diff --git a/rm-automation/rm-automation-community-rest-api/src/main/java/org/alfresco/rest/rm/community/util/CommonTestUtils.java b/rm-automation/rm-automation-community-rest-api/src/main/java/org/alfresco/rest/rm/community/util/CommonTestUtils.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c6a7f7bab6
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+++ b/rm-automation/rm-automation-community-rest-api/src/main/java/org/alfresco/rest/rm/community/util/CommonTestUtils.java
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+/*
+ * #%L
+ * Alfresco Records Management Module
+ * %%
+ * Copyright (C) 2005 - 2017 Alfresco Software Limited
+ * %%
+ * This file is part of the Alfresco software.
+ * -
+ * If the software was purchased under a paid Alfresco license, the terms of
+ * the paid license agreement will prevail.  Otherwise, the software is
+ * provided under the following open source license terms:
+ * -
+ * Alfresco is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
+ * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ * -
+ * Alfresco is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ * -
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with Alfresco. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ * #L%
+ */
+
+package org.alfresco.rest.rm.community.util;
+
+import java.util.UUID;
+
+/**
+ * A utility class to provide test methods that can be used by the REST and UI tests.
+ *
+ * @author Tom Page
+ * @since 2.6
+ */
+public class CommonTestUtils
+{
+    /** Private constructor to prevent instantiation. */
+    private CommonTestUtils()
+    {
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Generate a prefix to namespace the objects in a test class. Note that four random hex digits should be good enough to avoid
+     * collisions when running locally and should also be short enough to maintain readability.
+     */
+    public static String generateTestPrefix(Class<?> clazz)
+    {
+        return clazz.getSimpleName().substring(0, 7) + UUID.randomUUID().toString().substring(0, 4).toUpperCase();
+    }
+}