diff --git a/Tests/config.toml b/Tests/config.toml
index 0f270cd4b..6833fc5ad 100644
--- a/Tests/config.toml
+++ b/Tests/config.toml
@@ -33,11 +33,51 @@ subjects = [
 workers = 4
 
 
+[presets.all-kaas]
+scopes = [
+    "scs-compatible-kaas",
+]
+subjects = [
+    "cspA-current",
+    "cspA-current-1",
+    "cspA-current-2",
+]
+workers = 4
+
+
 [scopes.scs-compatible-iaas]
 spec = "./scs-compatible-iaas.yaml"
 
 
+[scopes.scs-compatible-kaas]
+spec = "./scs-compatible-kaas.yaml"
+
+
 # default subject (not a real subject, but used to declare a default mapping)
 # (this is the only mapping declaration that supports using Python string interpolation)
 [subjects._.mapping]
-os_cloud = "{subject}"
+os_cloud      = "{subject}"
+subject_root  = "{subject}"
+
+
+[subjects._.kubernetes_setup]
+clusterspec         = "kaas/clusterspec.yaml"
+
+
+[subjects.cspA-current.kubernetes_setup]
+kube_plugin         = "kind"
+kube_plugin_config  = "../playbooks/k8s_configs/kind_config.yaml"
+clusterspec_cluster = "current-k8s-release"
+
+
+[subjects.cspA-current-1.kubernetes_setup]
+kube_plugin         = "kind"
+kube_plugin_config  = "../playbooks/k8s_configs/kind_config.yaml"
+clusterspec_cluster = "current-k8s-release-1"
+
+
+[subjects.cspA-current-2.kubernetes_setup]
+kube_plugin         = "kind"
+kube_plugin_config  = "../playbooks/k8s_configs/kind_config.yaml"
+clusterspec_cluster = "current-k8s-release-2"
+
diff --git a/Tests/kaas/clusterspec.yaml b/Tests/kaas/clusterspec.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c8439a89f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/kaas/clusterspec.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# this file specifies all clusters that have to be provisioned for the tests to run
+clusters:
+  current-k8s-release:
+    branch: "1.31"
+    kubeconfig: kubeconfig.yaml
+  current-k8s-release-1:
+    branch: "1.30"
+    kubeconfig: kubeconfig.yaml
+  current-k8s-release-2:
+    branch: "1.29"
+    kubeconfig: kubeconfig.yaml
diff --git a/Tests/kaas/plugin/README.md b/Tests/kaas/plugin/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..28cfa83ce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/kaas/plugin/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+# Plugin for provisioning k8s clusters and performing conformance tests on these clusters
+
+## Development environment
+
+### requirements
+
+* [docker](https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/)
+* [kind](https://kind.sigs.k8s.io/docs/user/quick-start/#installation)
+* [sonobuoy](https://sonobuoy.io/docs/v0.57.1/#installation)
+
+### setup for development
+
+1. Generate python 3.10 env
+
+   ```bash
+   sudo apt-get install python3.10-dev
+   virtualenv -p /usr/bin/python3.10 venv
+   echo "*" >> venv/.gitignore
+   source venv/bin/activate
+   (venv) curl -sS https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py | python3.10
+   (venv) python3.10 -m pip install --upgrade pip
+   (venv) python3.10 -m pip --version
+
+   ```
+
+2. Install dependencies:
+
+   ```bash
+   (venv) pip install pip-tools
+   (venv) pip-compile requirements.in
+   (venv) pip-sync requirements.txt
+   ```
+
+3. Set environment variables and launch the process:
+
+   ```bash
+   (venv) export CLUSTER_PROVIDER="kind"
+   (venv) python run.py
+   ```
diff --git a/Tests/kaas/plugin/interface.py b/Tests/kaas/plugin/interface.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f62e3b3e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/kaas/plugin/interface.py
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+
+
+class KubernetesClusterPlugin():
+    """
+    An abstract base class for custom Kubernetes cluster provider plugins.
+    It represents an interface class from which the api provider-specific
