diff --git a/dumux/common/geometry/CMakeLists.txt b/dumux/common/geometry/CMakeLists.txt
index 41dbff92bf6e1cb405241110acc2d25bf25f3766..f5e830fc3a5a0b382f1f805664295de1142f487f 100644
--- a/dumux/common/geometry/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/dumux/common/geometry/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ intersectionentityset.hh
intersectspointgeometry.hh
intersectspointsimplex.hh
makegeometry.hh
+normal.hh
refinementquadraturerule.hh
triangulation.hh
DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}/dumux/common/geometry)
diff --git a/dumux/common/geometry/normal.hh b/dumux/common/geometry/normal.hh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..a6e95ecb170b8c75a6df877f8667742f85585ee7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dumux/common/geometry/normal.hh
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+/*****************************************************************************
+ * See the file COPYING for full copying permissions. *
+ * *
+ * 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 3 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
+ * \ingroup Geometry
+ * \brief Helper functions for normals
+ */
+#ifndef DUMUX_GEOMETRY_NORMAL_HH
+#define DUMUX_GEOMETRY_NORMAL_HH
+
+#include <algorithm>
+#include <dune/common/float_cmp.hh>
+
+namespace Dumux {
+
+/*!
+ * \ingroup Geometry
+ * \brief Create a vector normal to the given one (v is expected to be non-zero)
+ * \note This returns some orthogonal vector with arbitrary length
+ */
+template<class Vector>
+inline Vector normal(const Vector& v)
+{
+ static_assert(Vector::size() > 1, "normal expects a coordinate dimension > 1");
+
+ if constexpr (Vector::size() == 2)
+ return Vector({-v[1], v[0]});
+
+ const auto it = std::find_if(v.begin(), v.end(), [](const auto& x) { return Dune::FloatCmp::ne(x, 0.0); });
+ const auto index = std::distance(v.begin(), it);
+ if (index != Vector::size()-1)
+ {
+ Vector normal(0.0);
+ normal[index] = -v[index+1];
+ normal[index+1] = v[index];
+ return normal;
+ }
+ else
+ {
+ Vector normal(0.0);
+ normal[index-1] = -v[index];
+ normal[index] = v[index-1];
+ return normal;
+
+ }
+}
+
+/*!
+ * \ingroup Geometry
+ * \brief Create a vector normal to the given one (v is expected to be non-zero)
+ * \note This returns some orthogonal vector with unit length
+ */
+template<class Vector>
+inline Vector unitNormal(const Vector& v)
+{
+ auto normal = Dumux::normal(v);
+ normal /= normal.two_norm();
+ return normal;
+}
+
+} // end namespace Dumux
+
+#endif
diff --git a/test/common/geometry/CMakeLists.txt b/test/common/geometry/CMakeLists.txt
index 42222c5fff97304266a86384a1e8436ae4b74b0b..6e57be7f6d0a318670f5bbc84edc0d64000ddcc0 100644
--- a/test/common/geometry/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/common/geometry/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ dumux_add_test(SOURCES test_1d2d_intersection.cc LABELS unit)
dumux_add_test(SOURCES test_2d2d_intersection.cc LABELS unit)
dumux_add_test(SOURCES test_2d3d_intersection.cc LABELS unit)
dumux_add_test(SOURCES test_distance.cc LABELS unit)
+dumux_add_test(SOURCES test_normal.cc LABELS unit)
dumux_add_test(SOURCES test_graham_convex_hull.cc LABELS unit)
dumux_add_test(SOURCES test_intersectingentity_cartesiangrid.cc LABELS unit)
dumux_add_test(SOURCES test_circlepoints.cc LABELS unit)
diff --git a/test/common/geometry/test_normal.cc b/test/common/geometry/test_normal.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..2a95def1b644225b2042a9a4e3a31b8b6efd397a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/common/geometry/test_normal.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+// -*- mode: C++; tab-width: 4; indent-tabs-mode: nil; c-basic-offset: 4 -*-
+// vi: set et ts=4 sw=4 sts=4:
+/*****************************************************************************
+ * See the file COPYING for full copying permissions. *
+ * *
+ * 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 3 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 Test for normal computation
+ */
+#include <config.h>
+
+#include <random>
+#include <algorithm>
+
+#include <dune/common/exceptions.hh>
+#include <dune/common/fvector.hh>
+
+#include <dumux/common/geometry/normal.hh>
+
+template<class P>
+void testOrthogonality(const P& normal, const P& vector, double scale, const std::string& caseName = "")
+{
+ const auto eps = Dune::FloatCmp::DefaultEpsilon<double, Dune::FloatCmp::absolute>::value()*scale*100;
+ if (Dune::FloatCmp::ne<double, Dune::FloatCmp::absolute>(normal*vector, 0.0, eps))
+ DUNE_THROW(Dune::Exception, "Normal not orthogonal, n: " << normal << ", p: " << vector
+ << ", dim: " << P::size() << ", sp: " << normal*vector
+ << ", scale: " << scale << ", epsilon: " << eps << ", case: " << caseName);
+}
+
+template<int dim, std::size_t repetitions = 100000>
+void testNormal()
+{
+ std::default_random_engine gen(std::random_device{}());
+ std::uniform_real_distribution<double> rnd(-1.0, 1.0), rndIdx(0.0, dim-1);
+ Dune::FieldVector<double, dim> p(0.0);
+
+ for (double scale : {1.0, 1e3, 1e-12, 1e12})
+ {
+ for (std::size_t i = 0; i < repetitions; ++i)
+ {
+ std::generate(p.begin(), p.end(), [&]{ return rnd(gen)*scale; });
+ const auto n = Dumux::normal(p);
+ testOrthogonality(n, p, scale, "rnd");
+ }
+
+ // one coordinate != 0
+ for (std::size_t i = 0; i < repetitions; ++i)
+ {
+ p = 0.0;
+ const auto randomIndex = (std::size_t) std::round(rndIdx(gen));
+ p[randomIndex] = scale;
+ testOrthogonality(Dumux::normal(p), p, scale, "rnd-one-nonzero");
+ p[randomIndex] = scale*1e-20;
+ testOrthogonality(Dumux::normal(p), p, scale, "rnd-one-small");
+ }
+
+ // two coordinates != 0
+ for (std::size_t i = 0; i < repetitions; ++i)
+ {
+ p = 0.0;
+ const auto randomIndex0 = (std::size_t) std::round(rndIdx(gen));
+ const auto randomIndex1 = (std::size_t) std::round(rndIdx(gen));
+ p[randomIndex0] = scale;
+ p[randomIndex1] = scale;
+ testOrthogonality(Dumux::normal(p), p, scale, "rnd-two-nonzero");
+ p[randomIndex0] = scale*1e-20;
+ p[randomIndex1] = scale*1e-20;
+ testOrthogonality(Dumux::normal(p), p, scale, "rnd-two-small");
+ }
+ }
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char** argv)
+{
+ testNormal<2>();
+ testNormal<3>();
+ testNormal<4>();
+ testNormal<10>();
+
+ return 0;
+}