diff --git a/CMakeLists_files.cmake b/CMakeLists_files.cmake
index c67cc3329..b7f83b5fd 100644
--- a/CMakeLists_files.cmake
+++ b/CMakeLists_files.cmake
@@ -47,5 +47,7 @@ list (APPEND PROGRAM_SOURCE_FILES
 
 
 list( APPEND PUBLIC_HEADER_FILES
+      opm/common/ErrorMacros.hpp
+      opm/common/Exceptions.hpp
       opm/common/utility/platform_dependent/disable_warnings.h
       opm/common/utility/platform_dependent/reenable_warnings.h )
diff --git a/opm/common/ErrorMacros.hpp b/opm/common/ErrorMacros.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..092a88bf3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/opm/common/ErrorMacros.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+/*
+  Copyright 2013 Andreas Lauser
+  Copyright 2009, 2010 SINTEF ICT, Applied Mathematics.
+  Copyright 2009, 2010 Statoil ASA.
+
+  This file is part of the Open Porous Media project (OPM).
+
+  OPM is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+  (at your option) any later version.
+
+  OPM 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 General Public License for more details.
+
+  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+  along with OPM.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+*/
+#ifndef OPM_ERRORMACROS_HPP
+#define OPM_ERRORMACROS_HPP
+
+#include <string>
+#include <sstream>
+#include <exception>
+#include <stdexcept>
+
+#include <cassert>
+
+// macros for reporting to stderr
+#ifdef OPM_VERBOSE // Verbose mode
+# include <iostream>
+# define OPM_REPORT do { std::cerr << "[" << __FILE__ << ":" << __LINE__ << "] " } while (false)
+# define OPM_MESSAGE(x) do { OPM_REPORT; std::cerr << x << "\n"; } while (false)
+# define OPM_MESSAGE_IF(cond, m) do {if(cond) OPM_MESSAGE(m);} while (false)
+#else // non-verbose mode (default)
+# define OPM_REPORT do {} while (false)
+# define OPM_MESSAGE(x) do {} while (false)
+# define OPM_MESSAGE_IF(cond, m) do {} while (false)
+#endif
+
+// Macro to throw an exception. NOTE: For this macro to work, the
+// exception class must exhibit a constructor with the signature
+// (const std::string &message). Since this condition is not fulfilled
+// for the std::exception, you should use this macro with some
+// exception class derived from either std::logic_error or
+// std::runtime_error.
+//
+// Usage: OPM_THROW(ExceptionClass, "Error message " << value);
+#define OPM_THROW(Exception, message)                                   \
+    do {                                                                \
+        std::ostringstream oss__;                                       \
+        oss__ << "[" << __FILE__ << ":" << __LINE__ << "] " << message; \
+        OPM_MESSAGE(message);                                           \
+        throw Exception(oss__.str());                                   \
+    } while (false)
+
+// throw an exception if a condition is true
+#define OPM_ERROR_IF(condition, message) do {if(condition){ OPM_THROW(std::logic_error, message);}} while(false)
+
+#endif // OPM_ERRORMACROS_HPP
diff --git a/opm/common/Exceptions.hpp b/opm/common/Exceptions.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..bfe5ebf76
--- /dev/null
+++ b/opm/common/Exceptions.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+// -*- mode: C++; tab-width: 4; indent-tabs-mode: nil; c-basic-offset: 4 -*-
+// vi: set et ts=4 sw=4 sts=4:
+/*****************************************************************************
+ *   Copyright (C) 2013 by Andreas Lauser                                    *
+ *                                                                           *
+ *   This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify    *
+ *   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by    *
+ *   the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of the License, or       *
+ *   (at your option) any later version.                                     *
+ *                                                                           *
+ *   This program 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 General Public License for more details.                            *
+ *                                                                           *
+ *   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License       *
+ *   along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.   *
+ *****************************************************************************/
+/*!
+ * \file
+ * \brief Provides the OPM specific exception classes.
+ */
+#ifndef OPM_EXCEPTIONS_HPP
+#define OPM_EXCEPTIONS_HPP
+
+#include <stdexcept>
+
+// the OPM-specific exception classes
+namespace Opm {
+class NotImplemented : public std::logic_error
+{
+public:
+    explicit NotImplemented(const std::string &message)
+        : std::logic_error(message)
+    {}
+};
+
+class NumericalProblem : public std::runtime_error
+{
+public:
+    explicit NumericalProblem(const std::string &message)
+        : std::runtime_error(message)
+    {}
+};
+
+class MaterialLawProblem : public NumericalProblem
+{
+public:
+    explicit MaterialLawProblem(const std::string &message)
+        : NumericalProblem(message)
+    {}
+};
+
+class LinearSolverProblem : public NumericalProblem
+{
+public:
+    explicit LinearSolverProblem(const std::string &message)
+        : NumericalProblem(message)
+    {}
+};
+}
+
+#endif // OPM_EXCEPTIONS_HPP