+    plugins must be derived as child classes
+
+    To implement fill the methods `create_cluster` and `delete_cluster` with
+    api provider-specific functionalities for creating and deleting clusters.
+    The `create_cluster` method must ensure that the kubeconfigfile is provided
+    at the position in the file system defined by the parameter
+    `kubeconfig_filepath`
+
+    - Implement `create_cluster` and `delete_cluster` methods
+    - Create `__init__(self, config_file)` method to handle api specific
+      configurations.
+
+    Example:
+        .. code:: python
+
+          from interface import KubernetesClusterPlugin
+          from apiX_library import cluster_api_class as ClusterAPI
+
+          class PluginX(KubernetesClusterPlugin):
+
+              def __init__(self, config_file):
+                  self.config = config_file
+
+              def create_cluster(self, cluster_name, version, kubeconfig_filepath):
+                  self.cluster = ClusterAPI(name=cluster_name, image=cluster_image, kubeconfig_filepath)
+                  self.cluster.create(self.config)
+
+              def delete_cluster(self, cluster_name):
+                  self.cluster = ClusterAPI(cluster_name)
+                  self.cluster.delete()
+        ..
+    """
+
+    def create_cluster(self, cluster_name, version, kubeconfig_filepath):
+        """
+        This method is to be called to create a k8s cluster
+        :param: cluster_name:
+        :param: version:
+        :param: kubeconfig_filepath:
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError
+
+    def delete_cluster(self, cluster_name):
+        """
+        This method is to be called in order to unprovision a cluster
+        :param: cluster_name:
+        """
+        raise NotImplementedError
diff --git a/Tests/kaas/plugin/plugin_kind.py b/Tests/kaas/plugin/plugin_kind.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0b2d78bc9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/kaas/plugin/plugin_kind.py
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+import logging
+import os
+import os.path
+from pathlib import Path
+
+from interface import KubernetesClusterPlugin
+from pytest_kind import KindCluster
+
+logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+
+class PluginKind(KubernetesClusterPlugin):
+    """
+    Plugin to handle the provisioning of kubernetes cluster for
+    conformance testing purpose with the use of Kind
+    """
+    def __init__(self, config_file):
+        logger.info("Init PluginKind")
+        self.config = config_file
+        logger.debug(self.config)
+        self.working_directory = os.getcwd()
+        logger.debug(f"Working from {self.working_directory}")
+
+    def create_cluster(self, cluster_name, version, kubeconfig):
+        """
+        This method is to be called to create a k8s cluster
+        :param: kubernetes_version:
+        :return: kubeconfig_filepath
+        """
+        cluster_version = version
+        if cluster_version == '1.29':
+            cluster_version = 'v1.29.8'
+        elif cluster_version == '1.30':
+            cluster_version = 'v1.30.4'
+        elif cluster_version == '1.31' or cluster_version == 'default':
+            cluster_version = 'v1.31.1'
+        cluster_image = f"kindest/node:{cluster_version}"
+        kubeconfig_filepath = Path(kubeconfig)
+        if kubeconfig_filepath is None:
+            raise ValueError("kubeconfig_filepath is missing")
+        else:
+            self.cluster = KindCluster(name=cluster_name, image=cluster_image, kubeconfig=kubeconfig_filepath)
+        if self.config is None:
+            self.cluster.create()
+        else:
+            self.cluster.create(self.config)
+
+    def delete_cluster(self, cluster_name):
