diff --git a/tangostationcontrol/tangostationcontrol/clients/comms_client.py b/tangostationcontrol/tangostationcontrol/clients/comms_client.py
index deb37f67153c429911a417a743a5a9d73d530fae..cfa989439a2c12317a895f4f1a83618ca42c9bf9 100644
--- a/tangostationcontrol/tangostationcontrol/clients/comms_client.py
+++ b/tangostationcontrol/tangostationcontrol/clients/comms_client.py
@@ -15,12 +15,12 @@ class AbstractCommClient(ABC):
     def stop(self):
         """ Stop communication with the client. """
 
-    def ping(self): # noqa: B027
+    @abstractmethod
+    def ping(self):
         """ Check whether the connection is still alive.
 
             Clients that override this method must raise an Exception if the
             connection died. """
-        pass
 
     @abstractmethod
     def setup_attribute(self, annotation, attribute):
diff --git a/tangostationcontrol/tox.ini b/tangostationcontrol/tox.ini
index 332d3777fd58491bfe96c270568a12e8d10f5f77..d528ccc75b0280f93740f5859987c225166f2c33 100644
--- a/tangostationcontrol/tox.ini
+++ b/tangostationcontrol/tox.ini
@@ -118,4 +118,4 @@ commands =
 [flake8]
 filename = *.py,.stestr.conf,.txt
 ignore = B014, B019, W291, W293, W391, E111, E114, E121, E122, E123, E124, E126, E127, E128, E131, E201, E201, E202, E203, E221, E222, E225, E226, E231, E241, E251, E252, E261, E262, E265, E271, E301, E302, E303, E305, E306, E401, E402, E501, E502, E701, E712, E721, E731, F403, F523, F541, F841, H301, H306, H401, H403, H404, H405, W503
-exclude=.tox,.egg-info,libhdbpp-python, SNMP_mib_loading
+exclude=.tox,build,.egg-info,libhdbpp-python, SNMP_mib_loading