diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 58be3c8..b329780 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,3 +1,24 @@
+# Copyright 2017, pEp Foundation
+# This file is part of pEp JNI Adapter
+# This file may be used under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 3
+# see LICENSE.txt
+
+HERE_REL := $(notdir $(CURDIR))
+
+include Makefile.conf
+
+ifneq ($(wildcard local.conf),)
+    $(info ================================================)
+    $(info Overrides in `local.conf` are used.)
+    $(info ================================================)
+endif
+
+ifdef BUILD_CONFIG
+    $(info ================================================)
+    $(info Overrides in `$(BUILD_CONFIG)` are used.)
+    $(info ================================================)
+endif
+
 .PHONY: all src test clean
 
 all: src test
diff --git a/src/Makefile.conf b/Makefile.conf
similarity index 79%
rename from src/Makefile.conf
rename to Makefile.conf
index 02482af..c5a71e6 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.conf
+++ b/Makefile.conf
@@ -35,33 +35,24 @@ else ifeq ($(BUILD_FOR),Darwin)
     CXXFLAGS+=-fcolor-diagnostics -fpermissive -fPIC -I$(JAVA_HOME)/include -I$(JAVA_HOME)/include/darwin $(AD_INC) $(ENGINE_INC)
 endif
 
-
+# DEV ENV PATHS & CFG
+# The dev environment paths and configs are set to a default value which can be overridden by ./local.conf and overridden again by <subdir>/local.conf
 ######### YML2 #########
 YML2_PATH=$(HOME)/yml2
-
 YML2_PROC=$(YML2_PATH)/yml2proc $(YML2_OPTS)
-
 YML2_OPTS=--encoding=utf8
 
-
 ######### Engine #########
-ENGINE_LIB=
-#ENGINE_LIB=-L$(HOME)/lib
-
-ENGINE_INC=
-#ENGINE_INC=-I$(ENGINE_INC_DIR)
-
+ENGINE_LIB=-L$(HOME)/lib
+ENGINE_INC=-I$(HOME)/include
 
 ######### libAdapter #########
-AD_LIB=
-#AD_LIB=-L$(HOME)/local/lib
-
-AD_INC=
-#AD_INC=-I$(HOME)/local/inc
-
+AD_LIB=-L$(HOME)/lib
+AD_INC=-I$(HOME)/include
 
-######### Footer #########
+######### Overrides #########
 -include $(HERE)/local.conf
+-include $(HERE)/src/local.conf
 
 ifdef BUILD_CONFIG
     include $(BUILD_CONFIG)
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index aacc7b8..ff17ee9 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -26,9 +26,13 @@ sudo port install openjdk11
 ~~~
 
 ## Building
-Customization of the build can be done in `src/Makefile.conf`, or in a file `src/local.conf` which is not part of the source code distribution.
 
-An example `src/local.conf` looks like this:
+Build configuration will be the result of including these files in the following order:
+* `Makefile.conf` - Defaults
+* `local.conf` - optional cfg (overwrites existing values)
+* `src/local.conf`- optional cfg for src dir (overwrites existing values)
+
+An example `local.conf` looks like this:
 
 ~~~
 JAVA_HOME=/Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/openjdk8/Contents/Home
@@ -49,15 +53,13 @@ Now, build the Adapter with
 On Linux:
 
 ~~~
-cd src
-make
+make src
 ~~~
 
 On macOS:
 
 ~~~
-cd src
-gmake
+make src
 ~~~
 
-(The GNU Make distributed with macOS is too old, install GNU Make "gmake" from macPorts).
+(The GNU Make distributed with macOS might be too old, in this case install GNU Make "gmake" from macPorts).
diff --git a/src/Makefile b/src/Makefile
index b7adb3e..38404ab 100644
--- a/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/Makefile
@@ -3,19 +3,7 @@
 # This file may be used under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 3
 # see LICENSE.txt
 
-include Makefile.conf
-
-ifneq ($(wildcard local.conf),)
-    $(info ================================================)
-    $(info Overrides in `local.conf` are used.)
-    $(info ================================================)
-endif
-
-ifdef BUILD_CONFIG
-    $(info ================================================)
-    $(info Overrides in `$(BUILD_CONFIG)` are used.)
-    $(info ================================================)
-endif
+include ../Makefile.conf
 
 ifndef JAVA_HOME
     $(error JAVA_HOME is not set!)
@@ -37,7 +25,7 @@ ifeq ($(BUILD_FOR),Linux)
 else ifeq ($(BUILD_FOR),Darwin)
     SHARED=libpEpJNI.dylib
 else
-    $(error I don't know how to build for $(BUILD_FOR).)
+    $(error I dont know how to build for $(BUILD_FOR).)
 endif
 
 JAVA_SOURCES=foundation/pEp/jniadapter/AbstractEngine.java \