+        self.cluster = KindCluster(cluster_name)
+        self.cluster.delete()
diff --git a/Tests/kaas/plugin/plugin_static.py b/Tests/kaas/plugin/plugin_static.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1c3a5222c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/kaas/plugin/plugin_static.py
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import shutil
+
+from interface import KubernetesClusterPlugin
+
+
+class PluginStatic(KubernetesClusterPlugin):
+    """
+    Plugin to handle the provisioning of kubernetes
+    using a kubeconfig file
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, config_file):
+        self.kubeconfig_path = config_file
+
+    def create_cluster(self, cluster_name, version, kubeconfig):
+        shutil.copyfile(self.kubeconfig_path, kubeconfig)
+
+    def delete_cluster(self, cluster_name, version):
+        pass
diff --git a/Tests/kaas/plugin/requirements.in b/Tests/kaas/plugin/requirements.in
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..640831e54
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/kaas/plugin/requirements.in
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+pytest-kind
+kubernetes
+junitparser
diff --git a/Tests/kaas/plugin/requirements.txt b/Tests/kaas/plugin/requirements.txt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e99ac2285
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/kaas/plugin/requirements.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+#
+# This file is autogenerated by pip-compile with Python 3.10
+# by the following command:
+#
+#    pip-compile requirements.in
+#
+cachetools==5.5.0
+    # via google-auth
+certifi==2024.8.30
+    # via
+    #   kubernetes
+    #   requests
+charset-normalizer==3.3.2
+    # via requests
+google-auth==2.34.0
+    # via kubernetes
+idna==3.8
+    # via requests
+junitparser==3.2.0
+    # via -r requirements.in
+kubernetes==30.1.0
+    # via -r requirements.in
+oauthlib==3.2.2
+    # via
+    #   kubernetes
+    #   requests-oauthlib
+pyasn1==0.6.0
+    # via
+    #   pyasn1-modules
+    #   rsa
+pyasn1-modules==0.4.0
+    # via google-auth
+pykube-ng==23.6.0
+    # via pytest-kind
+pytest-kind==22.11.1
+    # via -r requirements.in
+python-dateutil==2.9.0.post0
+    # via kubernetes
+pyyaml==6.0.2
+    # via
+    #   kubernetes
+    #   pykube-ng
+requests==2.32.3
+    # via
+    #   kubernetes
+    #   pykube-ng
+    #   requests-oauthlib
+requests-oauthlib==2.0.0
+    # via kubernetes
+rsa==4.9
+    # via google-auth
+six==1.16.0
+    # via
+    #   kubernetes
+    #   python-dateutil
+urllib3==2.2.2
+    # via
+    #   kubernetes
+    #   pykube-ng
+    #   requests
+websocket-client==1.8.0
+    # via kubernetes
diff --git a/Tests/kaas/plugin/run_plugin.py b/Tests/kaas/plugin/run_plugin.py
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..b9807e28a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/kaas/plugin/run_plugin.py
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+import logging
+import os.path
+
+import click
+import yaml
+
+from plugin_kind import PluginKind
+from plugin_static import PluginStatic
+
+PLUGIN_LOOKUP = {
+    "kind": PluginKind,
+    "static": PluginStatic,
+}
+
+
+def init_plugin(plugin_kind, config=None):
+    plugin_maker = PLUGIN_LOOKUP.get(plugin_kind)
+    if plugin_maker is None:
+        raise ValueError(f"unknown plugin '{plugin_kind}'")
+    return plugin_maker(config)
+
+
+def load_spec(clusterspec_path):
+    with open(clusterspec_path, "rb") as fileobj:
+        return yaml.load(fileobj, Loader=yaml.SafeLoader)
+
+
+@click.group()
+def cli():
+    pass
+
+
+@cli.command()
+@click.argument('plugin_kind', type=click.Choice(list(PLUGIN_LOOKUP), case_sensitive=False))
+@click.argument('plugin_config', type=click.Path(exists=True, dir_okay=False))
