diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 69ea6a8..f2cfa35 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2,18 +2,10 @@
 # This file is subject to the license terms in the LICENSE file
 # found in the top-level directory of this distribution.
 
-cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.3)
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.8)
 project(cppast VERSION 0.0)
 
 # options
-if(CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE MATCHES Debug)
-    set(default_assertions ON)
-else()
-    set(default_assertions OFF)
-endif()
-option(CPPAST_ENABLE_ASSERTIONS "whether or not to enable internal assertions for the cppast library" ${default_assertions})
-option(CPPAST_ENABLE_PRECONDITION_CHECKS "whether or not to enable precondition checks" ON)
-
 option(CPPAST_BUILD_TEST "whether or not to build the tests" OFF)
 option(CPPAST_BUILD_EXAMPLE "whether or not to build the examples" OFF)
 option(CPPAST_BUILD_TOOL "whether or not to build the tool" OFF)
diff --git a/example/CMakeLists.txt b/example/CMakeLists.txt
index 549873a..ff1d2b8 100644
--- a/example/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/example/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 function(_cppast_example name)
     add_executable(cppast_example_${name} ${name}.cpp example_parser.hpp)
     target_link_libraries(cppast_example_${name} PUBLIC cppast)
-    set_target_properties(cppast_example_${name} PROPERTIES CXX_STANDARD 11)
 endfunction()
 
 _cppast_example(ast_printer)
diff --git a/include/cppast/detail/assert.hpp b/include/cppast/detail/assert.hpp
index fee744c..89f5ebb 100644
--- a/include/cppast/detail/assert.hpp
+++ b/include/cppast/detail/assert.hpp
@@ -7,16 +7,16 @@
 
 #include <debug_assert.hpp>
 
-#ifdef CPPAST_ENABLE_ASSERTIONS
-#    define CPPAST_ASSERTION_LEVEL 1
-#else
+#ifndef CPPAST_ASSERTION_LEVEL
 #    define CPPAST_ASSERTION_LEVEL 0
 #endif
 
-#ifdef CPPAST_ENABLE_PRECONDITION_CHECKS
-#    define CPPAST_PRECONDITION_LEVEL 1
-#else
-#    define CPPAST_PRECONDITION_LEVEL 0
+#ifndef CPPAST_PRECONDITION_LEVEL
+#    ifdef NDEBUG
+#        define CPPAST_PRECONDITION_LEVEL 0
+#    else
+#        define CPPAST_PRECONDITION_LEVEL 1
+#    endif
 #endif
 
 namespace cppast
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index fe00494..0a7c85e 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -102,16 +102,17 @@ set(libclang_source
         libclang/variable_parser.cpp)
 
 add_library(cppast ${detail_header} ${header} ${source} ${libclang_source})
-set_target_properties(cppast PROPERTIES CXX_STANDARD 11)
-target_include_directories(cppast PUBLIC ../include)
+target_compile_features(cppast PUBLIC cxx_std_11)
+target_include_directories(cppast PRIVATE ../include SYSTEM INTERFACE ../include)
 target_link_libraries(cppast PUBLIC type_safe _cppast_tiny_process _cppast_libclang)
 target_compile_definitions(cppast PUBLIC
                                 CPPAST_VERSION_MINOR="${cppast_VERSION_MINOR}"
                                 CPPAST_VERSION_MAJOR="${cppast_VERSION_MAJOR}"
                                 CPPAST_VERSION_STRING="${cppast_VERSION}")
-if(CPPAST_ENABLE_ASSERTIONS)
-    target_compile_definitions(cppast PUBLIC CPPAST_ENABLE_ASSERTIONS)
-endif()
-if(CPPAST_ENABLE_PRECONDITION_CHECKS)
-    target_compile_definitions(cppast PUBLIC CPPAST_ENABLE_PRECONDITION_CHECKS)
-endif()
+target_compile_options(cppast PRIVATE
+                           # clang/GCC warnings
+                           $<$<OR:$<CXX_COMPILER_ID:Clang>,$<CXX_COMPILER_ID:GNU>>:
+                           -pedantic-errors -Werror -Wall -Wextra -Wconversion -Wsign-conversion>
+                           # MSVC warnings
+                           $<$<CXX_COMPILER_ID:MSVC>:
+                           /WX /W4>)
diff --git a/test/CMakeLists.txt b/test/CMakeLists.txt
index 03d9b6b..f9cad06 100644
--- a/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -47,9 +47,9 @@ target_include_directories(cppast_test PRIVATE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/../src)
 target_link_libraries(cppast_test PUBLIC cppast)
 target_compile_definitions(cppast_test PUBLIC CPPAST_INTEGRATION_FILE="${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/integration.cpp"
                                               CPPAST_COMPILE_COMMANDS="${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}")
-set_target_properties(cppast_test PROPERTIES CXX_STANDARD 11)
 
-add_test(NAME test COMMAND cppast_test)
+add_test(NAME unit_test COMMAND cppast_test "~[integration]")
+add_test(NAME integration_test COMMAND cppast_test "[integration]")
 
 if(CPPAST_TEST_GCOV AND (CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID STREQUAL "GNU"))
     setup_target_for_coverage(