diff --git a/apps/routing/src/main/java/org/onosproject/routing/fpm/protocol/FpmHeader.java b/apps/routing/src/main/java/org/onosproject/routing/fpm/protocol/FpmHeader.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2508f17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/routing/src/main/java/org/onosproject/routing/fpm/protocol/FpmHeader.java
@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2016 Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.onosproject.routing.fpm.protocol;
+
+import com.google.common.base.MoreObjects;
+import org.onlab.packet.DeserializationException;
+
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+
+import static org.onlab.packet.PacketUtils.checkInput;
+
+/**
+ * FPM header.
+ */
+public final class FpmHeader {
+    public static final int FPM_HEADER_LENGTH = 4;
+
+    public static final short FPM_VERSION_1 = 1;
+    public static final short FPM_TYPE_NETLINK = 1;
+
+    private static final String VERSION_NOT_SUPPORTED = "FPM version not supported: ";
+    private static final String TYPE_NOT_SUPPORTED = "FPM type not supported: ";
+
+    private final short version;
+    private final short type;
+    private final int length;
+
+    private final Netlink netlink;
+
+    /**
+     * Class constructor.
+     *
+     * @param version version
+     * @param type type
+     * @param length length
+     * @param netlink netlink header
+     */
+    private FpmHeader(short version, short type, int length, Netlink netlink) {
+        this.version = version;
+        this.type = type;
+        this.length = length;
+        this.netlink = netlink;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the protocol version.
+     *
+     * @return protocol version
+     */
+    public short version() {
+        return version;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the type.
+     *
+     * @return type
+     */
+    public short type() {
+        return type;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the message length.
+     *
+     * @return message length
+     */
+    public int length() {
+        return length;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the netlink header.
+     *
+     * @return netlink header
+     */
+    public Netlink netlink() {
+        return netlink;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String toString() {
+        return MoreObjects.toStringHelper(getClass())
+                .add("version", version)
+                .add("type", type)
+                .add("length", length)
+                .add("netlink", netlink)
+                .toString();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Decodes an FPM header from an input buffer.
+     *
+     * @param buffer input buffer
+     * @param start starting position the FPM header
+     * @param length length of the message
+     * @return FPM header
+     * @throws DeserializationException if an FPM header could not be decoded
+     * from the input buffer
+     */
+    public static FpmHeader decode(byte[] buffer, int start, int length) throws
+            DeserializationException {
+        checkInput(buffer, start, length, FPM_HEADER_LENGTH);
+
+        ByteBuffer bb = ByteBuffer.wrap(buffer, start, length);
+
+        short version = bb.get();
+        if (version != FPM_VERSION_1) {
+            throw new DeserializationException(VERSION_NOT_SUPPORTED + version);
+        }
+
+        short type = bb.get();
+        if (type != FPM_TYPE_NETLINK) {
+            throw new DeserializationException(TYPE_NOT_SUPPORTED + type);
+        }
+
+        int messageLength = bb.getShort();
+
+        Netlink netlink = Netlink.decode(buffer, bb.position(), bb.limit() - bb.position());
+
+        return new FpmHeader(version, type, messageLength, netlink);
+    }
+}