+@click.argument('clusterspec_path', type=click.Path(exists=True, dir_okay=False))
+@click.argument('clusterspec_cluster', type=str, default="default")
+def create(plugin_kind, plugin_config, clusterspec_path, clusterspec_cluster):
+    clusterspec = load_spec(clusterspec_path)['clusters']
+    plugin = init_plugin(plugin_kind, plugin_config)
+    clusterinfo = clusterspec[clusterspec_cluster]
+    cluster_id = clusterspec_cluster
+    plugin.create_cluster(cluster_id, clusterinfo['branch'], os.path.abspath(clusterinfo['kubeconfig']))
+
+
+@cli.command()
+@click.argument('plugin_kind', type=click.Choice(list(PLUGIN_LOOKUP), case_sensitive=False))
+@click.argument('plugin_config', type=click.Path(exists=True, dir_okay=False))
+@click.argument('clusterspec_path', type=click.Path(exists=True, dir_okay=False))
+@click.argument('clusterspec_cluster', type=str, default="default")
+def delete(plugin_kind, plugin_config, clusterspec_path, clusterspec_cluster):
+    clusterspec = load_spec(clusterspec_path)['clusters']
+    clusterinfo = clusterspec[clusterspec_cluster]
+    cluster_id = clusterspec_cluster
+    plugin = init_plugin(plugin_kind, plugin_config)
+    plugin.delete_cluster(cluster_id)
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    logging.basicConfig(format='%(levelname)s: %(message)s', level=logging.INFO)
+    cli()
diff --git a/Tests/scs-compatible-kaas.yaml b/Tests/scs-compatible-kaas.yaml
index 4aa540999..130183cfa 100644
--- a/Tests/scs-compatible-kaas.yaml
+++ b/Tests/scs-compatible-kaas.yaml
@@ -2,11 +2,14 @@ name: SCS-compatible KaaS
 uuid: 1fffebe6-fd4b-44d3-a36c-fc58b4bb0180
 url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SovereignCloudStack/standards/main/Tests/scs-compatible-kaas.yaml
 variables:
-  - kubeconfig
+  - subject_root  # directory containing the kubeconfig files for the subject under test
 modules:
   - id: cncf-k8s-conformance
     name: CNCF Kubernetes conformance
     url: https://github.com/cncf/k8s-conformance/tree/master
+    #run:
+    #  - executable: ./kaas/plugin/run_sonobuoy_executor.py
+    #    args: -k {subject_root}/kubeconfig.yaml -r {result_dir_path} -c 'cncf-conformance'
     testcases:
       - id: cncf-k8s-conformance
         tags: [mandatory]
@@ -15,7 +18,7 @@ modules:
     url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SovereignCloudStack/standards/main/Standards/scs-0210-v2-k8s-version-policy.md
     run:
       - executable: ./kaas/k8s-version-policy/k8s_version_policy.py
-        args: -k {kubeconfig}
+        args: -k {subject_root}/kubeconfig.yaml
     testcases:
       - id: version-policy-check
         tags: [mandatory]
@@ -24,7 +27,7 @@ modules:
     url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/SovereignCloudStack/standards/main/Standards/scs-0214-v1-k8s-node-distribution.md
     run:
       - executable: ./kaas/k8s-node-distribution/k8s_node_distribution_check.py
-        args: -k {kubeconfig}
+        args: -k {subject_root}/kubeconfig.yaml
     testcases:
       - id: node-distribution-check
         tags: [mandatory]
@@ -33,18 +36,11 @@ timeline:
   - date: 2024-02-28
     versions:
       v1: draft
-      v2: draft
 versions:
-  - version: v2
-    include:
-      - cncf-k8s-conformance
-      - scs-0210-v2
-      - scs-0214-v2
-    targets:
-      main: mandatory
   - version: v1
     include:
-      - scs-0210-v2
-      - scs-0214-v2
+      - ref: cncf-k8s-conformance
+      - ref: scs-0210-v2
+      - ref: scs-0214-v2
     targets:
       main: mandatory
diff --git a/Tests/scs-test-runner.py b/Tests/scs-test-runner.py
index de7152428..3f21f6c17 100755
--- a/Tests/scs-test-runner.py
+++ b/Tests/scs-test-runner.py
@@ -17,16 +17,23 @@
 import click
 import tomli
 
