diff --git a/ckan/new_tests/test_coding_standards.py b/ckan/new_tests/test_coding_standards.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8b939770163
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ckan/new_tests/test_coding_standards.py
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+'''A module for coding standards tests.
+
+These are tests that are not functional- or unit-testing any particular piece
+of CKAN code, but are checking coding standards. For example: checking that
+there are no errors in the Sphinx build, that there are no PEP8 problems,
+etc.
+
+'''
+import subprocess
+
+
+def test_building_the_docs():
+    '''There should be no warnings or errors when building the Sphinx docs.
+
+    This test unfortunately does take quite a long time to run - rebuilding the
+    docs from scratch just takes a long time.
+
+    This test will also fail is build_sphinx exits with non-zero status
+    (because subprocess.check_output() will raise an exception).
+
+    '''
+    try:
+        output = subprocess.check_output(
+            ['python', 'setup.py', 'build_sphinx', '--all-files', '--fresh-env'],
+            stderr=subprocess.STDOUT)
+    except subprocess.CalledProcessError as err:
+        assert False, "Building the docs failed: {err}".format(err=err)
+    output_lines = output.split('\n')
+
+    errors = [line for line in output_lines if 'ERROR' in line]
+    if errors:
+        assert False, ("Don't add any errors to the Sphinx build: "
+                       "{errors}".format(errors=errors))
+
+    warnings = [line for line in output_lines if 'WARNING' in line]
+
+    # Some warnings have been around for a long time and aren't easy to fix.
+    # These are allowed, but no more should be added.
+    allowed_warnings = [
+        'WARNING: duplicate label ckan.auth.create_user_via_web',
+        'WARNING: duplicate label ckan.auth.create_unowned_dataset',
+        'WARNING: duplicate label ckan.auth.user_create_groups',
+        'WARNING: duplicate label ckan.auth.anon_create_dataset',
+        'WARNING: duplicate label ckan.auth.user_delete_organizations',
+        'WARNING: duplicate label ckan.auth.create_user_via_api',
+        'WARNING: duplicate label ckan.auth.create_dataset_if_not_in_organization',
+        'WARNING: duplicate label ckan.auth.user_delete_groups',
+        'WARNING: duplicate label ckan.auth.user_create_organizations',
+        'WARNING: duplicate label ckan.auth.roles_that_cascade_to_sub_groups'
+        ]
+
+    # Remove the allowed warnings from the list of collected warnings.
+    warnings_to_remove = []
+    for allowed_warning in allowed_warnings:
+        for warning in warnings:
+            if allowed_warning in warning:
+                warnings_to_remove.append(warning)
+    new_warnings = [warning for warning in warnings
+                    if warning not in warnings_to_remove]
+
+    if new_warnings:
+        assert False, ("Don't add any new warnings to the Sphinx build: "
+                       "{warnings}".format(warnings=new_warnings))