diff --git a/incubator/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/incubator/net/config/ConfigFactory.java b/incubator/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/incubator/net/config/ConfigFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fbda722
--- /dev/null
+++ b/incubator/api/src/main/java/org/onosproject/incubator/net/config/ConfigFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2015 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.incubator.net.config;
+
+
+/**
+ * Base abstract factory for creating configurations for the specified subject type.
+ *
+ * @param <S> subject class
+ */
+public abstract class ConfigFactory<S> {
+
+    private final Class<S> subjectClass;
+    private final String key;
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a new configuration factory for the specified class of subjects
+     * and bound to the given subject configuration key.
+     *
+     * @param subjectClass subject class
+     * @param key          subject configuration key
+     */
+    protected ConfigFactory(Class<S> subjectClass, String key) {
+        this.subjectClass = subjectClass;
+        this.key = key;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the class of the subject to which this factory applies.
+     *
+     * @return subject type
+     */
+    public Class<S> subjectClass() {
+        return subjectClass;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the key to which produced configurations should be bound.
+     *
+     * @return subject configuration key
+     */
+    public String key() {
+        return key;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a new but uninitialized configuration. Framework will initialize
+     * the configuration via {@link Config#init} method.
+     *
+     * @return new uninitialized configuration
+     */
+    public abstract Config<S> createConfig();
+
+}