diff --git a/rmw/include/rmw/qos_profiles.h b/rmw/include/rmw/qos_profiles.h
index 0e39c6f2..be5c26c8 100644
--- a/rmw/include/rmw/qos_profiles.h
+++ b/rmw/include/rmw/qos_profiles.h
@@ -113,6 +113,73 @@ static const rmw_qos_profile_t rmw_qos_profile_unknown =
   false
 };
 
+typedef enum RMW_PUBLIC_TYPE rmw_qos_compatibility_type_t
+{
+  /// QoS policies are compatible
+  RMW_QOS_COMPATIBILITY_OK = 0,
+
+  /// QoS policies may not be compatible
+  RMW_QOS_COMPATIBILITY_WARNING,
+
+  /// QoS policies are not compatible
+  RMW_QOS_COMPATIBILITY_ERROR
+} rmw_qos_compatibility_type_t;
+
+
+/// Check if two QoS profiles are compatible.
+/**
+ * Two QoS profiles are compatible if a publisher and subcription
+ * using the QoS policies can communicate with each other.
+ *
+ * If any of the profile policies has the value "system default" or "unknown", then it may not be
+ * possible to determine the compatibilty.
+ * In this case, the output parameter `compatibility` is set to `RMW_QOS_COMPATIBILITY_WARNING`
+ * and `reason` is populated.
+ *
+ * If there is a compatibility warning or error, and a buffer is provided for `reason`, then an
+ * explanation of all warnings and errors will be populated into the buffer, separated by
+ * semi-colons (`;`).
+ * Errors will appear before warnings in the string buffer.
+ * If the provided buffer is not large enough, this function will still write to the buffer, up to
+ * the `reason_size` number of characters.
+ * Therefore, it is possible that not all errors and warnings are communicated if the buffer size limit
+ * is reached.
+ * A buffer size of 2048 should be more than enough to capture all possible errors and warnings.
+ *
+ * <hr>
+ * Attribute          | Adherence
+ * ------------------ | -------------
+ * Allocates Memory   | No
+ * Thread-Safe        | Yes
+ * Uses Atomics       | No
+ * Lock-Free          | Yes
+ *
+ * \param[in] publisher_profile: The QoS profile used for a publisher.
+ * \param[in] subscription_profile: The QoS profile used for a subscription.
+ * \param[out] compatibility: `RMW_QOS_COMPATIBILITY_OK` if the QoS profiles are compatible, or
+ *   `RMW_QOS_COMPATIBILITY_WARNING` if the QoS profiles might be compatible, or
+ *   `RMW_QOS_COMPATIBILITY_ERROR` if the QoS profiles are not compatible.
+ * \param[out] reason: A detailed reason for a QoS incompatibility or potential incompatibility.
+ *   Must be pre-allocated by the caller.
+ *   This parameter is optional and may be set to `NULL` if the reason information is not
+ *   desired.
+ * \param[in] reason_size: Size of the string buffer `reason`, if one is provided.
+ *   If `reason` is `nullptr`, then this parameter must be zero.
+ * \return `RMW_RET_OK` if the check was successful, or
+ * \return `RMW_RET_INVALID_ARGUMENT` if `compatiblity` is `nullptr`, or
+ * \return `RMW_RET_INVALID_ARGUMENT` if `reason` is `NULL` and  `reason_size` is not zero, or
+ * \return `RMW_RET_ERROR` if there is an unexpected error.
+ */
+RMW_PUBLIC
+RMW_WARN_UNUSED
+rmw_ret_t
+rmw_qos_profile_check_compatible(
+  const rmw_qos_profile_t publisher_profile,
+  const rmw_qos_profile_t subscription_profile,
+  rmw_qos_compatibility_type_t * compatibility,
+  char * reason,
+  size_t reason_size);
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/rmw/include/rmw/rmw.h b/rmw/include/rmw/rmw.h
index 08da4eec..d9714eda 100644
--- a/rmw/include/rmw/rmw.h
+++ b/rmw/include/rmw/rmw.h
@@ -40,6 +40,9 @@
  * - A function to validate a node's name
  *   - rmw_validate_node_name()
  *   - rmw/validate_node_name.h
+ * - A function to validate the compatibility of two QoS profiles
+ *   - rmw_qos_profile_check_compatible()
+ *   - rmw/qos_profiles.h
  *
  * It also has some machinery that is necessary to wait on and act on these concepts:
  *