diff --git a/screening/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/openbis/plugin/screening/client/api/v1/ScreeningClientApiTest.java b/screening/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/openbis/plugin/screening/client/api/v1/ScreeningClientApiTest.java
index 737da0a96b376e6c02436fc0d6c156a5f58a8e14..982edfc831ca3df22ba59084e662d17b85ae6f2f 100644
--- a/screening/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/openbis/plugin/screening/client/api/v1/ScreeningClientApiTest.java
+++ b/screening/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/openbis/plugin/screening/client/api/v1/ScreeningClientApiTest.java
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ public class ScreeningClientApiTest
         System.out.println(String.format("Connecting to the server '%s' as a user '%s.", serverUrl,
                 userId));
         IScreeningOpenbisServiceFacade facade =
-                ScreeningOpenbisServiceFacade.tryCreate(userId, userPassword, serverUrl);
+                ScreeningOpenbisServiceFacadeFactory.tryCreate(userId, userPassword, serverUrl);
         if (facade == null)
         {
             System.err.println("Authentication failed: check the user name and password.");
diff --git a/screening/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/openbis/plugin/screening/client/api/v1/ScreeningOpenbisServiceFacadeFactory.java b/screening/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/openbis/plugin/screening/client/api/v1/ScreeningOpenbisServiceFacadeFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1d9bf28b3014becac2a2e540c820445d52de8947
--- /dev/null
+++ b/screening/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/openbis/plugin/screening/client/api/v1/ScreeningOpenbisServiceFacadeFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2010 ETH Zuerich, CISD
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package ch.systemsx.cisd.openbis.plugin.screening.client.api.v1;
+
+
+/**
+ * @author Chandrasekhar Ramakrishnan
+ */
+public class ScreeningOpenbisServiceFacadeFactory
+{
+    /**
+     * Creates a service facade which communicates with the openBIS server at the specified URL.
+     * Authenticates the user.
+     * 
+     * @return null if the user could not be authenticated.
+     */
+    public static IScreeningOpenbisServiceFacade tryCreate(String userId, String userPassword,
+            String serverUrl)
+    {
+        return ScreeningOpenbisServiceFacade.tryCreate(userId, userPassword, serverUrl);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a service facade which communicates with the openBIS server at the specified URL for
+     * an authenticated user.
+     * 
+     * @param sessionToken The session token for the authenticated user
+     * @param serverUrl The URL for the openBIS application server
+     */
+    public static IScreeningOpenbisServiceFacade tryCreate(String sessionToken, String serverUrl)
+    {
+        return ScreeningOpenbisServiceFacade.tryCreate(sessionToken, serverUrl);
+    }
+}