
+
 ## General code quality
 - [ ] naming conventions are met (see .clang-tidy for detailed information)
 - [ ] no static analyzer warnings in new code parts (e.g., use clang-tidy for checking)