diff --git a/src/speccpu/__init__.py b/src/speccpu/__init__.py
index 0f6afd1..abc2f72 100644
--- a/src/speccpu/__init__.py
+++ b/src/speccpu/__init__.py
@@ -117,3 +117,49 @@ class SPEC:
             *(["--outputdir", str(output_root)] if output_root else []),
             *benchmarks,
         ]
+
+
+def check_bench_dir(dir: Path) -> bool:
+    """
+    Check if a directory has the expected SPEC benchmark structure.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    dir : Path
+        The directory to check
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    bool
+        True if the directory contains 'build', 'exe', and 'run' subdirectories,
+        False otherwise
+    """
+    files = os.listdir(dir)
+    return "build" in files and "exe" in files and "run" in files
+
+
+def get_benchspec_dir(spec_output: Path) -> Path:
+    """
+    Get the directory containing CPU benchmarks in the SPEC CPU output.
+
+    This function returns the path to the CPU benchmarks directory within the SPEC CPU
+    output directory structure.
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    spec_output : Path
+        The path to the SPEC CPU output directory.
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    Path
+        The path to the CPU benchmarks directory.
+
+    Examples
+    --------
+    >>> from pathlib import Path
+    >>> spec_dir = Path("/path/to/spec/output")
+    >>> get_benchspec_dir(spec_dir)
+    PosixPath('/path/to/spec/output/benchspec/CPU')
+    """
+    return spec_output / "benchspec" / "CPU"
diff --git a/test/test_spec.py b/test/test_spec.py
index 871c518..77599f3 100644
--- a/test/test_spec.py
+++ b/test/test_spec.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ from unittest import mock
 
 import pytest
 
-from speccpu import SPEC, find_build
+from speccpu import SPEC, check_bench_dir, find_build
 
 
 class TestFindBuild:
@@ -79,3 +79,66 @@ class TestSPEC:
         cmd = spec.mkcmd_runcpu("myconfig", ["benchmark1"], output_root=output_dir)
         assert "--outputdir" in cmd
         assert str(output_dir) in cmd
+
+
+class TestCheckBenchDir:
+    def test_valid_bench_dir(self, tmpdir):
+        """Test that check_bench_dir returns True for a valid benchmark directory."""
+        bench_dir = Path(tmpdir)
+
+        # Create the required subdirectories
+        (bench_dir / "build").mkdir()
+        (bench_dir / "exe").mkdir()
+        (bench_dir / "run").mkdir()
+
+        # Add some extra files/directories to make sure they don't affect the result
+        (bench_dir / "other_dir").mkdir()
+        (bench_dir / "file.txt").write_text("test")
+
+        assert check_bench_dir(bench_dir) is True
+
+    def test_invalid_bench_dir_missing_build(self, tmpdir):
+        """Test that check_bench_dir returns False when 'build' directory is missing."""
+        bench_dir = Path(tmpdir)
+
+        # Create only exe and run directories
+        (bench_dir / "exe").mkdir()
+        (bench_dir / "run").mkdir()
+
+        assert check_bench_dir(bench_dir) is False
+
+    def test_invalid_bench_dir_missing_exe(self, tmpdir):
+        """Test that check_bench_dir returns False when 'exe' directory is missing."""
+        bench_dir = Path(tmpdir)
+
+        # Create only build and run directories
+        (bench_dir / "build").mkdir()
+        (bench_dir / "run").mkdir()
+
+        assert check_bench_dir(bench_dir) is False
+
+    def test_invalid_bench_dir_missing_run(self, tmpdir):
+        """Test that check_bench_dir returns False when 'run' directory is missing."""
+        bench_dir = Path(tmpdir)
+
+        # Create only build and exe directories
+        (bench_dir / "build").mkdir()
+        (bench_dir / "exe").mkdir()
+
+        assert check_bench_dir(bench_dir) is False
+
+    def test_empty_dir(self, tmpdir):
+        """Test that check_bench_dir returns False for an empty directory."""
+        bench_dir = Path(tmpdir)
+        assert check_bench_dir(bench_dir) is False
+
+    def test_invalid_dir_case_sensitive(self, tmpdir):
+        """Test that check_bench_dir is case-sensitive."""
+        bench_dir = Path(tmpdir)
+
+        # Create directories with different case
+        (bench_dir / "Build").mkdir()
+        (bench_dir / "EXE").mkdir()
+        (bench_dir / "RUN").mkdir()
+
+        assert check_bench_dir(bench_dir) is False