diff --git a/sed/loader/flash/loader.py b/sed/loader/flash/loader.py
index e91b340c..b0beefd6 100644
--- a/sed/loader/flash/loader.py
+++ b/sed/loader/flash/loader.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@
 import dask.dataframe as dd
 import h5py
 import numpy as np
-import pyarrow as pa
+import pyarrow.parquet as pq
 from joblib import delayed
 from joblib import Parallel
 from natsort import natsorted
@@ -129,7 +129,6 @@ def get_files_from_run_id(
             extension (str, optional): The file extension. Defaults to "h5".
             kwds: Keyword arguments:
                 - daq (str): The data acquisition identifier.
-                Defaults to config["dataframe"]["daq"].
 
         Returns:
             List[str]: A list of path strings representing the collected file names.
@@ -625,17 +624,18 @@ def create_buffer_file(self, h5_path: Path, parquet_path: Path) -> Union[bool, E
             return exc
         return None
 
-    def buffer_file_handler(self, data_parquet_dir: Path, detector: str):
+    def buffer_file_handler(self, data_parquet_dir: Path, detector: str, force_recreate: bool):
         """
         Handles the conversion of buffer files (h5 to parquet) and returns the filenames.
 
         Args:
             data_parquet_dir (Path): Directory where the parquet files will be stored.
             detector (str): Detector name.
+            force_recreate (bool): Forces recreation of buffer files
 
         Returns:
-            Tuple[List[Path], List[pa.parquet.FileMetaData]]: Two lists, one for
-            parquet file paths and one for parquet metadata.
+            Tuple[List[Path], List, List]: Three lists, one for
+            parquet file paths, one for metadata and one for schema.
 
         Raises:
             FileNotFoundError: If the conversion fails for any files or no data is available.
@@ -650,16 +650,33 @@ def buffer_file_handler(self, data_parquet_dir: Path, detector: str):
         parquet_filenames = [
             buffer_file_dir.joinpath(Path(file).stem + detector) for file in self.files
         ]
+        existing_parquet_filenames = [file for file in parquet_filenames if file.exists()]
 
         # Raise a value error if no data is available after the conversion
         if len(h5_filenames) == 0:
             raise ValueError("No data available. Probably failed reading all h5 files")
 
+        # read parquet metadata and schema
+        metadata = [pq.read_metadata(file) for file in existing_parquet_filenames]
+        schema = [pq.read_schema(file) for file in existing_parquet_filenames]
+
+        # check if available_channels are same as schema
+        available_channels_set = set(self.available_channels)
+        for i in len(schema):
+            schema_set = set(schema[i])
+            # Check if available_channels are the same as schema including pulseId
+            if not force_recreate and schema_set != available_channels_set.union({"pulseId"}):
+                raise ValueError(
+                    "The available channels do not match the schema of file "
+                    f"{existing_parquet_filenames[i]}"
+                    "Please check the configuration file or set force_recreate to True.",
+                )
+
         # Choose files to read
         files_to_read = [
             (h5_path, parquet_path)
             for h5_path, parquet_path in zip(h5_filenames, parquet_filenames)
-            if not parquet_path.exists()
+            if force_recreate or not parquet_path.exists()
         ]
 
         print(f"Reading files: {len(files_to_read)} new files of {len(h5_filenames)} total.")
@@ -685,9 +702,7 @@ def buffer_file_handler(self, data_parquet_dir: Path, detector: str):
 
         print("All files converted successfully!")
 
-        parquet_metadata = [pa.parquet.read_metadata(file) for file in parquet_filenames]
-
-        return parquet_filenames, parquet_metadata
+        return parquet_filenames, metadata, schema
 
     def parquet_handler(
         self,
@@ -697,6 +712,7 @@ def parquet_handler(
         converted: bool = False,
         load_parquet: bool = False,
         save_parquet: bool = False,
+        force_recreate: bool = False,
     ):
         """
         Handles loading and saving of parquet files based on the provided parameters.
@@ -710,7 +726,7 @@ def parquet_handler(
                 externally and saved into converted folder.
             load_parquet (bool, optional): Loads the entire parquet into the dd dataframe.
             save_parquet (bool, optional): Saves the entire dataframe into a parquet.
-
+            force_recreate (bool, optional): Forces recreation of buffer file.
         Returns:
             dataframe: Dataframe containing the loaded or processed data.
 
@@ -739,19 +755,23 @@ def parquet_handler(
                 ) from exc
 
         else:
-            # Obtain the filenames from the method which handles buffer file creation/reading
-            parquet_filenames, parquet_metadata = self.buffer_file_handler(
+            # Obtain the parquet filenames, metadata and schema from the method
+            # which handles buffer file creation/reading
+            filenames, metadata, schema = self.buffer_file_handler(
                 data_parquet_dir,
                 detector,
+                force_recreate,
             )
+
             # Read all parquet files into one dataframe using dask
-            dataframe = dd.read_parquet(parquet_filenames, calculate_divisions=True)
+            dataframe = dd.read_parquet(filenames, calculate_divisions=True)
+
             # Channels to fill NaN values
-            print("Filling nan values...")
             channels: List[str] = self.get_channels_by_format(["per_pulse", "per_train"])
 
-            overlap = min(file.num_rows for file in parquet_metadata)
+            overlap = min(file.num_rows for file in metadata)
 
+            print("Filling nan values...")
             dataframe = dfops.forward_fill_lazy(
                 df=dataframe,
                 columns=channels,
@@ -859,7 +879,7 @@ def read_dataframe(
         dataframe = self.parquet_handler(data_parquet_dir, **kwds)
 
         metadata = self.parse_metadata() if collect_metadata else {}
-        print(f"loading complete  in {time.time() - t0:.2f} s")
+        print(f"loading complete in {time.time() - t0: .2f} s")
 
         return dataframe, metadata