-
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 MONITOR_URL = "https://compliance.sovereignit.cloud/"
 
 
+def ensure_dir(path):
+    try:
+        os.makedirs(path)
+    except FileExistsError:
+        pass
+
+
 class Config:
     def __init__(self):
         self.cwd = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(sys.argv[0]) or os.getcwd())
         self.scs_compliance_check = os.path.join(self.cwd, 'scs-compliance-check.py')
         self.cleanup_py = os.path.join(self.cwd, 'cleanup.py')
+        self.run_plugin_py = os.path.join(self.cwd, 'kaas', 'plugin', 'run_plugin.py')
         self.ssh_keygen = shutil.which('ssh-keygen')
         self.curl = shutil.which('curl')
         self.secrets = {}
@@ -58,42 +65,80 @@ def get_subject_mapping(self, subject):
         mapping.update(self.subjects.get(subject, {}).get('mapping', {}))
         return mapping
 
+    def get_kubernetes_setup(self, subject):
+        default_kubernetes_setup = self.subjects.get('_', {}).get('kubernetes_setup', {})
+        kubernetes_setup = dict(default_kubernetes_setup)
+        kubernetes_setup.update(self.subjects.get(subject, {}).get('kubernetes_setup', {}))
+        return kubernetes_setup
+
     def abspath(self, path):
         return os.path.join(self.cwd, path)
 
     def build_check_command(self, scope, subject, output):
         # TODO figure out when to supply --debug here (but keep separated from our --debug)
-        cmd = [
+        args = [
             sys.executable, self.scs_compliance_check, self.abspath(self.scopes[scope]['spec']),
             '--debug', '-C', '-o', output, '-s', subject,
         ]
         for key, value in self.get_subject_mapping(subject).items():
-            cmd.extend(['-a', f'{key}={value}'])
-        return cmd
+            args.extend(['-a', f'{key}={value}'])
+        return {'args': args}
+
+    def build_provision_command(self, subject):
+        kubernetes_setup = self.get_kubernetes_setup(subject)
+        subject_root = self.abspath(self.get_subject_mapping(subject).get('subject_root') or '.')
+        ensure_dir(subject_root)
+        return {
+            'args': [
+                sys.executable, self.run_plugin_py,
+                'create',
+                kubernetes_setup['kube_plugin'],
+                self.abspath(kubernetes_setup['kube_plugin_config']),
+                self.abspath(kubernetes_setup['clusterspec']),
+                kubernetes_setup['clusterspec_cluster'],
+            ],
+            'cwd': subject_root,
+        }
+
+    def build_unprovision_command(self, subject):
+        kubernetes_setup = self.get_kubernetes_setup(subject)
+        subject_root = self.abspath(self.get_subject_mapping(subject).get('subject_root') or '.')
+        ensure_dir(subject_root)
+        return {
+            'args': [
+                sys.executable, self.run_plugin_py,
+                'delete',
+                kubernetes_setup['kube_plugin'],
+                self.abspath(kubernetes_setup['kube_plugin_config']),
+                self.abspath(kubernetes_setup['clusterspec']),
+                kubernetes_setup['clusterspec_cluster'],
+            ],
+            'cwd': subject_root,
+        }
 
     def build_cleanup_command(self, subject):
         # TODO figure out when to supply --debug here (but keep separated from our --debug)
-        return [
+        return {'args': [
             sys.executable, self.cleanup_py,
             '-c', self.get_subject_mapping(subject)['os_cloud'],
             '--prefix', '_scs-',
             '--ipaddr', '10.1.0.',
             '--debug',
-        ]
+        ]}
 
     def build_sign_command(self, target_path):
-        return [
+        return {'args': [
             self.ssh_keygen,
             '-Y', 'sign',
             '-f', self.abspath(self.secrets['keyfile']),
             '-n', 'report',
             target_path,
-        ]
+        ]}
 
     def build_upload_command(self, target_path, monitor_url):
         if not monitor_url.endswith('/'):
             monitor_url += '/'
-        return [
+        return {'args': [
             self.curl,
             '--fail-with-body',
             '--data-binary', f'@{target_path}.sig',
@@ -101,7 +146,7 @@ def build_upload_command(self, target_path, monitor_url):
             '-H', 'Content-Type: application/x-signed-yaml',
             '-H', f'Authorization: Basic {self.auth_token}',
             f'{monitor_url}reports',
-        ]
+        ]}
 
