diff --git a/src/browsergym/workarena/api/utils.py b/src/browsergym/workarena/api/utils.py
index 47a6b2a..85aa40a 100644
--- a/src/browsergym/workarena/api/utils.py
+++ b/src/browsergym/workarena/api/utils.py
@@ -172,3 +172,16 @@ def db_delete_from_table(instance: SNowInstance, sys_id: str, table: str) -> Non
 
     # Check for HTTP code 200 (fail otherwise)
     response.raise_for_status()
+
+
+def get_instance_sys_property(instance: SNowInstance, property_name: str) -> str:
+    """
+    Get a sys_property from the instance.
+    """
+    property_value = table_api_call(
+        instance=instance,
+        table="sys_properties",
+        params={"sysparm_query": f"name={property_name}", "sysparm_fields": "value"},
+    )["result"][0]["value"]
+
+    return property_value
diff --git a/src/browsergym/workarena/install.py b/src/browsergym/workarena/install.py
index 9d82493..fdb43b5 100644
--- a/src/browsergym/workarena/install.py
+++ b/src/browsergym/workarena/install.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 
 from .api.ui_themes import get_workarena_theme_variants
 from .api.user import create_user
-from .api.utils import table_api_call, table_column_info
+from .api.utils import table_api_call, table_column_info, get_instance_sys_property
 from .config import (
     # for knowledge base setup
     KB_FILEPATH,
@@ -82,22 +82,6 @@ def _set_sys_property(property_name: str, value: str):
     assert property["result"]["value"] == value, f"Error setting {property_name}."
 
 
-def _get_sys_property(property_name: str) -> str:
-    """
-    Get a sys_property from the instance.
-
-    """
-    instance = SNowInstance()
-
-    property_value = table_api_call(
-        instance=instance,
-        table="sys_properties",
-        params={"sysparm_query": f"name={property_name}", "sysparm_fields": "value"},
-    )["result"][0]["value"]
-
-    return property_value
-
-
 def _install_update_set(path: str, name: str):
     """
     Install a ServiceNow update set
@@ -1054,7 +1038,10 @@ def main():
     logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
 
     try:
-        past_install_date = _get_sys_property("workarena.installation.date")
+        instance = SNowInstance()
+        past_install_date = get_instance_sys_property(
+            instance=instance, property_name="workarena.installation.date"
+        )
         logging.info(f"Detected previous installation on {past_install_date}. Reinstalling...")
     except:
         past_install_date = "never"
diff --git a/src/browsergym/workarena/tasks/base.py b/src/browsergym/workarena/tasks/base.py
index 34a8c1e..5b8d5ff 100644
--- a/src/browsergym/workarena/tasks/base.py
+++ b/src/browsergym/workarena/tasks/base.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 
 from browsergym.core.task import AbstractBrowserTask
 from ..api.user import create_user
-from ..api.utils import table_api_call
+from ..api.utils import table_api_call, get_instance_sys_property
 from ..config import SNOW_BROWSER_TIMEOUT, SNOW_JS_UTILS_FILEPATH
 from ..utils import url_login
 from ..instance import SNowInstance
@@ -64,6 +64,15 @@ def __init__(
         self.timeout = 10000  # ms
 
         self.instance = instance if instance is not None else SNowInstance()
+
+        # Check if workarena-install is done correctly
+        try:
+            _ = get_instance_sys_property(self.instance, "workarena.installation.date")
+        except Exception:
+            raise RuntimeError(
+                f"WorkArena installation has not been detected in your instance. Please install WorkArena by running workarena-install"
+            )
+
         self.start_url = self.instance.snow_url + start_rel_url
 
         if final_rel_url is not None: