diff --git a/dedal/tests/integration_tests/spack_install_test.py b/dedal/tests/integration_tests/spack_install_test.py
index 50e940441f9c52a328ae345292a84b19b8ce6080..9a32d5c77ea97070b8eb1e1876cadfa4c19957bf 100644
--- a/dedal/tests/integration_tests/spack_install_test.py
+++ b/dedal/tests/integration_tests/spack_install_test.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ from esd.spack_manager.factory.SpackManagerScratch import SpackManagerScratch
 
 SPACK_VERSION = "0.22.0"
 
-# we need this test to run first so that spack is installed only once
+# we need this test to run first so that spack is installed only once for all the tests
 @pytest.mark.run(order=1)
 def test_spack_install_scratch():
     spack_manager = SpackManagerScratch()
diff --git a/esd/error_handling/exceptions.py b/esd/error_handling/exceptions.py
index 79f8051f5019992ab29baa74ffd7180985f7a108..d6de666bd472555ff75b87166d532cfd4fcc4446 100644
--- a/esd/error_handling/exceptions.py
+++ b/esd/error_handling/exceptions.py
@@ -7,12 +7,20 @@ class SpackException(Exception):
     def __str__(self):
         return self.message
 
+
 class BashCommandException(SpackException):
     """
-    To be thrown when an invalid input is received.
+    To be thrown when a bash command has failed
     """
 
+
 class NoSpackEnvironmentException(SpackException):
     """
-    To be thrown when an invalid input is received.
-    """
\ No newline at end of file
+    To be thrown when an operation on a spack environment is executed without the environment being activated or existent
+    """
+
+
+class SpackConcertizeException(SpackException):
+    """
+    To be thrown when the spack concretization step fails
+    """
diff --git a/esd/spack_manager/factory/SpackManagerCreator.py b/esd/spack_manager/factory/SpackManagerCreator.py
index 9728467f39c2753c9f12ef959c80def1150f0314..6eb26a04cfbb4fc7be66e1a2900d9698bda91b5b 100644
--- a/esd/spack_manager/factory/SpackManagerCreator.py
+++ b/esd/spack_manager/factory/SpackManagerCreator.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+from esd.model.SpackModel import SpackModel
 from esd.spack_manager.enums.SpackManagerEnum import SpackManagerEnum
 from esd.spack_manager.factory.SpackManagerBuildCache import SpackManagerBuildCache
 from esd.spack_manager.factory.SpackManagerScratch import SpackManagerScratch
@@ -5,10 +6,9 @@ from esd.spack_manager.factory.SpackManagerScratch import SpackManagerScratch
 
 class SpackManagerCreator:
     @staticmethod
-    def get_spack_manger(spack_manager_type: SpackManagerEnum, env_name: str, repo: str, repo_name: str,
-                         upstream_instance: str):
+    def get_spack_manger(spack_manager_type: SpackManagerEnum, env: SpackModel = None, repos=None,
+                         upstream_instance=None, system_name: str = None):
         if spack_manager_type == SpackManagerEnum.FROM_SCRATCH:
-            return SpackManagerScratch(env_name, repo, repo_name, upstream_instance)
+            return SpackManagerScratch(env, repos, upstream_instance, system_name)
         elif spack_manager_type == SpackManagerEnum.FROM_BUILDCACHE:
-            return SpackManagerBuildCache(env_name, repo, repo_name, upstream_instance)
-
+            return SpackManagerBuildCache(env, repos, upstream_instance, system_name)
diff --git a/esd/spack_manager/factory/SpackManagerScratch.py b/esd/spack_manager/factory/SpackManagerScratch.py
index 5a79797ce924af10d1eda003fd55cf78661314a0..6380d12396bbb33220f294fe71cb18ad796a36dc 100644
--- a/esd/spack_manager/factory/SpackManagerScratch.py
+++ b/esd/spack_manager/factory/SpackManagerScratch.py
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
+from esd.error_handling.exceptions import SpackConcertizeException, NoSpackEnvironmentException
 from esd.model.SpackModel import SpackModel
 from esd.spack_manager.SpackManager import SpackManager
 from esd.logger.logger_builder import get_logger
+from esd.utils.utils import run_command
 
 
 class SpackManagerScratch(SpackManager):
@@ -9,7 +11,18 @@ class SpackManagerScratch(SpackManager):
         super().__init__(env, repos, upstream_instance, system_name, logger=get_logger(__name__))
 
     def concretize_spack_env(self, force=True):
-        pass
+        force = '--force' if force else ''
+        if self.spack_env_exists():
+            run_command("bash", "-c",
+                        f'source {self.spack_setup_script} && spack env activate -p {self.env_path} $$ spack concretize {force}',
+                        check=True,
+                        capture_output=True, text=True, logger=self.logger,
+                        debug_msg=f'Concertization step for {self.env.env_name}',
+                        exception_msg=f'Failed the concertization step for {self.env.env_name}',
+                        exception=SpackConcertizeException)
+        else:
+            self.logger.debug('No spack environment defined')
+            raise NoSpackEnvironmentException('No spack environment defined')
 
     def install_spack_packages(self, jobs: 3, verbose=False, debug=False):
         pass
diff --git a/esd/utils/utils.py b/esd/utils/utils.py
index 48c500c3a5f652dad4e5c9a3aec06120305f8cd9..173347d06b08f6092a06b4590fd969d0fb66535e 100644
--- a/esd/utils/utils.py
+++ b/esd/utils/utils.py
@@ -51,3 +51,7 @@ def git_clone_repo(repo_name: str, dir: Path, git_path: str, logger: logging = l
             exception=BashCommandException)
     else:
         logger.debug(f'Repository {repo_name} already cloned.')
+
+
+def file_exists_and_not_empty(file: Path) -> bool:
+    return file.is_file() and file.stat().st_size > 0