 
 @click.group()
@@ -123,7 +168,7 @@ def _run_commands(commands, num_workers=5):
     processes = []
     while commands or processes:
         while commands and len(processes) < num_workers:
-            processes.append(subprocess.Popen(commands.pop()))
+            processes.append(subprocess.Popen(**commands.pop()))
         processes[:] = [p for p in processes if p.poll() is None]
         time.sleep(0.5)
 
@@ -187,15 +232,7 @@ def run(cfg, scopes, subjects, preset, num_workers, monitor_url, report_yaml):
     return 0
 
 
-@cli.command()
-@click.option('--subject', 'subjects', type=str)
-@click.option('--preset', 'preset', type=str)
-@click.option('--num-workers', 'num_workers', type=int, default=5)
-@click.pass_obj
-def cleanup(cfg, subjects, preset, num_workers):
-    """
-    clean up any lingering resources
-    """
+def _run_command_for_subjects(cfg, subjects, preset, num_workers, command):
     if not subjects and not preset:
         preset = 'default'
     if preset:
@@ -208,12 +245,49 @@ def cleanup(cfg, subjects, preset, num_workers):
         subjects = [subject.strip() for subject in subjects.split(',')] if subjects else []
     if not subjects:
         raise click.UsageError('subject(s) must be non-empty')
-    logger.debug(f'cleaning up for subject(s) {", ".join(subjects)}, num_workers: {num_workers}')
-    commands = [cfg.build_cleanup_command(subject) for subject in subjects]
+    logger.debug(f'running {command} for subject(s) {", ".join(subjects)}, num_workers: {num_workers}')
+    m = getattr(cfg, f'build_{command}_command')
+    commands = [m(subject) for subject in subjects]
     _run_commands(commands, num_workers=num_workers)
     return 0
 
 
+@cli.command()
+@click.option('--subject', 'subjects', type=str)
+@click.option('--preset', 'preset', type=str)
+@click.option('--num-workers', 'num_workers', type=int, default=5)
+@click.pass_obj
+def cleanup(cfg, subjects, preset, num_workers):
+    """
+    clean up any lingering IaaS resources
+    """
+    return _run_command_for_subjects(cfg, subjects, preset, num_workers, "cleanup")
+
+
+@cli.command()
+@click.option('--subject', 'subjects', type=str)
+@click.option('--preset', 'preset', type=str)
+@click.option('--num-workers', 'num_workers', type=int, default=5)
+@click.pass_obj
+def provision(cfg, subjects, preset, num_workers):
+    """
+    create k8s clusters
+    """
+    return _run_command_for_subjects(cfg, subjects, preset, num_workers, "provision")
+
+
+@cli.command()
+@click.option('--subject', 'subjects', type=str)
+@click.option('--preset', 'preset', type=str)
+@click.option('--num-workers', 'num_workers', type=int, default=5)
+@click.pass_obj
+def unprovision(cfg, subjects, preset, num_workers):
+    """
+    clean up k8s clusters
+    """
+    return _run_command_for_subjects(cfg, subjects, preset, num_workers, "unprovision")
+
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     logging.basicConfig(format='%(levelname)s: %(message)s', level=logging.INFO)
     cli(obj=Config())
diff --git a/playbooks/k8s_configs/kind_config.yaml b/playbooks/k8s_configs/kind_config.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ead21eb72
--- /dev/null
+++ b/playbooks/k8s_configs/kind_config.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+kind: Cluster
+apiVersion: kind.x-k8s.io/v1alpha4
+nodes:
+- role: control-plane
+- role: worker